INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam Tanzania 2023 CIFOR/ICRAF –“We work in partnership with governments, academia, civil society and private companies to deliver solutions to five major global challenges: deforestation and biodiversity loss, the climate crisis, unsustainable food systems, unsustainable supply and value chains, and extreme inequality.” This placement is an exciting opportunity to work …

Virtual Internships: A Reflection

It has officially been six months since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The global pandemic has and will change many aspects of our daily lives. Covid-19 is not only affecting the health of millions, it also has adverse effects on our global economy; specifically, development funding. In the global development sector, funding is extremely …

Internships during a Global Pandemic

Our names are Abbey Lin and Taelyr Keeley. We are currently in our final year of the Bachelor of Arts in Global Development Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. Before the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the globe, we applied and were accepted to participate in the East Africa Internship Program. We weren’t sure …

Life after QES: Caro’s Chilies from Makadara Sub-County Food and Farm Market

Caro's Chilies that she never transplanted into pots Before I narrate the story behind Caro's chilies, here is the conversation that informed my writing this time; Akdoshe in this conversation is myself, Agnes. I didn't know they referred to the market as mine! On Friday the 28th of February, 2020, my colleague Veronicah Kisilu and …

Where suicide isn’t a common reality

A colleague sent me a picture of the panoramic view from atop a high-rise in downtown Nairobi. Unlike the tall, cage-like rail atop the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building, the unassuming rail at the top of Kenya’s International Convention Centre sits just above hip-level, with three horizontal rungs below. Parallel to a main …

Impacts of the begging industry in Nairobi

The presence of beggars in Nairobi is very obvious; men, women, and children walking along cars or sitting on the side of the road begging. Often it is people with visible disabilities such as missing limbs or children who are doing the begging. UNICEF estimated in 2012 that there were 250,000 - 300,000 homeless children …

White sneaks, black boots, muted colours–

My thoughts being plunked into a new world... White sneaks, black boots, muted colours—a few of my favourite things and closet staples—could not be more opposite than the regular streetwear or business attire in Nairobi or most of East Africa. Here, unorthodox, unmuted colour combinations of any abstract pattern are donned with confidence. I find …

THROUGH THE MEANS OF TREES

A Jacaranda tree, full of vibrant rich purple blossoms, was the first thing I notice when I woke my first day in Nairobi. I have not seen anything like it before. Especially on a gloomy day after the rain the bright purple is stunning. They seem to be the only trees with life. The rest …

Swings of Happiness: The Concept of Urban Public Space planning

I have been back home in Kenya for close to six weeks now, four of which I have been a patient, in fact, my feet have mastered the directions to all the health facilities I had to seek medical attention from, even blinded I can make it to those places as long as no one …

And Suddenly I’m Working in the Development Industry

There are three types of aid according to Dambisa Moyo – “humanitarian or emergency aid,… charity-based aid,… and systematic aid” these different types of aid are funded by different sources and are utilized for different reasons, a complicated global economy of aid is created with these funds totaling in the hundreds of billions annually. Yet …