What Not to Wear (or rather what you should wear)

Carrying school books in the kanga.


Typical clothing worn by the villagers in most rural communities in Kenya.










We here in the West are used to having freedom of individuality (by that I mean freedom of speech and freedom to choose the style of clothing we wish to wear). But not all cultures exercise these types of freedom. When travelling and working abroad, it is very important to show your respect of the host countries and communities by dressing appropriately and practicing cultural norms, especially if you are planning on living and assimilating in the communities.

Women and girls in rural African communities wear skirts or dresses, never pants or shorts. So if you are working in a rural area bring skirts or wraps. You can also purchase a "kanga", a brightly coloured rectangular piece of fabric that is adorned with a political or religious slogan. The Kenyan women even wrap kangas around their regular dresses. Ronnie purchased two kangas for me, one which I wrapped around my wasit and the other, which is traditionally used to carry babies, young children or even supplies on the back. I'm sure that I looked quite amusing to the school children of Wongonyi Primary School as I ("the mizungu") arrived, kanga on my back carrying books we were donating to the school as you can see in my photo above. Ladies shirts and T-shirts must also have sleeves that come below the shoulder (no sleeveless T's here.)

Men should also be cultural conscious by wearing long pants as very few men in villages ever wear shorts. And short sleeve T-shirts or cotton shirts are the norm (no muscle man shirts please).

As far as footwear goes, most people in rural areas wear sandals or flip-flops, but take note that you'll do lots of walking in Kenya as most roads and paths are of dusty red soil, often uneven. If you are working in the hilly countryside like we are, paths can be narrow, stony and with lots of ups and downs, so you are advised to take sturdy shoes, your feet will thank you!

Finally, Richard Roth, a professor from Red Derr College with many years experience working in Kenya recommends that you do not bring camouflage patterned garments as he says the Kenyan government doesn't appreciate this clothing being worn by visitors.

Remember that we cannot impose our clothing norms on the countries and communities in which we are a guest. We must respect the culture we are visiting, so take appropriate clothing with you or purchase kangas or traditional clothing from local seamstresses in the village, you'll be accepted more readily if you do.

Leaving on a Jet Plane - Airfare and Baggage

As everyone knows the quickest way to Africa is by jet plane. And if you are like many of us, once you have experienced the beauty of the land and the friendliness of the African people, you need to go back, and back, and back. But travelling from Canada to Kenya is expensive, so we are always looking for the cheapest flights.

But benefits do exist for those who are travelling on humanitarian missions. We learned about "Fly For Good" from our Kenyan partner World Corps Kenya. Fly for Good is an organization that partners with airlines in offering discounted fares to those travelling to help others. We purchased the tickets for our flight last summer through Fly for Good.

In order to qualify, we registered our organization with Fly for Good, they checked us out and then once approved, we were able to check the airlines that participate for the best ticket price. It was a great help to us. If you head up an organization, you may want to consider registering. If you are a volunteer travelling on a voluntourism stint, you should see if the organization you are working with is registered (everyone likes saving money especially when you are working to help others).

We also have been learning that not all airlines are created equal in terms of baggage allowance and this is a great concern for those of us working abroad. We have lots of things that we want to take over for our various projects - school supplies, books, sewing materials, etc. When we went last summer we travelled with one airline and were charged a considerable amount for excess baggage which really adds up when you are paying for airfare as well (we only considered the airfare not baggage limits). Since our return, we learned that British Airways has a larger baggage allowance which means we can take more resources over to those in need. The key point here is that not only is it necessary to get the best airfare, it is also important to check out the baggage allowance too. It is easy to end up with lots of donated items to take over to Kenya and if you are not careful that great (or cheap) airfare suddenly is not so great once you get to the airport and the baggage charge is added to the ticket price. We have also heard that if you contact some of the airlines, they will give you permission for extra baggage if one is travelling for humanitarian causes.

The best course of action is to check out Fly for Good, look for the best airfare and ensure that the baggage allowance is the best it can be.