[September 5th 2007]
Holiday Extras® staff volunteer at Kenyan orphanage
Three staff from Holiday Extras and sister companies Airparks and abcholidayplus in Germany are travelling out to Mombasa in Kenya at the beginning of October to volunteer at the Grandsons of Abraham orphanage in the city.
The three people were nominated by their heads of department for their outstanding work at Holiday Extras and then drawn out of the hat at a recent company meeting.
"We wanted to reward three people who have had a great year at Holiday Extras, and to help enrich and enhance the lives of the children at the orphanage. The three lucky winners will have a fantastic life-changing experience that they will be able to share with the rest of the company via a daily video diary," explains Holiday Extras Group Head of Personnel & Development, Callum Husein..
The lucky three making the trip to Kenya are James Lewis, a Business Development Executive at Holiday Extras, Steve Lines, Supervisor at Holiday Extras's sister company Airparks, and Kathleen Theuring, Manager for Marketing, PR and Reservations at Holiday Extras' sister company in Germany, abcholidayplus.
While they are at the Grandsons of Abraham orphanage the team from Holiday Extras will be organising activities and outings, teaching English and maths, and helping out at mealtimes.
"I'm really excited about going out to Africa and helping the children. I've seen a video about the orphanage on YouTube so I have a better understanding of what is expected of us, and now I'm really looking forward to it," says Kathleen Theuring.
James Lewis is hoping to "make a difference" to the children. "These are street children who live on their wits and look to the orphanage to help them out. I am looking forward to really putting something back into a community that needs help and support," he says.
Steve Lines, a supervisor at Airparks in Birmingham, says: "I'm looking forward to helping children from a totally different culture. I help run a scout group where I live but the kids there are from quite a wealthy area - in Africa they have very little".
The three volunteers will stay at the orphanage for two weeks, returning home on 16 October. Holiday Extras is paying for the airfares, insurance, jabs, accommodation and meals, and also giving an extra week's paid holiday. It is estimated that up to 900,000 children in Kenya have been orphaned by HIV/Aids, and the Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Centre has been working since 1995 to offer street children shelter, food and basic education. So far the organisation has worked closely with over 2000 children and found a home for over 400 of them.
Donations can be made via the website at www.friendsofgrandsons.com.
For more information please contact Helen Gillilan or Nick Purdom on 0871 360 1035