Looking for a meaningful internship or attachment in Kenya? Lifesong Kenya offers supervised student placements in social work, counselling, education, health, IT, sports, and more. Learn why Lifesong Kenya’s internship, attachment and volunteer opportunities provides you a chance to go beyond ticking the boxes that are required for earning your degree.
Every semester, thousands of Kenyan students complete internships, industrial attachments, and service-learning placements that feel like box-ticking exercises. They vanish in the shadows by filing paper work, observing and when they leave, they leave wondering if any of it mattered at all.
At Lifesong Kenya, we do placements differently.
We are a community-based organization that is based in Kajiado County, Kenya. We operate a Halfway House for vulnerable boys and running programmes that address the deep roots of trauma, identity, and purpose. When you join us as a student, you don’t just gain hours towards earning your degree. You gain a front-row seat to transformation — and you become part of it.
Our mission is simple: to be a beacon of hope, healing and transformation, where individuals can heal, regain their strength and rewrite the stories of their lives. Our vision is bolder: a Kenya where every boy, regardless of his background or brokenness, has access to the love, guidance and opportunity he needs to become a purposeful, contributing man.
If you’re a student or an institution looking for a placement partner that offers substance, supervision, and soul — keep reading.
Our Internship, Attachment and Volunteer Opportunities
Before you apply for our internship, attachment and volunteer opportunities, you should know what you would be walking into. Lifesong Kenya runs four core programmes that offers distinct placement opportunities for students:
1. Halfway House
Our Halfway House in Ngong provides a safe, structured housing for boys who have experienced neglect, exploitation, violence, family breakdown, abuse, stigma and trauma. During their stay, we offer:
- 24/7 house-parent supervision
- Three nutritious meals daily
- Healthcare and clothing
- Individual care plans for every resident
- Life skills training in coding, bicycle repair and other vocational skills
Student role: Assisting with daily care routines, develop activity schedules, support life skills workshops and contribute to care plan documentation.
2. Keeping Boys in School
Education is our most powerful long-term intervention. We cover school fees, uniforms, books, and stationery. We provide weekly tutoring, mentoring, coaching, and career guidance — following every boy from primary school through to university or vocational training.
Student role: Tutoring in literacy and numeracy, develop lesson plans, mentor students, assist with career guidance sessions, and support our football sponsorship programme.
3. Transformative Justice
This is where theory meets the hardest reality. We visit boys in juvenile prison, run coaching programmes behind bars, trace their families, and facilitate reconciliation with those they’ve wronged. It’s restorative justice in action.
Student role: Co-facilitating prison sessions, assist with family tracing and mediation, document case histories and support reintegration planning.
4. Life Skills and Counselling
Our counselling programme addresses the emotional, psychological, and practical dimensions of growing up male in challenging circumstances. We offer:
- Individual trauma counselling
- Group therapy and emotional processing
- Financial literacy workshops
- Healthy masculinity and relationships training
- Leadership development
Student role: Co-facilitating counselling sessions (under supervision), lead group activities, design workshops and contribute to psychosocial assessments.
Placement Opportunities by Discipline
We welcome students from virtually every academic background. Here’s how your field of study maps to our needs:
Social Work & Community Development
- Case management and child protection assessments
- Community mapping and referral coordination
- Home visits and family tracing
- Documentation and reporting
- Supervised by qualified social worker; 200–600 hours available
Counselling Psychology / Clinical Psychology
- Individual and group counselling sessions
- Trauma-informed care and psychosocial assessments
- Case conferencing and treatment planning
- Supervised by registered counsellor; 350–1,000 hours available
Education / Teacher Training
- Tutoring and lesson planning
- Literacy and numeracy support
- Life skills education and classroom management
- Mentoring and coaching
- Supervised by education coordinator; 2–3 school terms available
Nursing and Community Health
- Health screenings and hygiene education
- Nutrition support and first aid training
- Health record keeping
- Supervised by health officer; clinical/community rotation hours
Business / Administration / IT
- Office administration and record management
- Report writing and grant documentation
- Social media, website, and communications support
- Fundraising and donor relations assistance
- Supervised by admin manager; 3–6 month attachment
Sports / Recreation / Outdoor Education
- Football coaching and physical fitness programmes
- Outdoor adventure facilitation (camping, hiking, team building)
- Supervised by sports coordinator; flexible hours
Agriculture / Environmental Studies
- Kitchen garden management and sustainable farming
- Animal husbandry (chickens, rabbits, goats)
- Environmental education and food security projects
- Supervised by programmes manager; project-based hours
Law / Criminology / Justice Studies
- Child justice advocacy and court support
- Legal documentation and policy research
- Rights education and restorative justice facilitation
- Supervised by programmes director; 200+ hours
What You’ll Get in Return
We understand that your placement is an academic requirement. But we also believe it should be a career-defining experience. Here’s what every student receives:
- Structured Supervision — A dedicated supervisor with relevant qualifications meets with you weekly to review progress, challenge your thinking, and ensure you’re learning.
- Individualized Learning Agreement — Within your first week, we co-create a Placement Plan that aligns your personal goals with our organisational needs and your institution’s requirements.
- Real-World Exposure — You’ll work directly with police, probation officers, chiefs, social workers, shelter staff, and court officials. This is how Kenya’s child protection system actually works.
- Direct Client Contact — Counselling and social work students accumulate the supervised client contact hours required for professional registration.
- Formal Evaluation — We complete mid-placement and end-of-placement assessments using your institution’s forms, and submit reports on time.
- Certificate of Completion & Reference Letter — Upon successful completion, you receive documentation that strengthens your CV and professional network.
- A Story That Matters — You’ll leave knowing that a boy stayed in school because of your tutoring, or healed from trauma because of your counselling, or found hope because you showed up.
For Institutions Looking Placements
If you are a Dean, Registrar, Field Placement Coordinator, or Industrial Liaison Officer who is looking for internship, attachment and volunteer opportunities for students, we want to formalize a partnership with your institution.
We have a comprehensive MoU template ready for execution, covering:
- Term and renewal (2–3 years, renewable)
- Obligations of both parties
- Student conduct and welfare
- Child safeguarding and protection protocols
- Health, safety, and insurance requirements
- Intellectual property and confidentiality
- Financial arrangements (voluntary placement; no fees)
- Termination and dispute resolution
How to Apply for Internship, Attahcment and Volunteer Opportunities
Students: Start the application process by filling a form on this link. The form takes a few minutes to complete. After filling the form, Send your CV, a brief cover letter explaining your field of study and placement requirements to the email address provided within the application form. If you don’t see a suitable position, kindly customize a position that suits your requirement.
Institutions: Email us to request our full Placement Proposal and MoU template. We would love to schedule a call or site visit.
The Bottom Line
Your education gave you theory. The boys in our Halfway House need you to bring it to life. Whether you’re counselling a teenager through trauma, tutoring a boy back into school, or designing a fundraising campaign that keeps our lights on — your placement at Lifesong Kenya will be measured not just in hours, but in lives changed.
Including your own.
Lifesong Kenya — A Beacon of Hope, Healing and Transformation.
