Annual solidarity expedition
The La Vall volunteering project in Shariani, Kenya
The La Vall volunteering project in Kenya is an annual educational and solidarity expedition held every June, immediately following university entrance examinations. Year 13 students from La Vall school (Bellaterra, Barcelona) travel to Shariani Primary School (Kilifi County, Kenya) for two weeks to execute physical facility improvements agreed upon with and funded by the community throughout the school year.
How the project runs throughout the year
Preparation and awareness (September - May)
Year 13 students lead school fundraising events, community awareness drives and project coordination to finance materials.
Prioritization with Shariani staff
In ongoing communication with Shariani’s leadership and teachers, priority infrastructure needs are finalized: desks, classrooms, walls or hygiene.
On-the-ground expedition (June)
Following university entrance exams, students and teachers travel to Kilifi for two weeks of intensive work alongside local builders and families.
Evaluation and handover
The project is continuous: each senior class passes the baton to the next cohort to ensure sustainable long-term development.
Daily life during the two weeks in Kilifi
During their stay in Shariani, volunteers combine physical construction and renovation with educational activities. Mornings are devoted to physical labor: sanding, varnishing and assembling desks with local carpenters, plastering classrooms and building sections of the security perimeter wall.
Afternoons feature oral hygiene workshops, reading sessions and games with the school’s 1,200 pupils. The close partnership creates an enduring lesson in empathy, resilience and shared humanity.
Tangible projects built during expeditions
Wooden school desks and benches
Crafted with local Kilifi carpenters to replace broken benches and provide proper learning stations.
Oral hygiene workshops
Toothbrush distribution and interactive hygiene workshops for hundreds of primary students.
300 school skirts project
Production and delivery of tailored uniform skirts to support girls’ consistent attendance in school.
Perimeter security wall
Construction of a protective fence to ensure a safe learning environment for students and teachers.
Voices from the educational community
“You travel to Shariani thinking you are going to help, and you come back knowing you received far more than you gave. Seeing the children learning at the desks we built together is the greatest reward.”
“The commitment of La Vall students is not a fleeting visit: it is a relationship of deep trust renewed every June that genuinely improves our school.”
Support the upcoming Shariani expedition
Every donation directly purchases the physical materials volunteers will install during the next expedition.