Kenya Travel Study and Field Internship
Next Trip: June (July) 2012
The Kenya travel study is one of Trinity Western University’s (TWU) most well-established international study programs, with 2012 being our seventh return to East Africa. Over the years we have developed close relationships with all levels of government in Kenya, allowing us to have unique front-line exposure to institutional and grassroots development efforts in the country. While one day you may be sitting in a boardroom listening to a lecture on international development from the World Bank, the next you could be walking rural pathways while community leaders show you their past or current projects in health or food security, while on another day you might find yourself filming and documenting the success story of vulnerable children now being fed and educated in the village’s first Community Centre.
From Nairobi, to the Maasai Mara, Mombasa and Muhanda
You will travel to four distinct regions of the country, from the capital city of Nairobi (headquarters of United Nations, World Bank and Canadian International Development Agency), to the rolling savannah landscape of the Maasai Mara where you will go by van on several African wilderness safaris. In Mombasa, you will stay in a resort on the coast of the Indian Ocean, and there be immersed in Islamic culture.
Field Study and Internship
A large part of your travel study will be in the rural hill country of Western Kenya, just north of the equator near Lake Victoria. There you will engage in your customized internship (field study) and work in partnership with a trusted development organization in the Muhanda community, Hands-On Development Initiatives International, and its partner CBOs (Community-Based Organizations). H.O.D.I. International provides the cultural and community invitation to work at a grassroots level, giving you the opportunity to investigate various aspects of pre-field research already done in the Spring semester by student teams in the ECON330 Theory and Practice of Development class, and focus on a particular development project. You also can carry out field research or documentation in other sectors, or participate in the implementation of one of the community’s current projects.
Program Themes
Insight. Inspiration. Your mind and heart will be stretched as you see the challenges of disadvantaged individuals and communities. You will be inspired by their creative use of resources, and their determination and hard work to become healthy, self-sustaining communities.
Involvement. You will come to understand the value and effectiveness of international partnerships, and how you can be a significant participant through involvement in applied development projects with community-based organizations.
The program is designed to equip you for a career with global options, especially in social and economic development. This field experience is of particular value to students aspiring to a profession with an international or intercultural placement.
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