June 4
Karibuni Kenya! (Swahili for “Welcome to Kenya!”)
While Kenya may be facing many obstacles, the young, developing nation, has the opportunity to carve out innovative approaches to health care delivery. Many individuals in the country lack access to adequate healthcare. Over the next few weeks, we will be in clinics, both public and private teaching hospitals, community and rural health programs. From urban slums to game drives in the Mara to AMPATH, we will be exploring the health-care issues encountered in a resource-constrained environment. On Thursday June 2nd, the group gathered at JFK airport. After a layover well-spent exploring Amsterdam, we landed 2 days later, at 6:30 am at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Njau greeted us and drove the group to the compound. As we drove away from the airport, we spotted our first giraffes and pleaded to Njau to pull-over so we could get a better look. Little did we know, we would get much closer that afternoon! Wairimu and Azibeta welcomed us with open arms and Seth prepared a delicious breakfast (including homemade bread, a favorite!). We had time to settle into our new home and play a game of ping-pong before lunch and venturing out to explore surrounding Karen. The highlight of the afternoon was definitely a visit to the Giraffe Centre where we were even allowed to feed the giraffes from our mouths (http://giraffecenter.org/). Seth even made a surprise birthday cake!
-SN

June 5
This morning we set off for Nyumbani – the Swahili word for home. This mission-based branch of the Children of God Relief Institute, founded in 1991, provides a home, health care, education and spiritual support for children with HIV. We were greeted and welcomed by the director to join the children and sisters for mass. The church was a big room with high ceilings and fluorescent lights. The pews were white plastic garden chairs lined wall to wall with a big aisle down the middle. As mass began, the sanctuary was only scattered with children near the front with the choir and musicians lined on the right wall. But as the pastor began the congregation grew and grew until almost every seat was filled. Every part of the worship was tailored for the children. There was a group of them that danced traditionally at the front of the church and everyone participated in the songs, including the little ones. What struck me the most was the part of the service when it was time for ‘sharing peace’. Each and every child came up to me and shook all of our hands. It was one of the most touching experiences I’ve had and I’m not a religious person. After the mass we had tea and cakes with Sister Mary before getting a tour of the diagnostic center, one of the top healthcare facilities in Kenya. Wesonga, the nurse I/charge of the home took us through the youth homes and nutrition center for the infants so we could get an idea of the other parts of Nyumbani.

We went for a great buffet lunch with traditional African foods like chapatti and traditional African sausage made of various organs from different livestock. After filling our bellies with passion fruit custard and other goodies from the treat table, we set off for KAZURI, meaning ‘something small and beautiful’. This is a business that began as a way to empower women in their communities. It is a bead and pottery factory that sells its products in their shop and online. Their profits go to the women who make them and to reinvest in the business. The merchandise is made out of recycled old and broken pottery, melted down and made into beautiful painted jewelry, tea sets and decorative pottery. Even though it was a Sunday so the women weren’t working, we still got a tour and a great idea of what was going on here. Afterwards everyone got a chance to do a little shopping in their store.

Once Wairimu finally herded us out of there, we hit the road for some yoga at Christel Flower’s house. Her husband is a luxury tent designer so her yoga studio was awesome. We worked some of our travel knots out and learned some new yoga stretches and poses. Crystal had a couple of big Rottweilers and some Jack Russell puppies so we got our dog fix after our session. By the time we got back to our compound, Seth, our cook, had a beautiful meal prepared for us. We happily ate, laughed and reviewed our adventures of the day before crawling into our beds.
-EV

June 6
Today Njau drove us to our destination which was Nairobi Hospital where we met with Professor G.N. Lule about tropical diseases and infectious diseases. Prof. Lule is kind of a huge deal, AND he happens to be the father of one of our very good friends at St. Lawrence, Chris! Dr. Lule gave us a general idea of what he does, and prepared us for some of the tropical diseases we might see on our journey through Western Kenya. We spoke with him mostly about Malaria… which of course we are all secretly afraid of contracting while on our trip. However, we also spoke with him extensively about HIV/AIDs and other prevalent infectious diseases. In regard to Malaria, he told us that we won’t have to worry about it until we get to the rainforest! Our visit with Dr. Lule was an excellent introduction! And it was wonderful to meet with a St. Lawrence connection halfway across the world!

