Reflections on Dandora

Having the opportunity to visit Dandora was a day that will not soon be forgotten. This neighborhood of 140,000 people is located 11 km from Nairobi’s city center, and is notorious for holding a reputation that makes even the local’s question why we would go and visit that area of the city. Issues such as …

Changing Handwashing Behavior for Health Outcomes in Children

My internship in Kenya is with Practical Action, a UK-based organization that is a global innovator, inspiring people to discover and adopt ingenious, practical ways to free themselves from poverty and disadvantage.  More specifically, the project I'm working on is focused on handwashing, it is called the Safe Pair of Hands project (hereafter, SPOH).  This …

Wildlife Tourism

During our second week in Kenya, Alyvia, Christine and I decided to spend the weekend around Nairobi in order to get more acquainted with the city and all it had to offer. On a sunny Saturday decided to take a drive down to the south end of the city to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife …

Macro social work on an international context

For the last eight months the build-up of a potentially life-altering trip had begun to take over my thoughts and actions as I made my way through my final semester of classes of my Bachelor of Social work degree. If you would have told me a year ago at this time that I would be …

My Reflection: What does it mean to be a part of QES?

I have been home in Canada for just over a month, and I have been trying to write this piece in a way that is cohesive, persuasive and nuanced. My time in Kenya through the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship program truly altered my perspectives on aid, the “developing” world, international organizations and more. I found my …

Masked Generosity: A Narrative on Kenya’s Second-Hand Clothing Industry

Nairobi has a real knack for fashion, and I have only been able to scratch the surface in understanding the complexity of Kenyan style and its roots. In the Central Business District (CBD), I have attended markets full of beautiful and uniquely patterned textiles called Kitenges which are an emblem of East African fashion. At …

Foreign Aid: Hidden Agendas in Development

A few weeks ago, I sat in a conference meeting hosted by the European Union (EU) where they unveiled their Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP) 2019 for Somalia. Somalia’s situation is, “complicated,” to utilize the words of those representing the EU. Somalia is on the precipice of significant political, economic, social, and security developments that could …

My Internship with UNOPS: The Role of the Partnership Development Office

Before starting my internship, I did some extensive research on UNOPS and found myself confused and perplexed regarding the work they do, and how they do it. Furthermore, I was confused about the relationship between UNOPS and The United Nations (UN). UNOPS is inextricably connected to the United Nations as they dub themselves the “operational …

Culture Shock and The Expat Hermit

Studying Global Development Studies, I have many friends who travel abroad for development projects or leisure. Therefore, I had heard of culture shock, which is known as the looming feeling of anxiety one gets after arriving in a completely unfamiliar environment filled with new food, people, values, climate, language, and more (Global Perspectives, 2016). Culture …

LGBT Rights in Kenya: An Overview

I became interested in a specific topic during my time in Kenya regarding human rights. In this blog, I will give an overview of the situation on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGT) people in Kenya. Rights for the LGBT group in Kenya are much more different than they are in Canada. …