Local woman Lauren Jackson has big plans for her charity, after winning a scholarship with volunteering organisation IVHQ.
Ms Jackson originally embarked on a volunteering trip to Kenya in 2015, and on return she set up The Children of Maasai Educational Program, a charity which helps the children she worked with during her stay.
The scholarship she was recently awarded includes return flights to Kenya, and a two week volunteering program where she will be working in the same school as on her previous trip.
Ms Jackson has been fundraising for her charity since her return, through initiatives including a cake stall and raffle.
The charity recently awarded a scholarship to a student in Kenya, given to a girl who is currently in year seven and will fund her education until she finishes her schooling years.
“It was a memorial scholarship for a friend who passed away in a car accident at the beginning of last year,” she said.
“The money goes towards one child's schooling from whatever grade they are in when they receive the scholarship until the end of their education, to basically ensure that they have a full education.”
Ms Jackson said her next plans for the charity included two major projects that she hopes to start during her visit to Kenya.
“There are two things I am hoping to get done or at least started while I am there. The first one is to set up a feeding program,” she said.
“What we have found is that because the children and their families are so poor they will often come to school having not eaten and not only does it affect how they learn but it also effects their health.
“It would be quite an expensive program to run so it would be great to even just introduce it for the older kids, who are at school for a longer period of time during the day.”
Ms Jackson said she would also like to run a health clinic in Kenya, that the whole town can attend.
“There are a couple of NGOs that I have started talking to that would like to help to organise a clinic in the town centre for anyone to come and have general check ups and hopefully HIV testing, which is quite prevalent there,” she said.
To find out more about The Children of Maasai Educational Program or to donate visit their Facebook page or website: www.childrenofmaasai.org/