Click here to see a list of our funders.

The number of people involved in Otesha are too many to count! However, the main actors are the seven full-time staff who coordinate and implement The Otesha Project's core activities, and the more than 350 volunteers that participate on Bicycle Tours and Triple-H Programs.

Jess and Joss met in Kenya, where they started the project in February of 2002, and in October 2002 they decided that the experience they were having was sooooo awesome that they needed to share it. And what better way to do that than to bring together awesome youth to enact the Otesha dream together? So they sent out an email invitation that ended up going all over the world! Everyone heard about it from different sources - whether through listserves or forwards, presentations right in their classes, flyers in organic food boxes, or random web surfing... over 100 people applied to join the team, and out of a really cool self-selection process came the first ever Cycling and Performing Team. That was 7 years ago now, and from there it has spread by many mediums, but mainly via word of mouth! So pass the word on!

There are tons of ways to get involved with us! Click here for a list of volunteer opportunities. As far as jobs and internships go, we are still a small organization with a limited funding base... That said, jobs and internships to become available periodically.  Signing up for Otesha's e-newsletter is a guaranteed way to stay in the loop of when we are hiring, and when volunteer positions arise!

Luckily, Otesha has been blessed with awesome web designers... Originally Joss and Jess created their own website which was... well... let's see... a website only the creators could love. Hence the offer by Loki Design Labs to redo the website voluntarily, as the "cause was so good, and the website was so bad" that it was their duty as designers to redo it! Jess and Joss wrote most of the content; Natasha Geerts (natasha@typeleft.com), continues to perform her magic with the website, our multimedia shows, and other assorted design needs; and recently Izaak Branderhorst (izaak@victoria.tc.ca), has joined the party, bringing all programming required. And ta-da, you see the finished product before you!

Great question... When we first started the end of the road was so clear, but the actual path... well it was like trying to find your way on a cloudy night in the desert with a broken compass. Luckily, there were many people who volunteered their time and expertise to help us find our way. We called and met with over 40 organizations to learn about what was being done, and how we could go about achieving our goals (many of these awesome and generous groups are under our links section). We also read a lot of books ('Grant Writing for Dummies' was a starter!), and went through a lot of trial and error, late nights, and ecstatic moments - eventually finding methods and practices that worked best for us. If you need any info about how to get your own project off the ground, a great place to start is the Youth Environmental Network, and/or local organizations in your community. The more groups that work together the better!

Otesha is a Swahili word, which is the native language of Kenya, and means "reason to dream". This name was chosen as the project began in Kenya, and the co-founders' experience there inspired them to start Otesha.

The members of the Otesha Project vary in age from 13 to 35. However, those who have joined the movement through their everyday actions are of every age, from 6 to 96... with everyone being young at heart