We’ve just started the application process for this year’s Harambee — the short-term volunteer placement and training programme run annually by Friends of Londiani. Harambee takes you to the heart of community development in the Londiani district of Kenya, an experience described by past volunteers as ‘remarkable’, ‘wonderful’, ‘a learning experience’, ‘action-packed’ and even ‘the best experience of my life’. The placement opportunity is around two or three weeks’ long and is supported by a training programme that enhances the experience. Harambee provides the opportunity to work alongside Londiani communities in a spirit of partnership, to share your skills and your knowledge with them, and to gain a unique insight into the problems and solutions of living in an area so different from our part of the world. You’ll be kept busy with first aid, business and life skills courses, health-based initiatives, and much more. However, rather than take our word for it, why don’t you look at the blog archive? A number of posts were sent directly from Kenya last year, posts that tell you a lot more than we in Cork can. The October and November 2013 posts are the ones to look at, specifically ‘Travellers’ tales’, ‘“We’re learning a lot more than we expected”’, ‘Another action-packed day!’, and ‘Welcome to Londiani!’ in October, and ‘Travelling, teaching and learning’ and ‘From Cork to St Kizito’s’ in November. If they inspire you to find out more, go to our Get involved page — and watch this space, along with our Facebook page and tweets — for more information.