Construction teams work on second girls high school dormitory

For many Maasai, school ends for girls when they reach 7th or 8th grade. If a family has the money, a high school far away could be an option. Most, though, face a future that includes marriage at a young age and starting a family. The opening of Kensington Hall Oloosinon Girls Secondary School in January 2018 changed that. The first group of 48 girls were excited to continue their studies as they planned to become lawyers, doctors, engineers and more. Some of the first Form 1 girls to attend the high school. One problem was where the girls were going to ...

Kettering Mission Trip (Part 2)

As I write the group is on their way to Nairobi. It's been a great week! The medical team saw over 700 patients at five different villages and the constructions team got all the brick walls up for the new clinic staff house! The past two day the group has enjoyed going on safari - viewing prides of lions, elephants, hyenas, rhino, and lots more - including a great view of a migration crossing! Thank you volunteers for all the energy you put out this week - both the construction and medical teams! We have enjoyed having you as part of the AMS family! Thank you for ...

Kettering Mission Trip

A few days ago AMS was joined by a volunteer group of 25 from Kettering Hospital. The past few days the group has been dividing into two groups - medical and construction. The medical group has gone to three different villages so far offering free medical care... While today is still ongoing... The past two days they saw over a 140 patients at each location! Thank you team for all your hard work!

Returning “Home” – Feeding the Soul, Part 2

Continued... It wasn't long after that trip in 2013 that Carrie and I decided we wanted to go back to Africa. For Carrie, she wanted to meet the two children she sponsored and for me, I wanted to go back and continue to work with the community, work with the school and of course, see the children I sponsor as well. So for the months that followed, Carrie and I planned our next trip to Africa. We developed a slide show to show the school while we were there. Upon our last visit there, the children asked us great questions about life in the states. Being a ...

“Returning Home” – Feeding the Soul, Part 1

In 2011, I took my first trip to Kenya, staying at Mara West and doing volunteer work through Africa Mission Services. My sister and I joined a medical team (a dream of ours since we were young) who traveled to Africa to do work in the Masai community. From the time I arrived in Africa, I felt deeply connected to the land, people, culture and all stunning beauty that is Africa. From that moment on, I knew I would be making many more visits back to this amazing country. For me Africa was a place I had talked about since I was very young. I always dreamed of travel...

NetApp Volunteer Team (Part 1) – Completes Dinning Hall!

It was last September that Mei visited Mara West as a safari client and the vision of a dinning hall at the Oloosinon Primary Boarding School was born. Since then, many joined her vision and worked to make the project a reality. Several groups joined AMS this year in working on this project - from laying brick walls, to building the roof and furniture, painting, and more! On Thursday of this week the team of 16 volunteers did the final touches in preparation for the opening ceremony which took place September 12th, 2014! A special thank you to all who contributed to this ...

LLU Church Mission Trip

Slightly ahead of schedule, the LLU mission group landed in Nairobi July 7th at the early hour of 1:30 AM. With only one piece of luggage missing, the group loaded up and began their journey towards the Mara. At the half way point the group enjoyed a hot breakfast before arriving at Mara West Camp. After a much needed night of sleep, the group started their first day at the project - working on the Oloosinon Primary School cafeteria. The school children welcomed the group with a few traditional songs and dances - even getting a few of the group to join the dance! The ...

A Volunteer’s Tale – “Arriving to the Mara”

Several months ago my then fiancé asked me if I wanted to go to Africa, specifically Kenya and South Africa after our wedding. April is a fourth-year medical student and just matched for a surgery residency in Corvallis, Oregon. It turns out that she has some time to kill before her rotation starts and had also been in contact with a friend of ours who is working with a remote clinic near the Masai Mara in Kenya. Within a few short weeks April had arranged with her medical school to receive credit for any clinical time she could acquire for both Kenya and at a major ...

UReach Mission Group

The UReach team of 27 from Loma Linda California arrived March 21st at 4:35 AM and headed straight to the Mara. The week was a buzz of activity from visiting a Maasai church, hiking to the "Out of Africa" site, to constructing tables and benches for the new cafeteria and putting the roof on! In addition there was a medical team who assisted at the clinic - giving immunizations and delivering a healthy baby boy and girl! The dental team stayed very busy - seeing over 100 patients in just 5 1/2 days! This was the first time the dental chair was fully operational - many came ...