Who are We?

KIDS was started by a core group of dedicated social workers, all who are inspired by ideals of dedicating their lives to the upliftment of needy children and the philosophy of Neo-Humanism.

Kate Ericksen (the founder) started this website in 2003 whilst on a 6 month "holiday" in Brazil, where she and her husband were researching possibilities into starting an orphanage. In the end, they decided to help the existing childrens homes that they visited, and the idea of Kids Worldwide was born.

Overall Director and Web Designer: Kate Ericksen
Prior to her trip to Brazil, where Kids Worldwide was born, Kate was the director of Lotus Childrens Centre in Ghana for 4 years. She was also involved in running pre-school programmes in Kenya and South Africa for 3 years. Currently, Kate is back in New Zealand teaching technology to 11-13 year old children. She maintains communication with all project directors and volunteer coordinators associated with projects affiliated with Kids Worldwide. She designs the majority of the Kids Worldwide website and is instrumental in establishing a childrens home project in the Philippines with her husband Jay.

West Africa Supervisor: Jenna J. Smith
Jenna volunteered at Ejura (in Ghana) two times, in 2004 and 2005. Jenna helps advertise for KIDS Worldwide and was the volunteer coordinator for Ejura for 4 years, finally handing over in early 2009. At home in Canada she has volunteered a lot, mostly with children and those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. She currently works for an international training organisation in Canada.

Asia Supervisor: Didi Manika
Didi hails from Bali, Indonesia where she was involved in tsunami relief work in Banda Aceh in 2004/5. Didi moved to New Zealand in 2005 and is involved in womens refuge work as well as being a full time yoga teacher for Ananda Marga. Didi has taken up the job of being a supervisor for the Asian projects in Kids Worldwide since October 2006.

East Africa Supervisor: Jay Lopena
Jay has lived in a variety of countries on the African and South American continents over the last 20 years. Originally from the Philippines, Jay currently lives in New Zealand. Along with Kate (rthe director), he is working on the establishment of a childrens home in the Philippines.

Volunteer Coordinators - West Africa

Ghana - Lotus Childrens Centre: Carolyn O'Hanlon
Carolyn lives in Manchester, England. She volunteered at Lotus
School, Ghana at the beginning of 2008. She found everyone at Lotus to be so kind and the country so vibrant and beautiful . When she returned home she wanted to volunteer as co-ordinator for Lotus to help out in a small way. She is currently doing part time study in permaculture; a sustainable form of food production, and would love to bring those ideas to Ghana one day.

Ghana - Ejura Primary School: Caroline Montpetit
Caroline has worked for human rights associations as a Communications Project Officer in Morroco as well as working at the Canadian International Development Agency in children’s rights. She is the Vice-President of a food bank in her community and will be returning to Ejura in May 2009. Whilst in Ejura, she will be completing research for her Bachelor in International Development.

Ghana - Daddy's Day Care Centre: Joanna Merrett
Joanna has a Higher Education Diploma in Psychology and a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Sociology. She has worked with nursery age children for several years and worked in a respite centre for disabled children.Her current mission is working towards getting a computer lab into every school in Ghana. In 2008, she organised 156 computers to be sent over and this year and next will be returning on regular trips to start teacher training using the computers. Joanna is also working with a small group of teachers who have worked in the UK and Ghana to promote school links in Ghana and the UK.

Ghana - Green Pastures: Eliana Ritts
Eliana volunteered at Green Pastures in 2008. She loves exploring
other places and cultures, and has traveled in Europe, Asia, and
Africa. She has been part of many volunteer projects, both
internationally and at home. Eliana currently studies international
business at the University of Pennsylvania, USA

Ghana - Cosmic Academy: Matthew Squire
Matthew lives in Vancouver, Canada where he is studying International Relations and French at the University of British Columbia. He volunteered at Cosmic Academy in 2007 where he fell in love with the school, the children and the country of Ghana. He loves to travel and experience new cultures. Matthew will be studying at Sciences Po in Paris, France for a full year beginning in September 2008. He looks forward to returning to Africa soon to continue his travels.

Ghana - Kwatafo and Tintinto : Ulises Huerta
Born in Mexico City, Ulises immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1998. His passion for Africa took him to Kwahu Tafo in Ghana where he volunteered from January to June 2007. He is a strong supporter of developmental initiatives that have women as central players. At home, he is the founder and president of Equalitad (www.equalitad.org) a non-for-profit foundation that supports essential initiatives that have a vast impact on the health of rural communities in Ghana and Burkina Faso. He begins a Masters in International Health at Uppsala University in Sweden in August 2008.

Ghana - Golden Era School: Dave Booth
Dave is 22 and comes from Aberdeen (Scotland). He decided to become the volunteer coordinator after spending 3 months at Golden Era in Sep 2007 and falling in love with the school and the children.