Njau was ready to take us safely to our next stop of the day, New Life Home! Yes, that’s right, we spent the afternoon holding the most precious babies I’ve ever seen. New Life Home took in its first baby in 1994, and has since grown into a large operation in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Nyeri. The babies who come to the home are primarily those who have either been infected or affected by HIV/AIDs, so some of the babies are positive, and others became orphans due to the loss of parents or guardians who had AIDs. It is the mission of the home to find forever homes for all of the infants and children who are brought there. Volunteers and friends of New Life come every day to spend time with the babies and toddlers, just to give them love and care, and to give them hope for the future.
We each got to play with and feed a baby between the ages of 3 and 6 months. Some of the smiling babies we met were Jasmine and Owen! It was wonderful to see how much love all of the children receive because of the amazing efforts of the staff and volunteers. It was truly a beautiful place, with a beautiful mission.

Today was amazing! It’s so exciting that we’re just getting started, and still have so many places and people to see. Until the next adventure…
-RS

June 7
Today was the first day that we got to wear our white coats and as we liked to say, “play doctor for a day.” The agenda for the day was to visit Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, which is one of the best private hospitals in this area, funded by a Pakistani Royal Foundation. We arrived at the hospital around 9:00 am and then got a brief history and overview from a woman from administration. We then met with Professor Macharia. Prof. Macharia is the head of the pediatric unit at Aga Khan Hospital, and in this health care system the title of “Professor” is even higher up than “Doctor” because it indicates he is one of the doctors responsible to teaching the medical students and residents.

In the morning half of our group followed Prof. Macharia on his morning rounds and the other half when to the newborn unit with a resident. Following Prof. Macharia on rounds we got to observe him evaluating two different patients before he sent us to follow a resident. As we followed this resident to the oncology wing we met up with the other half of our group. They had seen the different units for infants and learned the things to look for when evaluating the condition of a fragile newborn baby. As we all convened in this chemotherapy procedure room in the oncology unit we observed this second year resident as she gave an eight year old boy his chemotherapy treatment through a spinal tap. The procedure was not as quick and easy as one would expect and the team of residents ran into some problems, but eventually they did administer the medication. This was a difficult experience for us as a group as it was hard to see this boy succumb to the results of the struggle that this resident had with properly performing the spinal tap.
After this we had lunch then returned to the hospital in the afternoon for a meeting with Prof. Macharia. In his presentation he provided us with a lot of information about health care in Sub-Saharan Africa relative to the rest of the world and then he focused specifically on pediatric care because that is his specialty. As a group we agreed that the most powerful part of his presentation was the maps he showed us of relative need and services in different parts of the world.
-CA

June 8
Today we headed out for the Kibera slums. There we met Joshua, who told us about Carolina for Kibera (CFK), a group that raises money for underprivileged children to pursue an education that otherwise wouldn’t be available to them. We then walked through the slums and were astonished by the rocky roads scattered with garbage, the streets crowded with people, the shoeless children playing in dirt, and the congestion of shops and houses lining the roads. (Photo taken from google images)

When we reached our destination at the Lishe Bora Nutrition Center, we were greeted by the friendly women who look after the children, were asked to remove our shoes, and sat down with the women to learn about the establishment. They are a non-profit organization funded in part by Glenmark Pharmaceutical that takes in malnourished children off the streets from 8:30-5:30 and supply them with meals, mostly local foods and RUTF (ready to use therapeutic food) supplements. The children spend the day in the nutrition center to ensure that they are getting the nourishment, whereas if the food was administered to the families the parents might distribute it amongst all of their children, leaving the malnourished ones still undernourished. During our visit, we got a tour of the center as well as met some of the children who appeared clearly malnourished and lacking developmentally. Lastly, we spoke with two parents of children whose educations were funded through CFK. They expressed their gratitude for the program and we donated a box of food to each of the families.

Next we headed to lunch and then made our way to BUSTANI, an amazing mental health rehabilitation center meaning “a beautiful place of flowers.” There we learned about the private establishment that takes in patients commonly suffering from depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and schizophrenia. Their approximate length of stay is two weeks, in which they receive counseling from a psychiatrist daily and are able to mingle and grow relationships with other patients. During our visit we were able to talk with some of the staff members and patients at the facility and hear their stories. It was an incredibly successful exchange of thoughts and experiences that everyone truly benefited from. It was amazing to see how much the patients opened up to us and actively contributed to conversation. Following chai and snacks, we returned to the compound for dinner.
-DS

June 9
Good morning! After breakfast and packing, we left the compound to go to Kenyatta National Referral and Teaching Hospital, the oldest hospital in Kenya-1907, to meet at 10 am with Prof. Zahida Qureshi, the chair of the department of obstetrics gynecology. She gave a fantastic seminar on women’s health including efforts to reduce child and maternal and newborn mortality and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV as well as information on fistula, cervical cancer, and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). It was heavy, but a break for tea, samosas and mandazi definitely helped.

