Service and Politics Abroad: The AIDS Crisis in Kenya
Prerequisite: None
Wintersession 2008 : Trip to Kenya January 1 – 15, 2008
Spend two weeks in Kenya, volunteering in an HIV/AIDS center/health clinic. Most students will be placed in the Ongata Rongai Christian Women Works of Charity Center.
You will work in a foul slum, among desperately poor, very friendly people. You will likely stay in a home without running water (which means water heated on a fire and no flush toilet). You will have the chance to change people’s lives.
You will do what is needed. Some of the tasks include: home visits to those with AIDS, work in the orphanage or health clinics--whatever is asked of you and whatever you are able to do.
One thing anyone can do it raise money before you leave to spend on things like school uniforms, medicine, hospital fees, and the like. This is perhaps the biggest impact you can make. If you buy a school uniform for around $15, for example, you will allow a child to go to school for a full year, when otherwise she wouldn't have been able to go. This money will be spent on whatever good cause you choose; there will be no shortage.
Those with skills, such as medical, or educational, are especially encouraged to apply.
Due to the level of responsibility, before leaving for Africa you will be required to understand the basic medical aspects of HIV/AIDS, and the social context in which it exists in Kenya. Dr. Snow will assign various readings to this end.
Part of the course will include 20 mandatory volunteer hours at a NYC AIDs clinic, which will be completed before we leave for Kenya. The academic portion of the course will be a research paper on some aspect of the AIDS crisis in Africa. The class is open to all students, with permission of the instructor.
The total cost of this trip will be approximately $2,200. This will include airfare and accommodations.
For more information contact: Professor Steve Snow
Department of Government and Politics, sgsnow@wagner.edu, Tel: (718) 390-3351
