Sun Peaks local Katja Roberts heads to Kenya 

Sun Peaks resident Katja Roberts is on her way to Kenya for a volunteering project with Developing World Connections (DWC). 

DWC is a Canadian non-profit based in Kamloops that connects volunteers all over the world with sustainable development projects in communities. Founded in 2004, DWC’s main mission is to support initiatives in education, infrastructure, clean water and economic development. 

Roberts came across a job posting from DWC last year and started doing her research. 

“Their vision and mission inspired me,” Roberts said. “It’s a great organization to work for and to help with poverty eradication, social justice and global engagement is a pretty inspiring mission to support. So that really got me into thinking that this is a great cause to support and more people should get involved.” 

In June, Roberts is going to Naro Moru, a town in Kenya, three hours south of Nairobi, to help build new classrooms. She is looking forward to meeting the community, especially children, and seeing for herself how different the standards in Kenya and Canada are. 

“The anticipation is definitely growing,” Roberts said. “We’re the first team, it’s a brand new project that we are supporting with our local host partner in Kenya and with local laborers. We are going to be pouring the foundation by hand.”

For others interested in getting involved, Roberts said there is a “broad scope” of things you can do to get volunteering. 

“I definitely think that it’s worth getting involved and helping in any way, shape or form, whether it’s just a dollar,” Roberts said. “What we take for granted every day is definitely not what other people have access to. I would love to see involvement from people getting interested and helping with the poverty eradication and supporting social justice and getting engaged.”