Community appreciation from Kenya

We are very proud of the Quest4Change project in Kenya, working on Water Relief in partnership with the charity Excellent. More than 3.5 million people die every year from water related diseases (World Health Organisation), and so Quest has been working with the Kamba people of Kenya since 2004 constructing small scale dams, providing thousands of people with clean drinking water. We aim to transform the local environment by improving water supplies, food production, health and incomes.

Quest4Change believes very firmly in the principle of community-led development, and so we work hand in hand with local communities who have formed 'Self Help Groups' in order to achieve community improvement on a larger scale than would be possible one family at a time. At the end of a volunteering stint, a team of Quest volunteers always look back and feel like they've achieved something great, so it's great to have this confirmed by the communities in Makueni, Eastern Province.

Some recent messages from the members of Self Help Groups we've worked with:

"A sand dam here will change our environment. It will become more green and we will be able to use the water to grow vegetables.... I was interested to see how 'mzungus' work. I had heard that they do not work, but now I see that you can work like Africans do."
Abednego Mwendwa, 18, Wikwatyo wa Kiambani Self Help Group

"I would like to see other volunteers come to work here in the future as it has had a very motivating effect on this community."
Anna Katwele, 93, Malaika Self Help Group

"I was interested to see if white people can do tough work and I wanted to be united with the other villagers. When you are working alone there are some goals that cannot be achieved, but when we come together there is nothing that we cannot achieve."
Karoline Mwau, 32, Wikwatyo wa Kiambani Self Help Group

Find out more about volunteering with Quest in Kenya.