Around noon we left for lunch at the ABC Place in Lavington where we met up with Joseph and said ‘goodbye’ to Njau. Off to Nakuru!
p.s. beautiful views of the Rift Valley.

-SN

June 10
We woke up in Kembu this morning and the cooks set up a very tasty breakfast on our back deck. We finished our fruit and porridge and headed down the hill to learn about KENANA Knitters started and run by Paddy Nightingale. This small business puts women to work knitting small stuffed animals, shawls, slippers and other trinkets. KENANA Knitters employs 259 knitters and spinners combined, paying them per finished product, but also providing free health clinics that visit the farm every so often specializing in various services. Today a nurse from a Reproductive Health and Family Planning clinic came to educate and provide for the knitters. She explained some of the challenges and specific services they offer. We learned a lot about the social status of women in this society just by listening to how she described her patients approach to family planning. Because the men hold the power, many times women keep contraceptives a secret from spouses. Once we had a chance to ask questions, we got to poke around the store and pick out some gifts the ladies had knitted to bring home to our friends families before packing up and saying goodbye to Kembu Campground.

We hit the road for Elsamere in Lake Naivasha. After a couple hours in the car and constant entertainment right outside our windows from zebras blocking the roads to roadside stands offering every supply a department store could have, we arrived. Checking into the conservatory we saw Colobus monkeys swinging from the branches and playing on the rooftops of our cottages. We moved our stuff in and had chai and treats and then some time to work on our assignments before dinner. They served a delicious meal with fresh bread and our first Tangawizis, a tasty ginger soda drink that’s common here. After dinner we put on The White Maasai movie and hunkered down together for the evening.
-EV

June 11
Today Joseph drove us down the longest driveway we’ve ever seen to DABIBI farm! The farm is located in a giant volcanic crater, the floor of the Great Rift Valley, of fertile goodness. Our drive to the farm was stunning and we were able to see a lot of wildlife. The man we were traveling to see was named Josphat Macharia, who is a husband, father, farmer, and teacher. He was incredibly excited to see that we wanted to learn about his sustainable farming practices, and to show us around!

First were the usual introductions, when we quickly learned that Josphat is an amazing teacher. He and his wife had been building their home for about 24 years, with the intention of keeping it an entirely sustainable operation. Josphat told us about his belief in organic farming, because chemicals are not good for the health of the food that we eat, or for the food of the animals that we keep. He produces his own fertilizers, for example, he takes his leftover corn and makes compost from that as well as cow poop. On top of this the birds help him with insect control, and the bats help him with pest control. This way, Josphat knows exactly what his livestock has been eating, and therefore knows exactly what he has been eating because the droppings of the livestock help feed his vegetables. Josphat also collects his own water, because the water that comes to his town has a lot fluoride and ruins people’s teeth. So, he was able to provide cleaner water for his children, who all have very nice teeth. Everything in his home is powered by solar energy…
Josphat has really thought of every single thing he could. He could practically never leave his farm and he would be able to live completely, and sustainably just on his farm.

He talked to us a little bit about some of the common healthcare issues that are present on the floor of the Rift Valley, and then we had a beautiful lunch, which was made up of 95% products from the farm! We closed the session at DABIBI farm with the message that it is important to teach others how to live this way, because in the end it will lead to a healthier lifestyle for a family, and then a healthier lifestyle for entire communities, that is why Josphat loves to teach about his work!

-RS

June 12
Today was our “R & R” day (rest and relaxation). We woke up normal time and had breakfast at Elsamere before heading out on our boat tour. Our guide, Francis, drove us in a boat that was probably about 12 feet long, and he drove us along the shores showing us many forms of wildlife including birds and the main attraction: hippos. We eventually converged upon a group of about six hippos, which we watched from a distance as they moved around in the water.

