From the deep Rift Valley with its extinct volcanoes and hot springs to the Maasai Mara, Kenya offers a breath-taking natural beauty that is spectacular. Kenya is renowned for its diverse culture and heritage. Despite the numerous ethnic tribes that exist, Kenyans embrace a great sense of unity, peace, acceptance and closeness as one people and one country: all strong virtues of traditional African culture. The Kenyan people are warm, friendly and hospitable. You will not feel like a stranger when you walk down the streets - you will arrive as a visitor and leave as a friend. The unique culture of some of the ethnic groups, especially the Maasai who live in the area you will be staying, is a great experience to be enjoyed. 

1at May - 15th May 2027

9th October - 23 October 2027

Serving Communities in Kenya

Mission Direct is excited to continue building on its relationships in Kenya, working alongside local partners to support projects that bring hope, opportunity and lasting change to communities.

In 2027, teams will serve alongside local community leaders and organisations, contributing to initiatives shaped by local need and priority. This may include community development work, educational support, children’s programmes and practical improvement projects that strengthen what is already happening on the ground.

Working in partnership with Mission with a Vision and other local organisations, the focus remains on serving in a way that is responsive, relational and rooted in what communities are already working towards.

Alongside the practical work, team members will spend time with local communities, building relationships and gaining a deeper understanding of life in Kenya beyond the surface level of the projects.

This is about shared service, local partnership and playing a small part in the long-term work already transforming communities.

You’ll be guaranteed a warm welcome from the children and staff, with songs and dancing to celebrate lasting friendship between us.

In the afternoons we will visit our other partner projects; you will be lending a hand and not just viewing the work as a “charity tourist”. Our key partners are:

Nkapililli school for children with disabilities

Sister Clemencia is a Franciscan nun who has dedicated her life to helping disabled children who are often marginalised by society.  She runs a small mainstream school with a special needs unit attached.  The disabled children board at the school but some of the dorms are very basic (metal sheets and mud floors). Her vision is to build a school which will meet the needs of the disabled children offering them warmth and security and a place where they can learn.

Mission Direct has been instrumental in getting this school off the ground, quite literally, providing a dormitory to enable children with disabilities to board there, a covered eating area, bathrooms, a rainwater harvesting system and solar power. For most children in Kenya with any kind of disability, school is not an option: for some families their culture still attaches stigma to disability and therefore they do not see that child as being educatable; for others the cost and distance to travel to school are prohibitive.

Fountain of Life feeding program

The Fountain of Life brings together their ministries for regular a feeding programme, where all the community from the surrounding slum is invited for a communal meal. Bring your dancing shoes because this community likes to party.

Football outreach project

Pastor Robert’s son Michael helps runs a Saturday morning football skills project. This is aimed at teenagers, boys and girls, engaging them in a fun sporting activity that also helps foster the attributes of personal development, discipline and teamwork. In 2022 it was the first year that Mission Direct volunteers joined this project and the feedback was so positive that we decided we would make it part of the regular program.

Scholars Academy

Run by Pastor Mark and his church, this school is in its infancy with just 30 pupils and no permanent home. A small church in the Macedonia area of Narok has ‘loaned’ its building during the week to set up a small school. It actually started as a feeding programme, with the church community coming together to try to provide the local children with a hot meal each day. The area is one of the poorest and, although there are state schools in the town centre, a distance of about five miles, most families in this area do not have the money to buy a uniform, provide the transport, school equipment and a lunch each day for their child to attend. Parents also fear that travelling into town would make their children vulnerable to the lure of the streets, particularly the drug dealers or others who seek to exploit them by offering them food or money. Within the local culture, keeping children close to their area for schooling is preferred. The school is in the very early stages of development and needs to establish how it can run sustainably. Mission Direct has been visiting for four years and the school says our visits and support is helping give them hope that they can progress.

Kenya is the home of the wildlife safari and offers some of the best and most accessible game viewing in the world, including the “Big Five” (lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhino).

These, together with many other animals that are unique to Africa, can be seen on our possible trip to the Maasai Mara. You may also have the opportunity to visit Maji Moto, spending an afternoon and evening immersed in Maasai culture, learning about food, medicine, fire making, and finishing off with a night-time visit to the natural hot springs.

• Flights are from Heathrow or Gatwick and take about 9 hours – some flights are not direct

• In country we will travel in minibuses, which will put their roofs up during the safari.

• The journey from the airport to Narok is about three to four hours.

Kenya enjoys a wonderful tropical climate. It is generally warm all year round, with plenty of sunshine and cooler nights and mornings. Since Kenya lies on the equator, the seasonal temperature changes are not extreme. There are two dominant influences on the climate in Kenya: the onshore monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean, and altitude. The winds determine the onset of Kenya’s two rainy seasons, with the hot northeast monsoon or kaskazi blowing dry air in from the Persian Gulf from November to March/April and the warm, moist kusi monsoon blowing in from the southeast from April/May to October. It’s the slightly cooler kusi that normally delivers the heaviest rain, a season known as the ‘long rains’, in late-April, May and early June. The relatively cool season, from late-June to October, gets much less rain. There’s a second rainy season, the ‘short rains’, for a few weeks in late November and December, followed roughly from mid-December to March by a dry season of hot, usually rainless, weather.

Predicting the actual weather for specific dates is increasingly difficult as climate change impacts more and more, however we would expect October and November to be relatively dry (if rain comes it will be short sharp bursts) with temperatures of about 20 to 25 degrees (cooler at night and in the morning so do pack a few jumpers).

