Volunteer with us

We offer flexible volunteering programmes in Kenya and Nepal, and these are organised through our main partner Adventure Alternative. You can book your trip on the site and discuss with our staff what dates would suit you and what sort of programmes you would like to get involved with.

In Kenya you can easily volunteer as an individual or as a small group for minimum two weeks helping our staff do their work on the ground in Embu District which is right on the slopes of Mount Kenya in the central part of the country. We have a guesthouse where you can stay and have your own privacy and all the facilities you need, and Adventure Alternative will provide all the transfers, staffing, meals and accommodation.

Moving Mountains in Kenya runs a number of programmes with young people and families and schools in the area including:

Lifeskills - extra curricular activities including teambuilding games and camping, community service like tree planting, music, drama, art, hobbies and learning new skills.
Helping in school - being a teaching assistant in one of the schools we work with, and helping with school activities like after school clubs.
Black Cats - helping our football coaches train our teams at our football academy and going to the games
Counselling - for those with experience and knowledge, you can assist our staff provide a mental health counselling service for young people with trauma. Note that this will require training beforehand.
Embu Rescue Centre - helping our staff at the centre run the feeding programme for children who come from the schools and the streets at lunchtime.
Adult literacy - help our teachers deliver basic literacy and numeracy to young adults and also assist with basic computer studies like learning how to use the internet and simple programmes like Word.

Additionally there will be plenty of opportunity to explore the area, do some travelling and get involved with other institutions that we work with in Kenya, for example there is a church-based centre for children with special needs. Everyone speaks English and the teaching language is English so it's very easy to integrate and get involved.

For volunteering groups we can organise some really fun weekend activities for some of our beneficiaries like going away on a camping trip. This will depend on time of year, parental consent and other commitments at the time, but it's always a popular activity.

All of your activities will be alongside Kenyan staff, you're not taking anyone's jobs but you are providing a lot of useful assistance and you will be learning a lot about the community and the ground work of an NGO tackling the needs of that community.

Have a look at the Adventure Alternative Volunteering in Kenya page to see more and book some dates.

Moving Mountains Nepal offers volunteering opportunities in schools but the teaching language up in the mountains is Nepali so it's a little harder to interact initially. However, learning English is probably the single most popular aim for any school child at primary age who wants to go and study in Kathmandu where the teaching language is English. So volunteering as a teaching assistant in one of our two primary schools would be very useful.

The opportunities include helping with English and basic computer studies, as well as sports and extra curricular activities. Literacy and numeracy are the two biggest challenges but the teachers would also benefit from someone helping out with netball which is a national sport and any kind of assistance with art, drama and music.

The school in Bupsa is up in the Solu Khumbu, the Himalayan lowlands at around 2000m, and it takes 2 days hiking from the nearest town to get there. Accommodation would be in a lovely mountain lodge and the food is excellent and there is wifi. There is a lovely monastery in the village and you would be accepted into Sherpa community life, invited into people's homes and maybe asked to help out with some farming too!

During the weekends there would be plenty of opportunity for some personal activities like hiking, learning about Buddhism, painting, photography, yoga, learning some local cookery and socialising, which is a big part of Sherpa culture. You can visit for a minimum of two weeks and Adventure Alternative takes care of the all the logistics.

How much does it cost to volunteer for Moving Mountains?

When you book the volunteering trip with Adventure Alternative there is a cost to cover all of the logistical side of your trip - transfers and transport, accommodation and facilities and meals. This amount depends on how many weeks you intend to stay. You then to buy a flight and travel insurance, a visa and most likely some vaccinations, and then have some personal expenses.

We then ask that you raise some money for Moving Mountains which helps us carry on the programmes that you will be supporting and working with. This you can do online by creating a fundraising page. The amount we ask for as a charity is a minimum of £500.00.