We spent the rest of the day at Elsamere doing our papers, presentations and journals. Later in the evening as we were sitting by the water doing work a group of about five zebras walked down and grazed on the grass for a good twenty minutes before retreating back beyond Elsamere, it was very cool to see them so close.
-CA

June 13
Today was the day we left Elsamere and made our way to the Maasai Mara. We left after breakfast and made several stops along the way, driving through the Rift Valley and finally arriving at the Mara around 16:30. The road to get to the Mara was another whole level of ‘bumpiness’; we were literally thrown from our seats a few times. Once we entered the Mara Reserve Joseph opened up the top of the Land Ranger so we could stand up to get the full safari experience. The Mara was an absolutely breathtaking scene. It was what you would imagine if picturing the scenery of the Lion King. The land was so flat and the sky so clear, the red oat was a yellowish gold and you could literally see what seemed like hundreds of miles of flat land with just a few scattered trees in the far off distance. On this evening exploration we saw elephants, gazelles, topis (which might be my favorite), wildebeests, more giraffes and zebras. We actually saw a huge group consisting of zebras, topis and wildebeest, which Joseph informed us that it was in preparation for the great migration in July.

We had to be out of the park by 18:30, so Joseph drove us to Basecamp, where we were staying. When we arrived some of the Maasai men helped us carry our bags to our rooms, which were these huge fancy tents. We then had dinner and after dinner we participated in a filming session for a Norwegian travel film. They were doing a series of several different places and this segment focused on the stereotype that gin and tonics could prevent malaria.
-CA

June 14
Today we left Basecamp at 6:30am and did a game drive in the Mara. We had the top of the Land Rover open to look out at the animals. We were incredibly lucky at seeing all that we did including leopards, lions, zebra, wart hogs, giraffes, elephants, silver-backed jackals, elands, etc. We stopped in the middle of the Mara and got out to have breakfast and enjoy the view, which was amazing.

Around noon we met with the Maasai women at Basecamp and learned about the Basecamp Maasai Brand beading company that they’re a part of. We met with Nancy and learned about the company, which empowers Maasai women by allowing them to maintain the Maasai handcraft as well as earn an income often used to put their daughters through school. The women make necklaces, bracelets, key chains, belts, etc. and sell 80% of it online, and the remaining 20% through gift shops at Basecamp. Each woman earns 75% of the price that the item they make is sold for and the remaining 25% goes to buy the material. Most of the material consists of string from tarp and plastic from recycling. We each got to choose our bead colors and partner up with a woman to make a bracelet together. Although the women spoke limited English, we were able to have effective conversations with them via a translator, which really helped both sides to understand each other’s culture. For instance, the Maasai women get married off very young and begin having several children almost immediately following marriage, which was interesting to hear about. It especially stood out to me how shocked the women were to know that we didn’t have husbands and children yet.

After lunch, we went to the Talek Community Health Centre where we met Daniel, a clinician and nurse midwife who gave us a tour and overview of the facility. It is an outpatient Christian Missionary funded clinic that offers a variety of services as well as contains an in-patient maternity ward. We saw the consultation rooms, lab, pharmacy, and the maternal and child health room. We also learned that every patient gets screened for HIV and is supplied with medication if needed.

Later this afternoon we paid a visit to a Maasai community in which the men jumped for us, danced with us, showed us how to start a fire by creating friction, and gave us a tour of their house. Their community was set-up in a circle with all the houses facing inward toward each other. Inside the house we toured, there were two rooms, one for a baby cow and one that had two beds, one for the parents and one for all of their children. In the middle of the two beds was a small kitchen, which consisted of a couple shelves and a fireplace where meals are prepared. The houses are built by the women using mainly cow dung and sticks and are extremely small. Following our house tour, we joined the women in their traditional dances and then entered their market, in which each woman brought their homemade crafts to sell.
-DS

June 15
Happy birthday Rachel!

