Why not volunteer in Africa this year and give something back. Volunteering overseas is a very popular way to spend time out in your life. Whether you do some teaching abroad or volunteer with HIV/AIDS victims, your time will be both hugely beneficial to both you and the project.

Its a well known fact that Africa is the poorest continent in the world and is home to a billion people. Unfortunatley over 50% of these people are in poverty. Nairobi, Kenya is home to one of the largest slums in the world, Kibera. Almost a million people live here with no sanitation and very little running water. The shacks here are made from corrugated iron. Their water is contaminated, many children here have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and are surviving on their own. The sewage runs down the middle of the make shift roads. The slums have been popping up all over Africa as more and more people migrate to the cities in search of jobs. They cannot afford houses so they build shacks on the edge of the towns and cities in places like Kibera.

Volunteering in an excellent way to help counteract the problems that many of these areas are facing. Volunteers from all over the world visit places like Kenya every year to give a helping hand by teaching children English, working with HIV/AIDS victims and also looking after children who are now orphans having lost their parents to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Volunteering gives you as a volunteer a great sense of inspiration and motivation to help when you see the situation of some people for yourself. It is a great feeling to help the poor and needy people among us who really need help and assistance. It gives not only you but the local people a great self- esteem boost knowing that you can make a difference and there is a way forward for everyone.