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

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

Douglas "Doug" Ngaira

During a January trip to Kenya, I stopped by the Karen center to say hello to KSP Directors Abdelwahab Sinnary and Wairimu Ndirangu, and to Lina Karingi, office manager.  All at the center were busy preparing for the spring students’ arrival. 

I learned on my visit that Douglas “Doug” Ngaira, who joined the KSP staff when the program was still based in Westlands in the early 1980s, has retired.  Wairimu says, “Doug is one of the longest-serving employees of the KSP.  He is well known for Doug's Duka, where students purchased basic necessities and refreshments.  Doug helped the program maintain its field supplies and equipment, and later helped out in maintaining the grounds.  He has joined his family at his home in Kitale, Kenya, where he hopes to settle on the farm with maize as the main staple crop.  The program has great memories of Doug and especially his quiet, unassuming nature.  We will miss him greatly.”

After completing her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological, Wendy McDowell (Hamilton College ’88, KSP spring ’87) worked as a media relations associate for the National Council of Churches.  In 2000, she moved to Cambridge, Mass.  A writer and editor at Harvard Divinity School, she’s an editor of the Harvard Divinity Bulletin.  Wendy recently wrote about her experience in Kenya to introduce an issue of the magazine focused on "Remapping World Religions” (http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/bulletin_mag/articles/39-12/mcdowell.html). She lives in Cambridge with her husband, Aaron, and children, Isabel, 16, and Luke, 1.

Elizabeth “Betsi” Dwyer ’78 (KSP spring ’77) wrote, “I have been living in Paris since 1999 with my husband and two sons.  My older son is a sophomore at Babson, and the younger son, a high school junior, plans to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in August with friends from school.  They are a multi-national group of 17-year-old boys and have done almost all of the planning themselves.  This mom, though experienced, is cordially not invited along.  My son, a budding film-maker, plans to make a film for the Kilimanjaro Environmental Conservation Management Trust Fund.  I remember my Kili trip (in 1977) like it was yesterday, but in reading my journal to my son I was reminded that many in our group did not make it to the top, and it was completely unexpected that I made it to the top (must have been all that sunbathing at the Y pool).  Kili was truly the experience of a lifetime!”

Ned Breslin ’88 (KSP fall ’87) is a 2011 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurism (http://www.skollfoundation.org/entrepreneur/ned-breslin/).  Ned writes that he worked in Africa on water and sanitation for 16 years, “returning to the U.S. in 2006 to work at Water For People (http://www.waterforpeople.org/), where I am now the CEO.”  The Skoll Foundation announcement explains that “Water For People partners with communities in developing countries to create sustainable, locally-maintained drinking water solutions and supports market-driven sanitation solutions, such as its Sanitation as a Business program. Accountability and sustainability are major focuses for the organization.”

Stanzi McGlynn ’10 (KSP spring ’09) wrote from Lake Placid, N.Y., where she was living this spring prior to beginning Peace Corps service in Senegal in June.  Follow Stanzi’s experience on her blog, http://scatteringthemorningdew.tumblr.com/.

Spring ’80 KSP alumni: one of your semester mates would like to be in touch.  Contact David Steinwedell (Hamilton College ’80) at steinwedell@stoneforgeadvisors.com.

Tapestry Charter School has appointed Eric Klapper ’04 (KSP fall ’02) chief operations officer for its facilities, including its new K-12 campus in Buffalo, N.Y.  Eric is a Buffalo native and a graduate of the University of Dublin’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. He formerly served as the director of development for the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless in New York City.

KSP alumni, be in touch with your news using the contact information at the top of this page.  Pictures are welcome.  I look forward to hearing from you.  Tutaonana!

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