At 8:45 we gathered for a delicious breakfast overlooking the Mara. This morning, we visited the Talek Health Center in Narok, minutes from Basecamp. On rotations, we explored the challenges of health care among pastoralist traditional communities of Kenya. Back to Basecamp for lunch before an afternoon to work and soak up sun. 4 pm tea with Wannie (ex-SLU professor) and her friend. We watched the second half of The White Maasai and had a reflection of the day upstairs. Birthday celebration complete with ritualistic Maasai chanting followed dinner.
-SN

June 16
This morning we had an early morning because we had to pack up at Basecamp and get on the road by 8am in order to make it to our next destination by dusk. We stopped for a coffee break at Fairhills Hotel and confused the servers because nobody here drinks iced anything… especially iced coffee! They brought us mandazis too, which are mini deep fried donut like pastries. We had another break for lunch at Jane and Ken’s house in Kericho. They live amidst huge tea plantations that stretch for miles. It was a beautiful place with rolling hills in seemingly every direction. Ken works for Finlay’s tea company and has for the past 33 years so he could tell us all about it. The company provides schools, churches, health clinics and activities for their workers and their families forming an entire little tea community. They had a yummy traditional meal including rice, chicken, beans, chapatti and black nightshade, an indigenous green here. Jane had also prepared an interesting fermented yogurt drink called mursik. It actually has immune boosters in it! After lunch we got back on the road and drove through a storm to get to Rondo Retreat Center. They had dinner on the table for us and we were all well ready to be out of the car.
-EV

June 17
We had about a two hour drive from Rondo Retreat Center to WADADIA (Women and Development Against Distress in Africa) Mumias. This NGO is an outreach program for women suffering from Fistula, a complication of prolonged obstructed labor. These women are often the victims of stigma and rejection from their families and communities.

WADADIA uses peer educating volunteers, posters and other multimedia, a girls’ soccer team and word of mouth to find and treat affected women and teaches them skills such as sewing and beadwork to help them reintegrate into their communities after their recovery. After a tour and brief on their work, we set out into the field. We visited two women with two very different stories, but similar situations with this medical condition. It was an eye opening experience for all of us. It was the first time in the trip we had been inside a typical rural home. We donated a bag of food to each family, but what we had to give didn’t even dent what they so clearly lacked. We took comfort in the fact that the work done by WADADIA gave both of them hope for the future. We headed back to the office after our second home visit for a debrief before heading back to Rondo Retreat. We happened to cross paths with Star Support Group, a peer support group for fistula survivors. A few of them were brave enough to share their stories and it only drove the point home that this foundation has changed lives. They have been empowered and continue to grow stronger each day. While we can’t begin to understand what these women have been through their stories allowed us to empathize. We all dozed off in the car on they way back and Rondo had the best chocolate cake we’ve had all trip ready with chai when we returned. Gathered around in our screened porch, we enjoyed our snack sheltered from the damp Kakamega Rainforest right outside.
-EV

June 18
Today we traveled from Kakamega to the Kisumu Yacht Club to meet with two Neglected Tropical Disease Specialists. Dr. Andrew Githeko and Dr. Diana Karanja working for KEMRI (Kenya Medical Research Institute and CDC (Center for Disease Control). This meeting was pretty amazing because Andrew is actually a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and he shared it with Al Gore in 2007. What’s cooler though is the research that he did in the process! Andrew told us all about Malaria and the different types and species of mosquito that carry it. He had a lot of helpful information for us in regard to malaria in terms of how mosquitoes are studied, and the ways in which malaria can be controlled… That discussion got us asking Andrew about exactly how our prophylaxis works, and whether we are at risk of getting malaria. There was a rather extensive explanation of prophylaxis, but basically we learned that NO we won’t get malaria. The most important part of our conversation today though, was that climate change is happening, and it is causing malaria and other tropical diseases to move to areas where it wasn’t before.
After our discussion we had lunch right next to Lake Victoria and we had some nice conversations and exchanges. Afterward, we headed back to Rondo and enjoyed the rest of our day!
-RS

June 19
Today was the transition between Rondo Forest in Kakamega and the AMPATH component in Eldoret. We go up at normal time and had breakfast and then went on a walk through the Kakamega Rainforest, which is the only rainforest in Kenya. We then showered and had lunch at Rondo forest before hitting the road to drive our last leg of the journey to Eldoret. We arrived at the Pine Tree and settled in before heading to the Mamlin’s house for dinner. Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin are at the head of the AMPATH program and the ChildLife organization. We had a long conversation with them as they told us about their organizations and how they got to where they are today. We were all incredibly inspired by all that the Mamlin’s have done and the values they have implemented to create these successful organizations for the city of Eldoret and the neighboring communities.

