🎉 New Exhibition: Origins — The Story of Humanity at Nairobi National Museum — Open now through March 2026. Book Tickets
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🤝 NMK — Community, Education & Support

Be Part of
Kenya's National Memory

Learn, teach, give, volunteer, and help preserve Kenya's extraordinary heritage — there is a place for everyone in the NMK community.

🏛️ Membership
❤️ Donate
🎓 Education
📚 Lesson Plans
🏫 School Visits
🔬 Citizen Science
🙋 Volunteer
🤝 Sponsor
🌍 Community

Nine Ways to Be Part of NMK

From classroom learning to heritage conservation — find your place in Kenya's national memory.

🏛️
Membership
Free entry to all 22 museums. From KSh 2,400/year.
Join Now
❤️
Donate
Fund digitisation, conservation, and education.
Give Today
🎓
Education
600+ CBC-aligned lesson plans. Free for teachers.
Browse Resources
🔬
Citizen Science
Transcribe archives. Identify species. Add context.
Start Contributing
🏫
School Visits
Book a guided museum visit for your class.
Book a Visit
🙋
Volunteer
Give your time and skills to Kenya's heritage.
Get Involved
🤝
Sponsor & Partner
Align your brand with Kenya's national heritage.
Partnership Info
💻
Virtual Learning
Museum experiences for schools anywhere in Kenya.
Start Learning
🌍
Community Hub
Contribute oral history, local knowledge, and community memory.
Share Your Story

Become a Museum Member

Free admission, exclusive access, and the knowledge that you're supporting Kenya's national heritage for generations to come.

Digital Member
Digital
KSh 2,400 / year
Full digital platform access plus exclusive content. Designed for diaspora, international supporters, and digital-first users.
High-resolution collection downloads
Member-exclusive editorial content
Monthly member newsletter
Named in annual report
Free museum admission
Priority event booking
KSh 200/month · Billed annually
Heritage Patron
Patron
KSh 24,000 / year
For serious supporters who want a deeper relationship with NMK — including behind-the-scenes access and curator encounters.
All Museum Member benefits
Annual behind-the-scenes curator tour
Invitation to annual Heritage Patron Dinner
Named in Heritage Patron register
Free unlimited guests at all museums
Early access to new collection releases
KSh 2,000/month · Billed annually
Full Benefits Comparison
Benefit Digital Museum ★ Patron
Free admission — all 22 museums
Guest passes per visit1 guestUnlimited
Priority event booking
High-resolution collection downloads
Exclusive digital content
Member newsletter
Museum shop discount10%15%
Member preview events
Behind-the-scenes curator tour
Heritage Patron Dinner invitation
Named in Heritage Patron register

Choose a Project to Fund

Named, specific, trackable giving opportunities — see exactly what your gift achieves and follow the progress of funded projects.

🏫
Education
Fund a Rural School Visit
Sponsor a complete school visit to Nairobi National Museum for a class of 40 students from a rural school that would otherwise never encounter Kenya's heritage in person. Includes transport contribution, admission, and learning materials.
41 visits fundedTarget: 50 this term
🏯
Conservation
Fort Jesus Stone Conservation
Contribute to the urgent conservation of Fort Jesus's northern bastion — the wall section most exposed to Indian Ocean sea erosion and most in need of stabilisation to protect this UNESCO World Heritage Site for future generations.
KSh 2.15M raisedGoal: KSh 5M
🦴
Collections
Palaeontology Digitisation Programme
Only 12,400 of NMK's 280,000 palaeontological specimens are currently online. Your donation funds the photography, cataloguing, and metadata work that makes each specimen globally searchable and citable by researchers worldwide.
KSh 820K raisedGoal: KSh 3M
🎙️
Archives
Oral History Preservation
NMK holds 6,200 oral history recordings, many on deteriorating reel-to-reel tapes. Fund the digitisation, transcription, and public access upload of these irreplaceable community voices before they are permanently lost.
KSh 640K raisedGoal: KSh 1.8M
🔬
Research
Support the Research Fellowship Programme
NMK's Research Fellowship Programme funds early-career Kenyan scientists to conduct original research using the collections. Your donation sustains the next generation of East Africa's leading heritage scholars.
3 fellows fundedTarget: 6 per year
Education Platform

Kenya's Heritage in Every Classroom

Curriculum-aligned resources, school visits, virtual learning, and teacher tools — connecting every student to the real heritage of their country, wherever they are.

600+
Lesson plans
CBC
Fully aligned
Free
For all teachers
47
Counties reached
📚
For Teachers
CBC, KCSE & IGCSE lesson plans, presentation templates, and assessment tools
🎓
For Students
Guided research, object exploration, activities and certificate programmes
💻
Virtual Learning
Full virtual school tours for classes who cannot visit in person
🚌
School Visits
Guided visits with pre- and post-visit learning packs

Featured Lesson Plans

CBC, KCSE, and IGCSE aligned. Downloadable, editable, and free for all Kenyan teachers.

