Tracy Young is a blogger based in New York City who writes about things that nourish her heart and soul, including (we are proud to say) Africa Volunteer Corps. Her life adventures can be found at The HeSo Project.

Last Spring I went to Kenya with Cross Cultural Thresholds (CCR), an organization which brings international volunteers to help grassroots movements in Kibera, the largest, poorest slum of Kenya. For one week we were helping build a child care center, and paint two murals. Seeing over a hundred children crushed into a classroom the size of my living room, all eager to learn, and full of hope, was heart-breaking, but also inspiring. It invigorated us to work as hard as possible to give these deserving children the classrooms they deserve. But by the end of the week we had only built the foundation. There was so much more construction work to do, let alone the task of hiring teachers, getting all the furniture and school supplies, and maintaining a constant revenue source. We had only scratched the surface. It made me want to come back every month to check up on the progress and lend a helping hand. However, the plane ticket alone was $1,200 and I ‘m not in a position to fork up $14,000 a year.

Africa Volunteer Corps is aware of this predicament. They understand that local volunteers are often over-looked for solving their countries challenges when they have true knowledge of the culture, language, and needs of their people. I saw this first hand while I was in Kenya. One of the volunteers was a man named David. He had a pen-pal in Kenya named Jimmy. They kept in touch for years, and when David signed up to go with CCR he invited Jimmy to come with us for a day. Jimmy only lived an hour away from Kibera, and yet he knew nothing about it, the largest slum in Africa. He grew up his entire life thinking he was poor, but when he visited Kibera he realized how truly blessed he was and swore to do anything in his power to help. He joined the board of directors for the child care center, and signed up to volunteer once a week. The accountant for the childcare center, who was previously very guarded with his books because he said the outsiders would criticize his work, opened up to Jimmy right away and some of the accounting issues were immediately fixed. The kids were inspired by Jimmy because he was a local who grew up poor, but still managed to become a pilot. His success seemed more attainable because of the similar background.

The importance of local volunteers cannot be over-stressed. It would take years for an international volunteer to learn what comes naturally to a local, not to mention the cost benefits. Jimmy does not need to waste thousands of dollars on cross-Atlantic plane flights to help out his people. Just a one hour drive and he’s ready to volunteer. Jimmy was also able to go back to his community and bring more volunteers, and he got his church to raise some money for the school. He has the skills and resources to make his country better. While I was enriched by this experience, and I will always keep those children in my heart, I know that they are in good hands now that motivated, skilled locals are involved.