Habari ~ Welcome!

AVIF is an innovative online charity, assisting with sustainable development via online & onsite volunteering in rural Kenya, East Africa. Being virtual means negligible administration costs for worldwide impact. We believe in efficiency, honesty and transparency. We don't charge fees.

[Panorama shot above by Simon Gardner, a volunteer, taken minutes before the storm hit him while cycling through Kenya on the Tour d'Afrique. His full journal and pictures are here].

Branching out into the Amazon

Written by Alison | 09 July 2010

AVIF are taking a bold new step into environmental and arts volunteering, joining forces with a deprived riberinho (river people) community in the Brazilian Amazon. Working with world-renowned composer and cellist, Diego Carneiro, founder of AmazonArt, we need volunteer teachers with a love for the arts; musical or simply creative, to help teach in an incredible, small but inspiring school in Combu, reachable only by boat, a relatively short journey from the city of Belém.

Ben with the Brazilian Ensemble in Nidderdale July 2010 (Diego 2nd right)

Established in 1998 the school sought to provide social and cultural development for the residents and children unable to access facilities in Belém. The school soon became the heart of the community and provides education centred around valuing and protecting the local traditions and environment. Diego Carneiro founded his charity AmazonArt to employ music and art to inspire understanding and promote the protection of the rainforest and river.

Volunteers can spend time both educating and learning with a view to assisting further development of the school. As can be expected the area is plagued by mosquitos and malaria and the current building needs windows and netting amongst other things.

More photos of the area are available on Panoramia [courtesy of Rodrigo Macedo Lopes]