Ghana - Triumph School: Heartwill Lawson
Lawson grew up in Togo where he attained his education. He came to Ghana through Ananda Marga mission and studied in the Neo-Humanism Training Center at Ejura (one of the projects on this website). He served as a full-time volunteer in Cape-Coast and also at Ejura Primary School for two years. In 2008 he moved to Uruguay (South America) to live, where he is currently based.

Ghana - clinics: Dada Daneshananda
Dada is the project coordinator for AMURT projects in Ghana. He has lived in Africa since 2000 and is based in Accra. Dada is in charge of a water project in the Volta Region as well as communicates with all volunteers interested in assisting in the medical projects in the villages. Before going to Ghana, Dada lived for many years in the USA as well as the Philippines. He is originally from Norway.

Sierra Leone - Rhema: Spencer Sekyer
Spencer Sekyer obtained his Bachelor of Physical Education and Bachelor of Education degrees in 1991 and 1992 respectively at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Spencer is passionate about helping in areas of need in the world. He enjoys many sports and along with his wife Dr. Christie MascDonald, a chiropractor, and their dogs, they enjoy spending their spare time pursuing outdoor activities.

Sierra Leone - Children in Christ: Collins Rich
Collins is married with two children. He lives in Freetown and recently started up Children in Christ Services. Prior to running his own organisation, Collins helped communicate with volunteers interested in going to Rhema Preparatory school.

Liberia- F-SHAM: George Dayrell
George lives in Monrovia where he is studying law. He is keen to further Kids WW projects in Liberia and currently communicates with volunteers who are interested in going to F-SHAM Girls Academy.

Cameroon - UAC: Kristine Randall
Kristine volunteered for three months at United Action for Children in Cameroon where she fell in love with the people, culture and community of West Africa. Now living in Québec, Canada, she is working on launching a fundraiser to raise awareness among secondary school students about education issues in developing countries and to support schools such as the one run by UAC. Kristine studied International Relations, speaks fluent English and French and looks forward to returning to Africa and continuing her travels around the world.

Volunteer Coordinators - East Africa

Tanzania - Good Hope Orphanage: Nelson Mbise & Michele Wong
Nelson and Michele are the local and international volunteer coordinators respectively. Nelson lives in Arusha and runs a company called Focus in Africa which organizes treks and safaris, but if the tourist decides to volunteer he directs them to the orphanage and all costs go directly there.

Michele volunteered for the Good Hope Orphanage in Arusha, Tanzania for two months and fell in love with the children and all those involved in the project. She lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada however she is still dedicated to ensuring a good future for the place that changed her heart, soul and life

Tanzania - Watoto wa Africa & Hands for Mercy: Jo O’Sullivan
Jo is from Sydney, Australia, and originally volunteered through Kids Worldwide for an intended 3 months. Instead she spent two and a half years there, and just moved to Sierra Leone in Sep 08. Jo has a degree in Psychology and is currently completing her Masters in International and Community Development. She has a number of years experience in community based work in Australia and internationally. Jo currently coordinates the volunteer programs for both Watoto wa Africa and Hands of Mercy, and has been working with both organizations to expand and develop their projects.

Uganda - St Isaacs: Emma Young Emma split her time in early 2006 between the El-Shadai Family Foster Home (pictured here) and the St. Paul/KAASO projects in Uganda. She returned in 2007 to see further progress. Emma is a certified Emergency Medical Technician with a Master's degree in Sociology. At home in the Washington DC area of the United States, Emma volunteers as Vice President on the Board of Iona's Home, Inc., a non-profit working to start a children's shelter in Gulu, Uganda. For the past three years she and her husband have been respite and emergency foster parents, providing a short-term home to children in need.

Uganda - St Paul KAASO: Casey Welch & Kate Smallacombe
Kate & Casey are both from Australia, spent three months in Uganda in 07, mostly at St Pauls KAASO, and a few weeks at El Shadai Foster home. They are sharing the volunteer co-ordinator role.

Casey is a horticulturalist and actor. She completed her horticulturalist apprenticeship in 04 and has since spent time travelling with Kate around New Zealand, Uganda, Ireland and Thailand. Whilst at KAASO she filmed a documentary based on opportunity and plans to show it as a motivational movie to high school students in Australia. She has a strong history in volunteer work with children and disability organisations and has a passion for good times.

Kate has an IT degree and is pursuing hopes of becoming a teacher. She has travelled around New Zealand, Uganda and most of Europe. Kate is trained in wilderness first aid and is active in a number of outdoor activities, including white water kayaking.

Uganda - URCSF: John Mary Lugemwa, OSB
John Mary grew up in Uganda, but currently lives in the United States. He has experience directing international volunteer programs for groups of college students groups as well as individuals from the U.S. He is currently a student St. John’s University in Minnesota pursuing degrees in Computer Science and Philosophy.

Uganda - Kinship House: Melissa Fricke
Melissa first came to Kinship in November 2006 after graduating from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania with a BA in International Relations and French. After four months at Kinship, she returned to her home in New York and formed a nonprofit organization, BULAinc, in order to raise the money necessary to rebuild the school attended by the majority of the Kinship children. After completing the school in June 2008, Melissa continues to maintain her close relationship with the children, the project, and the volunteers through her role as Volunteer Coordinator.