All 600+ Plans
Primary · CBC
How Did Humans Begin? The Story of Turkana Boy
Science & Technology — Grade 5
A complete lesson unit exploring human evolution through the story of Turkana Boy. Students examine fossil evidence, make observations, and connect learning to Kenya's scientific heritage.
2 lessons × 45 min
4 materials
Secondary · KCSE
Trade Routes of the Swahili Coast: Evidence from the Collections
History & Government — Form 2
Using NMK's coastal archaeology collection as primary sources, students investigate the Indian Ocean trade network and its transformative impact on East African societies between the 9th and 17th centuries.
3 lessons × 45 min
6 materials
Secondary · CBC
Kenya's Biodiversity: What the Collections Tell Us
Biology — Grade 9 Junior Secondary
NMK's natural history collections contain over 98,000 specimens. This unit uses them to explore taxonomic classification, ecosystem biodiversity, and the role of museums in tracking environmental change.
2 lessons × 40 min
5 materials

600+ Lesson Plans — Free for Teachers

Search by subject, level, and curriculum framework. Every lesson plan is downloadable, editable, and connected to real NMK collection objects.

Primary · CBC
How Did Humans Begin? The Story of Turkana Boy
Science & Technology — Grade 5
Object-based lesson exploring human evolution through Kenya's most significant fossil find. Includes observation worksheets and timeline activities.
2 × 45 min
4 files
Secondary · KCSE
Trade Routes of the Swahili Coast: Evidence from the Collections
History & Government — Form 2
Primary-source investigation using NMK's coastal archaeology collection to study Indian Ocean trade networks.
3 × 45 min
6 files
Secondary · CBC
Kenya's Biodiversity: What the Collections Tell Us
Biology — Grade 9 Junior Secondary
Taxonomic classification and ecosystem biodiversity using NMK's natural history collection as study specimens.
2 × 40 min
5 files
Primary · CBC
Kenya's Communities: Materials and Traditions
Social Studies — Grade 3
Exploring Kenya's cultural diversity through the ethnographic collection. Students compare everyday objects from different communities.
2 × 35 min
3 files
Tertiary · University
Reading the Fossil Record: Research Methods in Palaeontology
Archaeology / Biology — Undergraduate
University-level seminar unit designed around primary access to NMK's published palaeontology datasets and collection records.
4 × 2 hours
8 files
Secondary · IGCSE
Environmental Change and Kenya's Heritage: A Case Study
Environmental Management — IGCSE
Using NMK's biodiversity research and heritage site conservation reports as primary sources for IGCSE environmental management coursework.
3 × 50 min
7 files

Book a School Visit to NMK

NMK offers structured, curriculum-aligned school visit programmes. Every visit comes with a complete pre-visit and post-visit learning pack — and subsidised rates for Kenyan schools.

📚
CBC, KCSE & IGCSE Aligned
All programmes mapped directly to Kenya's national curricula.
🎓
Expert-Led Sessions
Guided by NMK's education officers, curators, and researchers.
📋
Complete Learning Pack
Pre-visit prep, activity sheets, and post-visit follow-up resources included with every booking.
💰
Subsidised for Kenyan Schools
Significantly reduced rates for Kenyan school groups. Bursaries available for schools from low-income or remote areas.
Book Your Visit
Our education team responds within 3 working days.

Urgent? Call +254 20 374 2161

Virtual School Tours

Full virtual museum experiences for schools that cannot visit in person — designed to work on low-bandwidth connections across all of Kenya's 47 counties.

NMK's virtual learning programme brings the museum to the classroom. Each virtual tour is curriculum-aligned, guided by an NMK educator via video, and accompanied by downloadable activity materials. All tours work on basic smartphones and low-bandwidth connections.

Available Virtual Tours
🦴
Human Origins Gallery
Grades 4–9 · Science & Social Studies · 45 min
🌿
Kenya's Wildlife & Natural History
Grades 3–8 · Biology & Science · 40 min
🏯
Fort Jesus & the Swahili Coast
Form 1–3 · History & Geography · 50 min
🎭
Peoples of Kenya — Cultural Diversity
Grades 3–6 · Social Studies · 35 min

Citizen Science at NMK

NMK's collections are large enough that professional staff cannot provide full metadata, context, and interpretation for every object. Structured citizen science programmes allow expert volunteers to contribute to collection documentation at scale — while building deep community investment in the institution.