In Narok we usually stay at Living Wells Guest House, in clean but basic twin or doubles with ensuite shower rooms. There is a dining room where we take our meals and a covered communal area, where we hold morning devotions and evening reflections. The complex is run by the Anglican Church of Kenya. It is gated and secure and the staff are very helpful and friendly. Be aware that power cuts can occur and wi-fi is unpredictable. While we have showers the water isn’t always hot and although out of town, there can be a little noise from the road and local evening church services. Do bring earplugs if you’re a light sleeper. From the guest house it is a 15-minute walk into town where you will find a supermarket, chemist, banks and the local market. 

Each day will be something different, but we offer mainly local dishes with some familiar western items along the way. The salads (avocado and tomatoes) and fruit (mango, melon, pineapple) are particularly delicious, with produce picked fresh and ripe. The food at the guest house is plentiful, wholesome and tasty. Breakfast includes porridge, eggs or pancakes, toast fruit, and hot drinks. Lunch is often rice and beans, and the evening meal could be anything from fish fillets and chips, pot roast chicken and ugali (corn meal) or bean stew and mash. You’ll also eat lots of chapati. We eat at the homes of local people – the Kenyan culture is very hospitable and getting to know local people is one of the unique aspects of visiting Kenya with MD. On these occasions you will be served more traditional dishes, meet local families and ‘muck in’ with serving and cleaning up. The national dish is nyama choma (barbequed goat) and there is the opportunity to try if you wish to. The guest house is able to cater for vegetarians and gluten-free diets. Do contact us about any other dietary requirements or food allergies/intolerances in advance and we will do all we can to accommodate these.

There are several large banks in the town with ATMs (including a Barclays) that are reliable or you can order Kenyan shillings from travel agents. You will not need to spend money on food and transport (except for the occasional fruit stall or coffee) as this is all included in the suggested trip contribution. However, you may want to bring money for souvenirs, of which there are many. And it is well worth having cash that you can have ready for ‘good causes’ that arise; it could be anything from helping with a child’s school fees to supplying an orphan’s first ever bed. 

English is spoken by many, but you will also have the opportunity of hearing and trying to learn a range of other tribal languages as well as the Eastern African language Kiswahili, including through song. 

You may well have a generous baggage allowance, and this gives you the opportunity to bring aid or useful gifts with you. We will tell you what would be gratefully received when you attend your orientation meetings.

Phone networks are good and there is usually little trouble communicating with home except for the time when you are on safari. Please do be aware that Wi-Fi is limited and can be unreliable, so please do not expect to be able to use social media accounts regularly.

When you join a Mission Direct team you will meet people from a range of backgrounds. It is important that you come ready to be a team player. We work hard together and generally have a lot of fun doing so. Some of these ‘strangers’ may well become lifelong friends afterwards. Trips where people try to opt out and ‘do their own thing’ tend to be far less successful and enjoyable for everybody on the team; please bear this in mind. 

Mission Direct is a Christian organization and the Partner organizations that we work with are often, though not always, led by Christians. We are all on a life journey and are delighted to welcome people of any or no faith to join us. Typically we have short morning and evening reflections and on the trip you will visit a local church. We would like you to attend these aspects of the trip as part of the ‘teamwork’ ethos though there is no pressure for you to join in with the services, sing or pray if you don’t want to. The trips provide an eye-opening cross-cultural experience and are great fun. 

You don’t have to be particularly strong, able, young, old or skilled in building or DIY to join a Mission Direct trip. We will put you to suitable work pretty much whoever you are. Children under 18 are welcome as long as they are accompanied by at least one parent or adult “en loco parentis”. The youngest child to join us was 7 years old, the oldest person was 88. If you are deemed fit to join the team by your doctor, we will be glad to have you join us.

Sadly, there are accessibility issues for Mission Direct trips due to the nature of the country and, of course, the building sites. If you have a particular disability, please get in touch and we can discuss what is possible on this, or another Mission Direct trip.

Parts of the trip may be substantially different to your last visit. Prepare to do different things and meet new people, though you will probably also see some familiar faces too. We ask that you allow those on their first trip to enjoy and experience each day as it unfolds, so avoid those ‘spoilers’ please!  

7.30 am: Morning devotions

8.00 am: Breakfast at the guest house

8.45 am: Travel by minibus to the site about 45 minutes away

9.00am: Working at the site. Typical tasks might include brick laying, plastering and painting. Take time to rest and talk to the local people and watch the children herd the cows. Lunch is cooked on site.

3.00 pm: Visit a school for activities – sport or art – and enjoy some traditional singing

7.00 pm: Back to the hotel for evening meal, or to a local person’s home to enjoy the famous Kenyan hospitality

8.00 pm: An after-dinner activity which may involve a language lesson, jewellery-making, film or just spending time with the team reflecting on the day

To join us, you’ll be asked to cover the cost of your trip, which is calculated using the previous year’s volunteer numbers and the total cost of the campaign. We build in an assumption of being able to claim Gift Aid on 60% of all contributions. We rely on this to cover any cost variations and to keep the charity running so it is important that you Gift Aid your contribution if you can. 

Once your application has been accepted you will have the opportunity to set up a payment plan for your contribution. 

We ask you to fundraise for more than just the trip contribution to support building costs and help pay for materials and local labour. 100% of any extra funding, excluding Gift Aid, goes straight to the project.

Mission Direct is registered under the ATOL scheme licence number 10768 

All the flight-inclusive mission trips on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay your contribution you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels, and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk

Your Financial Protection.

When you go on an ATOL protected flight inclusive mission trip package from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.

We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).

If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme