Today’s Journey- On the Precipice
I was planning on starting the blog about my summer internship in Kenya about a week before I left for the summer. While I managed to finish my RA responsibilities, move out of my dorm at the University of Portland and visit friends and family in Mt. Angel, I didn’t get a chance to start writing about my upcoming internship in Africa. Never too late though, right? Well, it’s 6:54am on Friday, and I’m sitting in PDX ten minutes away from boarding the first flight of three on my way to Nairobi, Kenya.
Here is a basic representation of where I will be in the next 30 or so hours. Only three simple flights: Portland to Newark, Newark to Zurich, and Zurich to Nairobi, where I will be staying for the first week of my time in Africa.
I’ve also packed the lightest that I have ever even considered packing for >1 month trip. I carry-on a hiking backpack, but am not checking any luggage, nor do I have anything besides my one backpack.
The internship program that I am taking part in is with The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD). This non-profit organization takes volunteers such as myself and connects them with the specific type of development work that they are interested in undertaking. For instance, I said that I was interested in education, so I will be working at a 7th-10th grade rural school. They then support each intern as we struggle to understand that communities in which we are living and adjust to culture shock.
General Timeline of the Trip
I will spend one week in Nairobi meeting the Holy Cross Catholic community and learning more about culture and life in Africa. After this week I will travel to Kakamega, and start a week of development training. During this period I and a few other interns from other Universities receive a crash course in community development from local and FSD leaders. After this time I will move in with my family in the rural village and begin working at the rural middle school. Overtime, I am expected to assess the needs of the community and start some sort of small or large scale problem that works with the community to address a current need. This part of my experience lasts 9 weeks, so it’s short window of time to get to know the community and start a successful program in the village. After finishing the internship, I have two open weeks to travel around the area and explore Africa as well as other non-profit organizations. All in all, I’m very, very excited for the next three months!
So that is a simple overview of the trip and my travel plans over the next 30 hours. But the bigger questions are where exactly am I going, what will I be doing there, and why am I going in the first place? And, if you have read my blog before, maybe you are wondering why I changed the name from “All We Need is Love” to “A life of learning.” Well I have good news for you. All of your questions will be answered in my next blog entry! So stay tuned.
All the best,
Kurt Berning