Congratulations on your decision to lead an immersion group

Were delighted to support you in developing a thoughtful and appropriate itinerary that enables your school group to walk respectfully alongside our partner communities. 

An immersion program that includes visits to our project partners isn’t about giving or observing from afar. It’s about walking alongside. Sharing stories. Seeing strength. Building understanding. And returning home changed. 

You’ll discovering that, no matter where we’re from, our paths are intertwined. 

 

Project Visits

Before you start planning your detailed itinerary, we suggest reviewing our project partners page to get familiar with the communities we work with.

If you’re travelling to Nairobi, Kenya, we recommend visiting the following projects:

Mary Rice Special Unit
Kurt Fearnley Special Needs Unit, Ruben Centre
Education Project, Ruben Centre
School Project, Edmund Rice Catholic Education Centre
Edmund Rice Dairies

 

If you’re travelling to Uganda, you might consider visiting St Joseph’s Kensekka Vocational Secondary School including:

Tailoring Hub 
WASH Project

Immersion Support Request

Please register to complete an Immersion Support Request by clicking the link or scanning the QR code below.

You’ll be directed to the CanYou app/webpage. Enter your email address, and you’ll receive a confirmation email to join the Edmund Rice Foundation CanYou where you can complete the Self-Guided School immersion onboarding.

  1. Register here

 

We’ll ask for important information, such as group size, travel dates, and activities. Don’t worry if these details aren’t firm – we can assist you along the way.

Fees and Expenses

While our team is on standby to help you plan an unforgettable immersion experience, costs associated with your immersion must be paid by the organiser and cannot be channelled through Edmund Rice Foundation. This includes the payment of deposits and invoices.

Administration Fee

To support your immersion experience, a $500 group administration fee is required for groups of up to 10. In addition, $150 per participant is required for on-the-ground support, partner coordination, safeguarding processes, and ensuring visits are well-paced and respectful of community capacity. 

If your group exceeds 10 people, an additional staff member is required, and an additional $500 group admin fee is payable.

These fees do not cover accommodation, meals, transport, or other travel costs.
Fees are invoiced once your immersion dates are confirmed and are payable before travel.
Expenses

On-site accommodation for our team members and/or guides working with the immersion group must be provided for the duration of the immersion.

Meals and any out-of-pocket expenses by our team members are to be covered by the organiser. Our immersion team will provide receipts where possible (recognising that some expenses in Nairobi are not receipted).

  1. Fundraising

  2. Most of the project partners we work alongside rely almost completely on donor funds to operate.  We strongly encourage you to choose a project to support and start raising funds before your trip.
  3. We’ll help you set a meaningful fundraising goal using our dedicated fundraising platform based on the project you choose to ensure the funds go where they are intended.
  4. Here’s some examples of goals to get you started:
$5,000 strengthens therapy services and specialist care for children living with disabilities
$10,000 improves accessible, inclusive learning spaces
$20,000 strengthens teacher training, classroom resources and transforms learning outcomes for a whole community

 

  1. Start fundraising
  1. How our team supports you

 

In addition to assisting with the planning of your trip and making bookings for things like meals, accommodation, transport and activities (should you require it) our team will:

• greet you on arrival, wearing their Edmund Rice Foundation branded clothing so they are easily recognised

• provide a briefing at the commencement of the immersion, outlining our work and the partner programs to be visited

• facilitate project visits

• stay with you for the duration of your immersion

A maximum ratio of 10:1 immersion participants will be supported by a single ERFA staff
member/guide.

Policies

Documents to read, sign and return include:

– Child Protection policy (read)
– ERFA safety and security policy (read)
– Child Protection code of conduct and Child Protection Policy self declaration form (read and sign)

 

Working with Children

  1. All participates aged 18+ will need to provide a copy of your Working with Children check (or your state equivalent). Further information for applications is available at:

Qld: https://www.bluecard.qld.gov.au
Vic: http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au
NSW: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-for-a-working-with-children-checkhttps://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/working-with-children-check