This summer we had the opportunity to take part in a volunteer mission in Kenya alongside a group of twelve people, led by Begoña Fornés. The team was made up of students from Villanueva University and four students from Strathmore University, with whom we shared our work, our daily lives, and a common mission.
During the first few weeks, we stayed at a diocesan centre in Kitui, a town located about four hours from Nairobi. Every day we travelled to Kathivo Primary School, in Kabati, where our work focused on two main areas: renovating the classrooms and providing educational training for the students.

As part of the renovation project, we helped restore several classrooms by removing the old floors and laying new ones, repairing the walls, painting the rooms, and installing new blackboards. It was physically demanding work, but thanks to everyone’s enthusiasm and the extraordinary support of the Strathmore team, we exceeded our original expectations and were able to renovate more classrooms than we had initially planned.

At the same time, we delivered a wide range of educational sessions, making the most of the different academic backgrounds and talents within the volunteer group. The Education students introduced new teaching methodologies and provided additional support to pupils who were struggling academically. The Psychology students led workshops on emotional education, self-awareness, and drug prevention among young people—a particularly important topic given the early age at which many of them begin to encounter these challenges. We also gave talks on relationships, self-awareness, and affectivity, emphasizing the dignity of every human person and God’s love as the foundation of that dignity.

Every session was enriched by the volunteers’ own personal experiences, which helped us build a genuine connection with the children and teenagers. A climate of trust quickly developed, allowing everyone to participate freely, ask questions, and share their thoughts while feeling heard and valued. Meanwhile, the Nursing students provided basic healthcare and medical support not only to the pupils but also to several of the families we visited throughout our stay.

If there is one memory that will remain forever in our hearts, it is the extraordinary welcome we received from the children. Every morning they greeted us with hugs, surrounded the bus as we arrived, and said goodbye with the same excitement at the end of the day. The dances that marked the beginning of each morning—following Mass and our customary morning run before reaching the school—became some of the most unforgettable moments of the entire experience.

As the days passed, we gradually discovered that volunteering is not only about giving, but also about allowing yourself to be encountered. We arrived intending to offer our time, our knowledge, and our work, yet little by little we became aware of everything we ourselves were receiving. We learned that accompanying others is often more valuable than solving their problems; that a smile, a conversation, or simply being present can have immeasurable worth.

During our final week, we moved to Kibera, the largest informal settlement in Africa. There we came face to face with a reality shaped by a severe lack of resources, but also by the extraordinary generosity and hospitality of its people. We worked in St. John Paul Secondary School, painting and renovating classrooms. Although the accumulated fatigue was beginning to catch up with us, the thought of children learning in these newly restored classrooms gave us all the motivation we needed to keep going.

During those days, we also visited several families from the parish who were living in situations of great vulnerability. These encounters allowed us to witness difficult realities at first hand. Yet what struck us most profoundly was the vibrant faith that sustains so many people. It is a faith that simply proclaims that we are deeply loved by God, and that He does not suffer instead of us, but with us. That same conviction was also what led many of us to Kenya in the first place: the certainty that we are all children of God and therefore brothers and sisters.

Those visits also taught us that true wealth does not depend on material possessions. More often, it is found in a united community, in a faith lived with simplicity, and in the ability to remain grateful even amid hardship. We came to understand that our mission was never to change other people’s lives, but to walk alongside them, learn from them, and allow them to transform ours as well. We were only a small part of a mission that continues everyday thanks to those who live there and quietly dedicate their lives to serving others. More than changing the reality of a place, this experience transformed the way we see the world, understand other people, and live our own faith.

In one of the homilies, the missionary priest who welcomed us during our stay in Kibera shared a sentence that many of us have carried home engraved on our hearts: “I am here because you are here.” Those words perfectly summarize everything we experienced throughout these weeks. Nothing happens by chance; we exist for one another and because of one another.

Perhaps that is the greatest lesson we are bringing home: discovering that our lives find their deepest meaning when they are placed at the service of others. We return home different from the people who left, with a broader perspective, hearts filled with gratitude, and the hope that Kenya will not simply remain a place we once visited, but become a new way of living our everyday lives.

For the mission does not end when the plane lands back in Spain. It simply begins in a different way: in how we look at others, in the way we carry out our daily responsibilities, and in our willingness to go out and meet those who need us, wherever they may be.

We return with the firm conviction that volunteering is not a destination we travel to for a month, but an attitude we hope to live every single day.

Article by Adriana Garcia, Nursing student, Villanueva University