Giving Back

We appre­ci­ate the pow­er of the com­mu­ni­ty that allows the Lamu Yoga Fes­ti­val to thrive — it would not be a suc­cess­ful project oth­er­wise. We strive to do our part, and we ask you, our par­tic­i­pants, to help. Please check out our four sup­port­ed local ini­tia­tives, pick one (or more!), and help us Give Back by either donat­ing direct­ly to the orga­ni­za­tion or when you fill out your reg­is­tra­tion form. 

Asante sana! Thank you!

Safari Doctors

Safari Doc­tors improves access to health­care for remote and mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties in Lamu Coun­ty. Every month, the ded­i­cat­ed team sets sail under a full moon on a boat loaded with med­i­cines. They trav­el to iso­lat­ed vil­lages, set­ting up mobile clin­ics and pro­vid­ing health ser­vices for hun­dreds of peo­ple who would strug­gle to access them. In 2017, the UN in Kenya award­ed the Safari Doc­tors team the Unit­ed Nations Per­son of the Year award, “for the out­stand­ing efforts and com­mend­able work pro­vid­ing med­ical care to mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties in the far reach­ing areas of Lamu.” Please feel free to drop by their offices in Shela, vis­it their gift shop at the Sea Suq or join their #Jour­ney­For­Change by sup­port­ing a med­ical sail here.

Safari Doctors collaboration with Lamu Yoga FestivalSafari Doctors collaboration with Lamu Yoga FestivalSafari Doctors collaboration with Lamu Yoga Festival

Donate to Safari Doc­tors online

Anidan

Lamu Yoga Festival supports Anidan

Anidan is a non-gov­ern­men­tal devel­op­ment organ­i­sa­tion found­ed by Rafael Selas Col­orado to care for the needs of young chil­dren in Kenya. On the island of Lamu, off the north­ern coast, he has a Shel­ter where he hous­es over 140 chil­dren but feeds, dress­es, cares for and edu­cates around 250.

Since March 2008, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Pablo Horstmann Foun­da­tion, he runs a pedi­atric hos­pi­tal which sees more than 17,000 patients a year in the hos­pi­tal premis­es and thou­sands more in extend­ed san­i­tary cam­paigns.

After a decade, our main efforts are devot­ed to help­ing the most vul­ner­a­ble, the chil­dren. Being an indi­gent child, aban­doned or orphan, being exposed to mis­treat­ment or any ill­ness­es impos­si­ble to be cured in their own envi­ron­ment, is enough rea­son for being tak­en in by Anidan. The most threat­ened come direct­ly to our dor­mi­to­ries.

Most of the fund­ing for the orga­ni­za­tion comes from Anidan Spain and its part­ner orga­ni­za­tions: Pablo Horstmann Foun­da­tion and Anidan Italy.

We aim to ensure edu­ca­tion, from kinder­garten through sec­ondary, col­lege and supe­ri­or stud­ies.

Anidan also has a micro­cre­d­it project for women that has empow­ered poor and des­ti­tute women to sup­port them­selves and their chil­dren.

Lamu Yoga Festival supports Anidan

Donate to Anidan online

Bright Girls Secondary School

Lamu Yoga Festival supports Shela Bright Girls secondary schoolLamu Yoga Festival supports Shela Bright Girls secondary school

Bright Girls Sec­ondary School was estab­lished in Shela in 2010, with funds pro­vid­ed by the gov­ern­ment, the com­mu­ni­ty and oth­er donors.

The high pover­ty index in the region often leads stu­dents to drop out due to lack of fees, and girls face addi­tion­al chal­lenges to stay­ing in school, like ear­ly mar­riage.

In 2010 there were only eight stu­dents; by 2013, 135 girls sat for the nation­al exam­i­na­tions. There are cur­rent­ly over 150 stu­dents that num­ber is expect­ed to rise with grow­ing demand. Most of these girls come from pover­ty, often a dis­tance from where the school is.

Banana House and Well­ness Cen­ter & Hands Up for Kids have pro­vid­ed the girls with san­i­tary pads and yoga lessons, help­ing them stay healthy and focused on their stud­ies.

To help, please bring san­i­tary pads to donate at the bazaar dur­ing the fes­ti­val, or choose to add 500 KSH to your invoice for Bright Girls Sec­ondary School dur­ing reg­is­tra­tion.

Reg­is­ter Now

Lamu Community Yoga

Lamu Yoga Festival supports Shela Bright Girls secondary school

We believe yoga should be acces­si­ble to every­one, so we are proud to sup­port free com­mu­ni­ty yoga class­es. Africa Yoga Project teacher Pas­ka Atim John teach­es yoga to local adults and chil­dren in Lamu Town and Shela.

To help sus­tain the effort, we are using 250 KSH from each tick­et toward sup­port­ing the teacher. With your help, we hope to fund the ini­tia­tive for a full year.

To sup­port, you can choose to donate 500 KHS (less than the price of one yoga class in Nairo­bi) on your reg­is­tra­tion form.

Lamu Yoga Festival partners