Vessel UK
Volunteer
to change
lives
What is it?
Who's it for?
Benefits
Since 2004, The Vessel UK has enabled hundreds of individuals and many organisations to share their skills with participants in Tanzania, Kenya and The Gambia. For UK participants, the benefits include personal and professional development, global learning plus expanded project management and leadership skills.
For The Daughters of Africa Foundation, their team has grown in skills and experience through preparing, recruiting, monitoring and managing the projects on the ground. Their diverse youth and community organisation participants have gained socially, economically and in general wellbeing through their involvement in projects ranging from solar installation, business development, health and sport, upcycling and environmental architecture to archiving and curation, engineering, art and design, fashion and management.
Case studies
Zikko Archer
“I have worked with children and young people through the KORI Young Artist Programme and leading the Youth Group. I travelled to Zanzibar in 2010 as part of a team and co- delivered writing and music workshops. I am a rapper for two groups: African Revolution and R U 1 FAM.”
“Since travelling to Zanzibar with KORI in 2010 I was keen to go back to Africa and share my skills. Over the last few years I have developed as a facilitator and wanted to develop my project delivery.”
“I found that I had a weakness in my time management whilst working in Kenya, something I worked on whilst running the project. I also found it hard to break down issues like shyness and lack of confidence in the participants.”
“ I feel my style allowed the participants to be flexible and to really own their work. It took them ages to leave the sessions at the end of the day!”
“I will continue to improve my time management and spend more time making sure I improve musically.”
Sheila Maurice Grey
Fine Art Project
“I came to The Gambia with an open mind and have gained better self-reflection while building on my network within the arts and music communities. It has shown me how important it is to be practicing as an artist in order to be relevant and relatable to the participants. This is a great opportunity for new experiences.”
Adele Mildon
Nutrition and Long-Term Health Conditions Project
“The people faced many challenges, but the strong sense of community holds everything together. I have massively increased my confidence in speaking to large groups and teaching in different situations.”
Jake Fellows-Samuel
Environmental Zine Publication Project
“Taking part in the project has shown me how much I enjoy working with young people and teaching, even though it has sometimes been difficult to engage all 30 students in tasks specific to their interests. The experience reminded me how important it is to push myself out of my comfort zone.”
Abi Van Der Linden
Construction Project
“We worked hard as a team to get the project finished, developing strong personal relationships with each other in the process. I also enjoyed learning more about the Muslim routine and the importance of prayer in the community”.
Yoma Edgeworth
Play Work Project
“I joined The Vessel to develop my teaching skills and it was hard when some of the workshops I had planned did not go the way that I expected them to. To overcome this, I took my issues to the team meetings and made use of their advice. The Vessel also enabled the course I delivered to be more fluid and change in response to the participants needs.”
Elijah Grant
Events Management Project
“I have a degree in Marketing and Advertising and am currently a marketing assistant. I joined The Vessel as I was interested in working with different communities and trying to create a positive influence. Working with The Vessel team helped me to grow as a person and the project preparation really paid off. It took time for the group in Africa to trust me and each other. We had to become a cohesive group in two weeks and that was a challenge! But we made it. Desire, faith and persistence are the keys to success in every aspect of life.”
