A group of 50 dedicated volunteers have recently returned from a ‘life-changing’ trip to Kenya, which saw them building houses for local families through the Gathimba Edwards Foundation (GEF), a charity dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable children and communities across the country.
Volunteers from Kenya, the UK (25 from the North-east) and Europe spent a fortnight building houses for 4 families in Karatina, Kenya before officially opening them as the families moved in.
The trip was the culmination of 2 years of fundraising to support the building of these homes for some of the most disadvantaged families in Kenya. Three families have now successfully moved into their new homes, with assessments ongoing to see who is most in need of the fourth home.
The building volunteers of the 2026 trip
One of those families is Stella and her 3 children Brenda, Ryan and Sharleen. Stella’s husband walked out on the family, leaving them with no home or furniture. Although she works hard on local farms, earning the equivalent of £2.50 per day makes it impossible to afford basic necessities such as food, shelter and education. As a result, the family was forced to move between broken wooden rental houses which often leaked rainwater. On many occasions they found themselves locked out by the landlord due to rent arrears, leaving them to sleep outside until they found a solution.
Mark McCluskie, Creative Director of Aberdeenshire-based brand agency, Bold St Media, embarked on the trip with his 16 year-old son, Lucas. He said the experience had a deep and lasting impact on both of them:
“We were shown into one family’s house, and it was heartbreaking to see the difficult conditions in which these children were growing up. I will never forget the expression on one young girl’s face – it certainly inspired me to keep going on the more tough building days, as we were acclimatising to the environment and the workload.
“My motivation in signing up for the trip was to spend quality time with my son doing something meaningful, and to show him how privileged and lucky we are to live the lives we do. I wasn’t expecting it to affect me as profoundly as it did – I was really touched by the warmth of the welcome we received, and humbled to see how other communities live. I also felt very proud that myself, Lucas and the whole team pulled together to achieve something that would hugely improve the quality of life and future prospects for these deserving families.”
Stella and her family
Charity Director, Myles Edwards said: “Since 2014 we are proud to have built 77 fully furnished, solar-powered homes for 323 children and their families. The past 12 months have certainly been a landmark period, during which we have built 15 houses—four of them constructed by the volunteers on this trip in a record-breaking 5.5 days.
“Many of our international and Kenyan volunteers are dealing with their own challenges at home, but make big sacrifices and continue to push through in order to help others. It was also incredibly special to have GEF families for whom we have previously built homes for volunteering on this most recent trip. It was a privilege to be on the building site with them all.”
To find out more about GEF visit: Gathimba Edwards Foundation