The opportunity, the people, the culture: Unbelievable
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A month long stay in a foreign country:Even with all of the meetings and research I had done before arriving in Kenya, there was no way I could have ever imagined or known what it would be like to live in the rural village of Losho. Thank you again to Lea Pellett, Alex and Anne for organizing/making the trip happen year after year. You are all amazing leaders and inspiring role models. The month-long journey overall has made me realize how much I love learning about and being surrounded in other cultures. I plan to combine my biomedical engineering degree with public health to hopefully be able to make a bigger impact on health development in third world countries. Below are pictures of the preschool class I worked with: an amazing group of 4-7 year olds that have more independence than most college students. I think of them everyday as motivation to work hard in hopes to be able to have a larger impact on their lives someday.
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What I Did:Since I was quite inexperienced with language barriers, teaching, and public health, I tried involving myself in as many projects as possible so I could learn from all of the talented people on the trip. It was amazing being around such a variety of students/graduates/professionals all in different places in their lives who somehow ended up living in tents together trying to help a Maasai village. The main activities I was involved in on a daily basis were teaching a preschool class basic English phrases and key words as well as tutoring a 4th grade girl, Jackline, every night. Two or three times a week I would help in teaching the 8th grade health class. Topics included information on STI and pregnancy prevention, nutrition, gardening, alcohol, HIV, and tuberculosis. It was also really fun being able to help out in other projects like gps mapping the enkongs (villages), de-worming, and helping out the clinic. Of course I was able to do some exploring as well, which was great. Hiking through the hills in our backyard, traveling to the local Maasai market, and going on a safari in the Maasai Mara were just a few ways I was able to explore more of the Maasai culture and Kenya's unbelievable wildlife.
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