Volunteer Coordinators - Asian Projects

Nepal - Harka Orphan Home: Kat Kehrt
Kat volunteered at the Harka Orphan Home in the Fall of 2007. She fell inlove with all the kids at the home. One child touched her so much that she now sponsors him to attend a private school. She has travelled a lot throughout her life and volunteering has always been a huge part of her life. Kat is now studying anthropology at Green Mountain College in Vermont, USA.

Bali - Narayan Seva: AdrianaCurulla
Adriana is from Barcelona (Spain), where she is studying Public Relations and advertising at University. She loves travelling, especially around Asia. Adriana spent 6 weeks in Bali in 2007 and fell in love with the culture and especially with the children. She has been volunteer coordinator since October 2007 and feels it is a good way to keep in touch with the home. She looks forward to travel to Bali again someday.

India -Mother Teresa Handicapped Childrens Home: Lysianne Robbiani
Born and living in Switzerland, Lysianne has a Diploma in special education and works with disabled children and teenagers in Switzerland. She spent 7 months in Udumalpet volunteering at Mother Teresa, along with the people at the school.

India - Shillong, Uma Nivas, Jaipur & Trivandrum: Malati
Malati is orginally from England, but has been working in India for over 15 years, learning about the culture, the languages and the people. Five years ago she started a programme to help provide infrastructure to struggling village schools and has since arranged funds for many schools to help them to become self-sufficient.

Volunteer Coordinators -South America

Haiti - CENEOH: Sophia Klassen
Sophia hails from Germany. She will be at CENEOH until the end of 2008.

Brazil - Casa do Caminho: Bart Bijen
Bart was the first volunteer coordinator for Brazil when he spent 6 months at Casa do Caminho from September '03 to March '04. Following his stay in Brazil, Bart travelled around South America. Whilst in Peru, Bart started a new street childrens centre in Huaraz. Bart then returned to the Netherlands in September 2004 to take up a business and management course at a local university. In 2007, Bart took over the management and directorship of Casa do Caminho in Brazil.

Spanish Translator: Luca Feigl
Luca volunteered at Casa do Caminho, in Brazil at the start of 2004. Originally from Italy, Luca now lives in Barcelona and is helping to translate the KIDS website into Spanish. He has also been busy advertising the website in Spanish websites in an attempt to attract more Spanish speaking volunteers to the projects in South America.

As we have been the managers of childrens homes and service projects ourselves, we know how hard it is to survive in a Third World country with the currency that is available there. Just day to day survival and collecting for the projects takes all the time and energy of the staff. There may be little time left over at the end of the day to give the individual attention that the children really need.

Donations from international volunteers make a world of difference. It allows the director to be temporarily freed from the vicious cycle of scurrying around finding sufficient food, medicine and materials for the kids, which is always a constant worry. The director can then focus on more quality care for the children and assisting the volunteer in providing the environment for this. Besides their donation, a volunteer is also providing love and care to children who desperately need it. Volunteers have received much inspiration from getting involved in the programs and many have formed new and deep core values about what is really important in their lives and their priorities.

A Volunteer-oriented Organisation

Unfortunately, exploiting the sincerity of the volunteer community has become a business opportunity for some organisations. They charge horrific programme fees for which there is no guarantee that any of the money that they collect will trickle down into the projects (and trickle it will be if it does ever reach there). We are totally opposed to this business-oriented approach. A volunteer is essentially paying someone a huge amount just to find a project for them to volunteer in, in a developing country. It is overlooked that volunteers are not getting paid during their service and these organisations collect from them accomodation fees which are the equivalent to what it may cost to live in a developed country! (When in reality living costs are about a quarter to a tenth of that in the West)

Applying through KIDS, you, as the volunteer, will know exactly where all costs and money are going. You will give your donation into the hands of the orphanage director yourself, and you will be paying for your food and accomodation at the true local rate. You will be arranging much needed supplies for the orphanage through your Treasure Hunt, which are not available in the local project site, or are way beyond the budgets of the orphanage.

There will be much exchange of emails before you arrive, in which instance you will find out what the needs of the specific childrens project are. Many volunteers are even able to collect more than they need or bring extra funds to buy supplies for a specific project which they may be being put in-charge of. The volunteers will account for this back to their sponsors and donors in their home country.

Assisting Childrens Projects Around the World

There are still so many unknown and unrecognised orphanages and schools doing service work around the world, who are struggling to survive and provide the care that they wish to. With the arrival of international volunteers into their projects, they will be able to realise some more of their objectives.

Many directors are unfamiliar and unconfident with the internet (we know because we were once too!) Besides this they don't have the luxury of having regular access to computers and the internet. We intend to help them with this by organising volunteers to assist in e-communications (Volunteer coordinators) and improving the living conditions of the children and the opportunities afforded them.