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Kenya Program Students Experience Tropical Medicine and Extreme Poverty
The nine students in the program pose at the Amboseli Wildlife Preserve.
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9/17/2006
Contact: Bill Giduz 704/894-2244 or bigiduz@davidson.edu
by Angela Soper ' 08
We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya last summer excited, nervous, and jet-lagged – unaware of all we were about to discover. It was the first trip overseas for some of us; for others, the latest of many. But none of the nine of us -- Christie Brough ' 07, Doug Grunwald ' 07, Dan Heeren ' 07, Meredith Prasse ' 07, Carson Sanders ' 07, Laura Sedig ' 07, Angela Soper ' 08, Walter Wiggins ' 07 and Ying Zhang ' 07 -- had been to Africa before.
We traveled fifteen miles outside of Nairobi to the town of Kikuyu for a three-week abroad experience led by Jeremiah Putnam, the Freeland Professor of Biology and director of Davidson’s pre-med program. Though designed to introduce students to tropical medicine while working in a regional hospital, the trip also exposed us to African culture. Most of us had received some help in funding our trips from the Dean Rusk International Studies Program.
Carson Sanders '07 with young Kenyan children.
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In a typical morning, we shadowed physicians through the four wards of the hospital – the general ward, eye ward, orthopedic rehab, and the brand new dental clinic. Several of us observed our first surgery. The hospital environment was substantially different from in the States, with less concern for hygiene and popular community tea breaks for the staff.
It is impossible to travel to a developing country such as Kenya without being struck by the impact of poverty on every aspect of life. Walter Wiggins ’07 reflected that “It was a very humbling experience. Americans have no idea what poverty is until they've seen it first-hand in a developing country. Our host mother took us to visit a school in Mukuru slum on one of our last days in Kenya. I found it hard to believe that I stood in the middle of a real place.”
Angela Soper '08 attracts a crowd.
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We experienced an abrupt and shocking transition from poverty and plush tourism on our weekend safaris to Amboseli, the Masai Mara, and several lakes. For Ying Zhang ’07 the safaris were a lesson in the large part tourism plays in the Kenyan economy. At each stop along the road to our safari vehicles, we were quickly surrounded by salesmen working hard to sell us anything at a high price, while convincing us that they were cutting us a deal.
Our three weeks in Kenya passed in the blink of an eye. We made fast friends with our host family and the three Kikuyu house staff, leaving with a heartfelt invitation to come back for Christmas. We returned home just one day before fall semester classes began, and are experiencing the whirlwind of class, friends and activity of Davidson life, newly and acutely aware of our unique blessings. It’s unlikely that we’ll make it back to Kenya this Christmas. But several of us will return to Africa someday, for two weeks, two years, or perhaps even a lifetime!
Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,700 students. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine.
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