A Visual History of the St. Lawrence Kenya Connection
“Our influence and understanding of the continent, gleaned from a semester of immersion and challenge, is profound”
Kenya Program Alumnus Spring ‘78
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- Original St. Lawrence Trip to Kenya, January 1972
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- Inaugural trip 1972
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- Scene from a local bus (matatu) during the Nairobi semester 1977
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- traveling around town during the Nairobi semester
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- A view of the then quiet suburb of Westlands (1980)- Nairobi' population was about 650,000 in 1972 and is now over 3 million today
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- The original student dorms/apartments in Westlands
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- The city market in downtown Nairobi 1980. Students still visit the same place today to barter for souvenirs
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- The Jomo Kenyatta International Conference Centre in downtown Nairobi (1980).
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- Students take classes from Kenyan faculty drawn from institutions like the University of Nairobi
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- students learn to navigate Kenya's cosmopolitan capital
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- A view of Nairobi's central business district
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- Weclome to our Nairobi Campus--in the early 1980s the program moved its home base from Westlands to its current location in Karen.
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- The main student dorm. One of several buildings on the 5 acre Nairobi campus
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- The library and main administrative building. The two program directors and several of the staff live on campus with the students
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- A selection of the 17 full time staff members in Kenya. Some have worked for the program for more than twenty years and enjoy pushing students in their Swahili skills.
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- KSP academic director Abdelwahab Sinnary
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- KSP administrative director Wairimu Ndirangu during her summer course exploring public health issues
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- The infamous KSP driver/mechanic/teacher/guide Njau Kibochi
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- Field components have long been a hallmark of the program. This archaeological field survey near Lake Baringo yielded quite interesting results
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- Paul Robinson (left) helping students examine an archaeological dig
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- Intercultural debate and international competition
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- The infamous lorry---the programs main vehicle in the 1980s and 1990s
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- mobile classroom---bring a blackboard with you
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- learning about Kenyan culture from Kenyan teachers
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- Samburu instructors from the Samburu field component c1980s
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- Giving a presentation in a local primary school 1989
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- Discussing local issues with local communities
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- intercultural exchange, Samburu style.
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- Discussing Samburu lifestyle and evironment
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- In the shadow of Ol Donyo Lengai during the Tanzanian field component
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- Learning about the Hunter/Gather community the Hadzabe in Northern Tanzania
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- Hadzabe man teaches about local hunting techniques
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- Inside the home of a Hadzabe teacher
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- Students in the past frequently climbed Lengai, an active volcano in the Tanzania Rift Valley
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- A look inside the crater rim of Ol Donyo Lengai (which means Mountain of God in Maa)
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- Reflecting on the days experiences
Stephen Knight, Kenya, landscape 2
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- Sunset game drive 2008
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- Students take a break from classes in Nairobi to climb Mt. Longonot a 9,000 ft dormant volcano in the Great Rift Valley
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- Taking a break from class to visit the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, 2011
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- A visit to Kibera's red rose school, supported by St. Lawrence alumnus Ken Okoth '01
Emmanuel Mbong
Photo left to right Dr. Erika Barthelmess (taking a picture) Johanna Mackenzie (smiling and looking at camara), Emily Russell (smiling at kids)
While visiting Red Rose students of school wanted to take picture and where happy that students had come to visit them. Johanna Mackenzie is showing a recent picture she took of the kids surrounding her camara. Dr. Barthelmess is taking picture of two kids and Emily is just so happy to see the happiness through the expression of the children.
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- learning to navigate bustling city streets
Robert Frederick , Kenya, detail of daily life
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- Attending a harambee stars soccer match
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- Spring 2013 group
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- Hadzabe teachers giving a lesson in Tanzania
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- Spring 2014 Group
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- measuring the circumference of a Baobab
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- Learning local dance and maasai culture during the Amboseli field component
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- Studying wildlife conservation and development challenges in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Photo Contest February 2006
Kenya Semester, Spring 05
giraffe foreground, Mt. Kilimanjaro background
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- Spring 2012
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- On the way to the rural homestay in 2011
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- A welcome to the rural homestay
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- A classic rural homestay family photo, 1980s.
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- rural homestay family in Meru, Fall 2011
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- Meeting your homestay family for the first time, in Bomet
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- Learning local beading techniques during a homestay
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- A view of Naibor Keju from a Samburu homestay, spring 1998
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- helping collect firewood, 2010
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- Carrying water back with a home stay brother, 2008.
Chelsea McKenzie (’11), Kenya Semester Program Fall 2008. Chelsea is carrying water back with one of her Massai home stay brothers. She walked about 2 kilometers to fetch the water and on the way we walked past a camel. NGOs in Kenya are trying to persuade the Massai to use camels as livestock instead of cows because they require less amounts of their precious water source (mainly coming from Mount Kilimanjaro).
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- Learning to pluck tea during the rural homestay, 2009.
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- Learning about Nairobi through an urban homestay, 2009
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- Independent study, history major collects oral history of an independent church in Western Kenya, spring 1998
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- Fine arts major helps organize a Nairobi fashion show for her independent study 2009
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- Models get ready for fashion for peace show, 2009
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- Soccer outside the 16th century portuguese built Fort Jesus museum in Mombasa
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- view from a 2009 independent study placement in Zanzibar
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- Swahili henna tattoo on the coast
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- Studying development questions with the Nairobi business Kazuri beads.
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- making the traditional Kenyan orientation dinner for the fall 2013 group
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- Since the early 1980s, over 60 Kenyan students have come to St. Lawrence on full-scholarships. Many of these alumni have returned home and now occupy top positions across Kenya's government and business community.
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- A number of KSP alumni have gone on to start successful NGOs and joint business ventures aimed at tackling local challenges with development and eductation
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- A commemorative hat made to celebrate 40 years of engagement in East Africa
Learn More about the Alumni Connection through the “Habari Gani” Column of the St. Lawrence Magazine. Check out some of the past entries in the “Habari Gani Archive.”
“Whether it was studying the delicate relationship between Hadza society and their environment in northern Tanzania or braving the smoke of a Taita kitchen to learn how to craft the perfect chapati, my experiences pushed my boundaries and provided me with new skills I only realized I had acquired many years later.”
KSP alumnus, 1998
We encourage alumni to leave a comment about the pictures above–tell us the story behind some of these historic photos.
Thank you for posting all the photos. I am struck by how similar much of it looks in 20010-14 even though I was there in 1986. Karen study center, Samburu, Western Region, etc..