Internships

Spend 6-8 weeks in our homes across Kenya serving, playing, and working with our children and staff.

There are 2.6 million orphaned or vulnerable children in Kenya.
Come help us love, nurture, and provide hope for some of them.

Twende Let's Go!

Twende means “Let’s Go” in KiSwahili, one of the national languages of Kenya.

Chariots for Hope’s “Twende Summer Internship” is an opportunity for interns to use their gifts, experiences, and skills to directly impact the lives of children living in one of our eight children’s homes.

Interning with Chariots for Hope will expand an intern’s worldview and challenge them to serve in new ways that may be unfamiliar and foreign.

In addition, interns will gain real life job experience to provide them with the skills that they can then apply to any job in their future.

So future interns, as you choose to step out of your comfort zone, would you consider joining us to be an integral part of Chariots for Hope work in loving, nurturing, and providing hope for vulnerable and orphaned children?

photographer on a chariots trip

2023 Open Intern Positions

A life-changing experience.

Photographer

Travel to several children’s homes documenting their story of everyday life and taking photographs for Chariots’ communication purposes. Will work closely with Chariot’s for Hope communications manager.

Teacher

Preschool, Elementary and Middle School teachers will support our Kenyan teachers in the classroom and work individually with students who are having trouble with their academics.

Youth Pastors

Visit our high school students in various boarding schools to offer encouragement and support. Possibly plan a few youth camps as well.

Occupational Therapist

Work with several children at one or two homes who are in need of occupational therapy.

Social Worker

Support our social workers in Kenya as they do home visit assessments and work with our children who need emotional support.

Internship Details

Overview

Chariots interns are placed in small teams to spend 6-8 weeks living in our homes across Kenya. This allows them to immerse more effectively into the culture of our homes and allows the interns to have a more influential experience. The number of homes our interns serve at will depend on the specific internship positions.

There is a financial commitment. Each intern is required to raise $4,300. This includes orientation, airfare, visas, debriefing safari and in-country expenses. This does not include passport, preventative malaria pills, vaccinations or transportation to and from Chariots’ offices in Dresher, PA. We understand this can be a lot of money for a college student yet our interns have always said that this internship experience is worth the financial investment.

2023 Timeline

Application Deadline

December 31, 2022

Interviews

January 2023

Team Finalized

January 2023

Trip Tentative Dates

June 8 –July 20, 2023

Duties & Activities

Orientation: Interns will spend their first few days at the Chariots for Hope U.S. offices in the suburbs of Philadelphia and their first few days in Kenya learning more about our non-profit organization, cultural norms and getting to know one another.

Internship Positions: Each one of our internship positions will determine the focus of your responsibilities in Kenya. However, there are other daily activities you will be doing regardless of which position you fulfill. Those are described below.

  1. Supporting the staff: Whether interns are at a baby home or a children’s home working alongside our staff is a vital role. This may mean you are helping in the kitchen, cleaning or washing clothes by hand. This also means that the days are long and sleep is precious.
  2. Devotions: Each home has devotions daily. Interns are expected to participate and possibly lead devotions.
  3. Homework: At the children’s homes, interns will assist the children with their homework each evening.

Debriefing: Interns will spend their last days in Kenya on a safari as they began to debrief their experience. Their first 36 hours back in the U.S. will also be spent with Chariots for Hope staff as this is a critical time for us to hear your feedback and reports from the homes as well as assisting with reverse culture-shock.

Qualifications

International Travel

Or significant cross-culture experience

College Students

Who are qualified for one of our internship positions (upperclassman preferred).

Same Values

Stand by the mission, vision and values of Chariots for Hope.

Clear Background

Interns will be required to submit a child abuse clearance, criminal background check and sign the Internship Covenant.

Application Process

FAQ

Chariots follows the current CDC guidelines for COVID vaccines, masks, and other restrictions. Please check for Kenya's most common restrictions and requirements by navigating to the US Department of State. In addition to the most up-to-date requirements, we highly recommend that all travelers are vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to keep our staff and children safe as well as eliminate additional travel complications and costs associated with testing.

As with traveling anywhere in the world today, there is no guarantee of safety. Chariots receives emails from the U.S. Embassy regarding safety concern, we have contacts within Kenya who are able to immediately help if there is an emergency.
Communication will be limited. This is sometimes due to a lack of internet connection at some of the homes. In general, Chariots strongly encourages interns to unplug while they are in Kenya except for the few required email updates interns will send back to their supporters. Interns leaders will have regular and consistent communication with the Chariots for Hope US office in case interns need to be contacted immediately.
We help interns write a support letter (electronic or snail mail) and provide response cards and envelopes. We are available to brainstorm other methods of support raising with each intern based on their support system.
There is no typical day for an intern. However the children have a pretty consistent routine during the week of rising with the sun, heading to school after breakfast, coming back to the home for their hour lunch break and then returning to school for a few more hours. The evenings are spent playing, bathing, eating supper, having family devotions and studying.