To our visitors from around the world,
A warm greeting, Karibuni.
Welcome to Watamu. Feel at home.
We are happy you chose to visit this very special and beautiful part of the planet, known as the Gede-Watamu area of the coastal region of Kenya.
As our guests, we would like to welcome you and wish you all the best during your stay. We hope you enjoy yourselves and that you will return many times to visit us.
 We would like to share with you some of our community work and our community concerns, through these pages on "Watamu Causes". We think this information will enrich your visit with us.
We would like to encourage you to support any of the "causes" explained on these pages. These are all community groups, made up of local people who have taken the initiative to use their own resources, especially their time, to try to make a difference in their communities. Perhaps many of you have worked as volunteers in your home communities. You know how big a contribution volunteer work can make to community improvement.
 Here in the Gede-Watamu area, the need for volunteers and community groups to work together is crucial, due to the many problems we face and the fact that we receive limited support from the government in meeting our basic needs for health, education, environmental protection, prevention of HIV/AIDS and care for those living with AIDS.
The gap between the average standard of living for Kenyans and those of you who come from Europe, Canada, Australia or the United States is obvious. Many of you want to help, especially the children, who often face difficulties in paying school fees and who lack school supplies and textbooks.
We appreciate your concern, but we would like to make some suggestions for how to help and how NOT to help.
The best way to help is to donate funds to ANY of the groups on this web site whose work interests you. You can arrange to meet with them and hear and see some of the work they are doing. Contact each group about how to donate.
The way NOT to help is to bring or buy treats such as candy, pens, books, small toys, etc and hand them out to children. Think about it for a minute. Would you want your own children to be encouraged to go out and beg from visitors?
Handing out goodies, although well-intentioned, develops a very negative, dependent attitude in young children, who then see begging as an easy way to get what they want. It undermines the importance of their own families who cannot afford to provide these treats. It encourages children to be absent from or even drop out of school, to look for tourists who will give them hand outs. Some children become "beach boys" and make a life out of trying to get something from tourists. Some youth even sell their bodies in return for money and/or gifts. Please consider the long term impact of handing out goodies to children. You can help by working with established community groups and your support is greatly appreciated.
To find out more about community work, please read these pages. You can contact some of the groups even before you arrive and arrange for community visits.
Thank you and enjoy your visit.
Community groups in Watamu-Gede, Kenya |
