Habari Gani?
(Swahili for “What’s the news?”)

John Linsley ’04 (KSP fall ’02)
jlinsley@gmail.com|

This winter after finishing a public health assignment in Kenya I spent a month in Ghana, traveling and leading a group of American students on a community service program of Interconnections 21.  Several KSP alums have also been in Kenya in recent months: 

Courtney Babcock ’03 (KSP spring ’02) made a fall visit to Nairobi and is now living in Kampala, Uganda.  Sara Wilhelmsen ’01 (KSP spring ’00) was in Nairobi in the fall as part of her work with Management Sciences for Health.  Shortly before her visit she and husband Dave Viale ’00 spent their honeymoon in Morocco.  Eric Klapper ’04 (KSP fall ’02) visited Kenya in March and then traveled in Cameroon.  SLU Kenya Scholar Lati Lelelit ’04 recently took a post with Barclay’s Bank in Nairobi.
Kristen Cahill ’96 (KSP fall ’94) wrote, “I am the program manager for a PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS program in the post-conflict region of northern Uganda. I've been here for almost two years now and it has been the most challenging work of my life. I moved here after finishing my Master of Public Health thesis in Kisumu, Kenya.”

In an April e-mail from Tukuyu, Tanzania, Katrina Franz ’06 (KSP spring ’05) wrote, “I am finishing up my Master of Public Health at Oregon State and am doing a final internship here with Africa Bridge, a small non-profit which supports orphans and vulnerable children through co-ops and committees.  Our approach is to ask the community first what they want and then we try to help them sustain themselves.  I am applying my work in Tukuyu to my studies in international health and hope to understand if such a holistic and community-oriented program has improved health in the community.”  Katrina is joined by her husband, Eric Hansen.  The two plan to visit Ruaha National Park and the Tanzanian coast before returning home.

Pat McLaughlin ’05 (KSP fall ’04) wrote just after the New Year from Equatorial Guinea where he was about to spend several months sampling frogs on Bioko Island.  Pat is a doctoral student at Drexel University and conducted research on Bioko last year.

Christina Erickson '99 (KSP fall '97) wrote, “About a year ago I learned of Carolina for Kibera (CFK), a project based at the University of North Carolina that works in Nairobi’s Kibera slum.  On my KSP I did an internship at the Salvation Army Community Center in Kibera, an amazing place within a very challenging community.  CFK seems to be making great strides in Kibera, especially in youth empowerment and health and I'd love for other KSP alums to know about it (http://cfk.unc.edu/).”

Natalie McKennerney ’04 (KSP spring ’03) is an education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Malawi.  “I’m teaching at a secondary school and working with a women's group to raise money for orphans and vulnerable children as well as with a group called People Living with AIDS,” she wrote.

Class of 2001 alums Andrew Solod (Kenya Summerterm) and Hope Thornton (KSP fall ’99) are also in Malawi.  Andrew is with Water for People, a non-profit focused on improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation.  Hope is manager and lead consultant at Nature’s Gift Permaculture.

Jonathan King ’96 (KSP spring ’95) recently tracked down his rural homestay brother in Taita, Kenya, with whom he lived with 15 years ago.  They now exchange texts regularly.

Kathleen Colson ’79 (KSP spring ’78) received the Sol Feinstone Award for Humanitarian Service at Reunion 2010; for more, see the next issue. 

Other items of interest: 
*Those who climbed Oldoinyo Lengai while on the KSP can keep abreast of news about this volcano at a blog (http://blogs.stlawu.edu/lengai/) kept by Professor Emerita Celia Nyamweru. 
*Plans are in the works to decorate the walls of the Karen Study Center with a group photo from each KSP semester.  Submissions from alums are needed.  Contact Wairimu Ndirangu (wairimu@sluksp.com) for more information.
*The web site of the African studies program http://www.stlawu.edu/academics/programs/african-studies) is getting a facelift; be sure to have a look soon!

KSP alums, contact me with your news using the e-mail address at the top of this page.  Pictures are welcome.  Tutaonana!

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