Kenya Travel Study and Field Experience
Next Trip: 2014
The Kenya travel study is one of Trinity Western University’s most well-established international study programs, with 2014 being the eighth trip to East Africa. Over the years we have developed close relationships with all levels of government in Kenya, giving us unique front-line exposure to institutional and grassroots development efforts. 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 current projects in health or food security, and another day you might find yourself filming and documenting the success story of vulnerable children 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 the 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 exposed to Islamic culture.
Field Experience
In Nairobi you can expect to see a teeming population heading to work in modern office towers, amidst traffic congestion and pollution. The capital is home to international, continental and national organizations. The city is vibrant. Life is hectic. People are as technologically connected as you might expect in any metropolis.
Nairobi has starkly contrasting realities of affluence and poverty. From a safe vantage point, you will look out onto the rooftops of the Kibera slum, “just across the tracks,” and perceive the duality of life in a developing country.
A significant part of your travel study takes place in the rural hill country of Western Kenya, just north of the equator near Lake Victoria. There, in the village of Muhanda, you will exchange the pace of urban life for the daily rhythm of a rural, grassroots African community. Through Hands-On Development Initiatives International, its partner CBOs (community-based organizations) and local groups, you will participate in this community's current development projects.
Program Themes
Insight. Inspiration. Your mind and heart will be stretched as you observe 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 make a meaningful contribution through development projects with community-based organizations.
This 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.
back to top