Bury officer swaps custody for Kenya

Tuesday, 03 March, 2009

A Bury St Edmunds Detention Officer is spending the next month volunteering in Kenya, helping children at a school in the suburbs of Mombasa.

Jenny Treacher will be spending five weeks working with street children aged between 5 and 17 at an educational centre, helping with meal times, playing sports with the youngsters, creating
activities, and teaching English and basic maths.

Jenny says, "I've been wanting to volunteer in Africa for ages. I studied the Third World at university and this opportunity with Norwich based company Original Volunteers is just what I
wanted to do. I will travel out to the rural area independently, meeting other volunteers out there with whom I will share a house and travel to our work placement together."

Whilst Jenny isn't a trained teacher, she hopes some of her skills and experiences from working in Central Custody will stand her in good stead. "My job involves looking after detainees' welfare from a range of ages and backgrounds, and in the past I have worked with children in schools with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. I'm pleased to offer my help to those who need it, and helping the children in Kenya will be a big personal achievement for me.

"Many of them have been displaced from other cities or countries, and will have lost contact with their families.

Some of them may be nervous around adults because of this, and may challenge
authority figures.

I plan to work with the younger children initially and as everyone's confidence grows I hope to be able to help the older ones with any exams they may be able to sit. I want to give them a bit of their childhood back."

Jenny has also been collecting football shirts to give to the children. "I sent an e-mail round to police officers and staff, and they've been very generous.

I've had shirts from sports clubs they are involved with and any old shirts they were willing to donate. The staff and cadets from Thurston Air Training Corps have kindly donated some stationery to take too.

I can't wait to take these donations out to the children, and I will be taking lots of pictures of them in their new kits to bring back to say thank you to everyone who has donated."

Custody Inspector Tristan Pepper says, "I am very pleased to be able to support Jenny in this trip - it will allow her to make a real difference in the community she is visiting, and I look forward to
seeing pictures and hearing all about her work when she returns in April."

Return to news menu