#brown u

[devinfocus]

I’d Always Rather Be Alone. March 2015. Providence Athenaeum in Providence, RI.

[webntrmpt2x]

Brown University strikes agreement with White House to restore lost federal funding

Brown University will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal with the Trump administration that resto

[imminent-decision]

Name: Brown University Location: Providence, Rhode Island Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Digital/Cross-Disciplinary (Playwriting off...

[hamerman]

[globemedbrown]

GROW team 2015: Week 1- Jonelle Ahiligwo

After over 24 hours in the air (not including layover time), I made it to Kenya on Tuesday night. I met Olivia, Prateek, Chacha and Jonathan at the airport. We went home to Chacha’s and I had my first Kenyan sleep underneath a mosquito net. Needless to say I was not used to it and I woke up with the net wrapped around my face. The next day we tagged along on a trip in a “mutatu” (a public service van) to an agricultural center in Ngong, a town about an hour (longer in traffic, as we found out on our way back) outside of Nairobi. The trip was designed for “youths,” Kenyans under 35 years old, who were interested in farming. The people who ran the farm gave an informational tour of value addition of produce and different farming techniques for various animals, with an emphasis on urban-friendly farming practices. It was fun to interact with Kenyans who are our age, not that U-Tena isn’t great! It took some time for them to warm up, but soon they were joking around, telling me that a water tank was a pool that I could swim in. We ate at a Kenyan restaurant in Ngong town and I got the “Githeri special,” a bean and corn dish at only 120 Kenyan shillings. Everything is so cheap! All in all a good time, Ngong is a very pretty place.

The next day we had orientation at the youth-friendly center in Mareba, which is near the slums. The majority of those who work in U-Tena were there and they told us about the work they do and general Kenyan knowledge. It was very informational and nice to see U-Tena in person.

On Saturday we went to two KUZA sessions. Shiko led the first, and the girls were pretty shy because us GROW interns were pretty intimidating. We talked about why women are more vulnerable than men and played musical chairs. The GROW interns asked what their favorite part about KUZA was and we took some photos with them. Then we went into the Mukuru slums for the next KUZA session. But before the session, we walked around and accompanied Shiko and two girls to buy some chips (fries) from a little restaurant in the slums. The slums were makeshift, but a lot more permanent than I thought. Although the dirt roads were muddy and unkempt (both Niki and Prateek accidentally stepped in the sludge), the houses we entered were clean and the floors were concrete. We visited two of the KUZA girls’ homes and interviewed their mothers. The main thing their mothers wanted to improve the KUZA program was scholarships for school. Oftentimes, the girls’ parents do not have enough money for secondary school so the girls do not have an education. As GROW interns, we think GlobeMed should seriously consider offering scholarships for girls who need them. We can talk more about this at Brown, but it seems like an important issue for the girls.

In the second KUZA session the girls were similarly quiet, and it mostly comprised of a question and answer session where the girls wrote three questions regarding sexual/reproductive health on a piece of paper that the mentor, Irene, would answer. An example of a question was, ‘Can you still become pregnant if you have sex standing up?’ Irene quickly dispelled any myths of certain sex positions being unsuitable for pregnancy. Afterward, we had a little dance-off between one of the girls and me which I will just say it ended in a tie.

On Sunday we went to Nairobi National Park to pet baby elephants and feed giraffes! Chacha’s 4 year old son, Mayan joined us. It was a fun way to wrap up the week. First week in Nairobi in the books!

[brown-university]

WATCH: "Brown University from the Sky" is as awesome as it sounds.

Aerial footage of Brown University in celebration of Brown's 250th birthday & the Class of 2014's graduation. Shots were taken with a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ q...