Your contributions produce research-grade metadata that improves the platform for every user and directly supports NMK's scientists and archivists. No specialist qualifications are required for most tasks — we provide full training and quality review.

📄
Archive Transcription
Transcribe handwritten historical documents, making them searchable for the first time.
🦋
Species Identification
Help identify species in NMK's photographic archives using guided identification tools.
🗣️
Community Knowledge
Add cultural context and oral knowledge to ethnographic collection objects from your community.
📄
Archive Transcription
Transcribe handwritten letters, field notebooks, and administrative records from NMK's documentary archive. Full training provided. Tasks take 10–20 minutes each — no specialist knowledge required.
42,400 pages transcribedGoal: 100,000 pages
🦋
Species Identification
Help identify birds, insects, and plants in NMK's photographic archives using guided field-guide tools. You do not need to be a scientist — the task provides all identification resources and expert review confirms your contributions.
28,600 images identifiedGoal: 80,000 images
🗣️
Community Knowledge
Review ethnographic objects from NMK's collection that are associated with your community and add cultural context — the name for an object, its traditional use, associated ceremonies, or community history — that enriches the institutional record.
8,400 objects enrichedGoal: 25,000 objects

Volunteer at NMK

NMK's volunteer programme offers meaningful opportunities to contribute skills and time to Kenya's national heritage — from conservation workshops to education outreach and community engagement.

🎓
Education Volunteer
Support NMK's education team in delivering school visit programmes, developing learning resources, and running holiday heritage workshops for children and youth.
Minimum 4 hours per month
🏺
Collections Volunteer
Assist NMK's curatorial team with collections digitisation, object cataloguing, photography preparation, and database entry. Training provided for all specialised tasks.
Minimum 8 hours per month
🏛️
Heritage Site Volunteer
Work with NMK's conservation and site management teams at Fort Jesus, Gedi, Hyrax Hill, or other managed heritage sites — supporting visitor services, conservation activities, and community liaison.
Minimum 1 day per month
📰
Editorial Volunteer
Contribute writing, photography, or translation skills to NMK's editorial platform — researching and writing object stories, community histories, or research explainers in English and Swahili.
Project-based
🌍
Community Liaison Volunteer
Help NMK build relationships with communities whose heritage is held in the collection — facilitating oral history recording, co-curation conversations, and community access to the collections.
Flexible
💻
Digital & Technology Volunteer
Contribute technical skills to NMK's digital transformation — web development, data management, 3D scanning, photogrammetry, or accessibility review of the platform.
Project-based

Partner with NMK

Align your organisation with Kenya's national heritage. NMK's sponsorship framework offers structured, impactful partnerships that serve your CSR objectives while funding irreplaceable heritage work.

Contribute Your Community's Knowledge

NMK holds the material heritage of Kenya's 44 communities — objects, photographs, and recordings that were collected over more than a century. Communities have always been the rightful interpreters of their own heritage.

The Community Hub is where that interpretation happens. If NMK holds objects, photographs, or recordings connected to your community, you can contribute the cultural knowledge, oral history, and contemporary community perspective that turns an institutional record into a living heritage document.

🗣️
Oral History Recording
Record and submit stories, songs, proverbs, and community histories connected to NMK's holdings.
🏺
Object Knowledge Contribution
Add the name, use, ceremony, or cultural significance of objects in the ethnographic collection.
📷
Photograph Context
Identify people, places, and events in NMK's historical photograph archive to help build a more complete record.
Submit Your Community Knowledge
All contributions are reviewed by NMK's community engagement team before being published.

Explore Kenya's Heritage — For Students

Guided research tools, object-based learning activities, and interactive resources for primary, secondary, and tertiary students.

📖
Research an Object
Search the collections for your assignment topic and explore the real objects, specimens, and records that NMK holds.
Start Researching →
🎯
Guided Activities
Structured learning activities built around NMK's collections — aligned to your curriculum level and subject area.
Browse Activities →
🏆
Heritage Certificates
Complete NMK's Heritage Learning Certificate programme — three levels covering Kenya's natural, cultural, and scientific heritage.
Earn a Certificate →

Everything a Teacher Needs

600+ curriculum-aligned lesson plans, professional development courses, and school visit tools — all free for Kenyan teachers.

📋
600+ Lesson Plans
CBC, KCSE, and IGCSE aligned. Downloadable, editable, and connected to real collection objects. New resources added every term.
🚌
Book a School Visit
Guided visits with pre-visit preparation, expert-led gallery sessions, and post-visit learning materials for every booking.
💻
Virtual School Tours
Full virtual museum experiences for schools in remote areas or with limited transport budgets. Works on low-bandwidth connections.
🏅
Professional Development
Accredited heritage education courses leading to NMK's Certificate in Heritage Learning. CPD hours recognised by KNEC.