Joe told us the story of how he became a doctor and then took a job in Afghanistan instead of a cardiology fellowship in the US, and how he and Sarah Ellen, who met in college, raised their kids in Afghanistan until it was no longer safe, which is when they ended up in Kenya. And here Joe helped to build the connection between the new medical school being established in Kenya, Moi University, and Indiana University, creating the AMPATH program that exists today. He also introduced to us other branches of AMPATH such as the GISHE (Group Integrated Savings for Health and Empowerment) programs, and the concept of population based health care or population health.
-CA

June 20
This morning we got a tour from Sarah Ellen of the AMPATH facilities and the Shoe for Africa Children’s hospital. It was definitely a valuable experience to see the conditions of a public hospital, with multiple patients to a bed and over crowded hallways. As we were transitioning between the main hospital complex and the Shoe for Africa section we witnessed a group of street kids clad in dirty street clothes each with a hanging dirty bottle of sniffing glue from their noses walking to the Tumaini Drop-In Center. After this comprehensive tour we took a break for lunch.

After lunch we were split into different playrooms in the children’s hospital to spend time with the children. In my group we started out coloring then we had story time and finished the section of time by making glasses out of pipe cleaners. The children seemed to have a good time with the activities and they were very excited about the new crayons that we brought them. These play rooms for the children are a big part of the ChildLife program because it provides a space for the children in the hospital to try to relax, socialize with other children and just be kids for a little while, despite their illnesses and injuries. Also the women running the center were really great, they truly cared about the kids and they seemed to be effective at making them feel a little bit better and safer.

-CA

June 21
Today we met Cindy on the Indiana University campus in Eldoret to learn about the ‘Chics for Chicks’ organization. Cindy, an American staying in Kenya for a year with her husband who is working for AMPATH, started it. Cindy created Chics for Chicks after she met a woman named Rebecca that she felt the need to help. She learned to raise chickens that she then gave to Rebecca to feed her family and sell eggs for a source of income. Now she teaches more people how to care for the chickens and is working to create a sustainable program that will continue to empower the people. We also went to Care4Kids, an orphanage of thirty-five children, where we saw more chicks.

Next, we went to Boma Inn Eldoret for a delicious lunch, followed by a visit to Tumaini, a rehabilitation center for street kids. We sat in on a class where the fourteen students were learning about school enterprise. They were all actively engaged and clearly interested in the education they were receiving. Tumaini started from a drop-in center that provided showers and hot meals for the street kids, most of which were high off glue. Once a group of boys showed interest in pursuing rehab, this three-year program was created. The boys live and work on the farm as well as sell beadwork and receive education. We had an extremely positive experience interacting with them and it was amazing to see how far they have come in their rehabilitation.

After dinner at Pinetree, we met with Suzanne Goodrich, an infectious disease physician who told us about the HIV research she does for AMPATH. As an American herself, she gave us an informative overview of what research in Kenya is like. She left us with the takeaway of how important it is to remember the people you meet and to not be afraid of reaching out to them as connections to further your career.
-DS

June 22
This morning, we had the opportunity to visit 3 children’s homes with Sarah Ellen Mamlin. AMPATH supports all of them and it was wonderful to see and hear the impact the program has had. The first home was Kimumu. The second, Neema Children’s Home, is home to 33 boys and 16 girls affected and/or infected with HIV/AIDS. Joshua and Miriam Mbithi welcomed us into their home for tea and cake before introducing us to the children and showing us the school. The third, Tumaini Children’s Home. Horace and Phyllis Leister take care of 49 children. We then headed to lunch at IU house
The afternoon was spent with Benjamin Andama learning about the program GISHE (Group Integrated Savings for Health and Empowerment). A wrap-up dinner at IU House with Joe and Sarah Ellen was followed by a discussion with Dr. Adrian Gardner.
-SN

With a strong focus on children and women’s health, this program provides a perspective on the health care system in Kenya with exposure to many different aspects and levels of care. In addition to health care, exposure to a variety of new cultural values was a significant part of the program, which helped us grow as a people. This program has helped each one of us gain knowledge about health care such that we can apply it to our future endeavors in the way we see fit.

SLU Participants: Claire Albrecht (Biophysics & Chemistry), Sarah Neilson (Psychology), Danielle Schwartz (Biology & Chemistry), Rachel Snitzer (Psychology), Emma Visser (Behavioral Neuroscience with a Spanish Minor) with SHC Program Instructor – Dr. Wairimu Ndirangu