Understand some of Kenya’s most pressing contemporary and societal challenges, including rapid urbanization, access to healthcare, and human rights.
16
None
Kiswahili
English
Aug 31 – Dec 13
Kenya
Tanzania
Kisumu
Global Health & Well-being
Development & Inequality
Cutting-edge public health initiatives are being implemented in Kisumu, a Kenyan port city on Lake Victoria (third largest freshwater lake in the world). Western Kenya has poor indicators of health; for example, high infant mortality rates, high incidence of HIV among the youth, and it is a malaria-endemic region. The program base location accords SIT students unparalleled access to distinguished medical professionals, scholars, and scientists who are working in the frontline to address these indicators. Attend classes on a campus with high-speed internet and surrounded by gardens. Learn to draft a research protocol, from a concept note to a protocol submitted for local IRB review, and how to plan, organize, collect, review and analyze data from field activities taking place in the communities and health facilities. Scope the extent of epidemiologic transition from communicable toward non-communicable diseases and translate your findings into policy recommendations.
You will also study Kiswahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, and gain a range of perspectives from homestay families in urban Kisumu. During a stay in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, visit the largest informal settlement (Kibera) to appreciate the contribution of community health units, health-related nongovernmental organizations e.g., women fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK). Travel to Mombasa and Kwale to visit Kwale County Health Management Team, Kwale County Referral Hospital, and KEMRI Centre for Vector Disease Control to learn how service delivery and research interface. You will then cross the border into Tanzania to learn about health systems in Tanga, using comparative lenses to get insights into Tanzania’s management of HIV, malaria, and mental health.
None
Travel to Kwale County, Kenya to visit Kwale County Referral Hospital and other health facilities to learn about comparative health systems, epidemiology, and health and human rights. Then cross over into Tanga, Tanzania to visit the Tanga Medical Research Centre. The center is one of seven centers of the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), which conducts high quality health research. The center strengthens the capacity of the institute to conduct clinical and biomedical research.
These will focus on program themes addressed during the semester and related to your readings, lectures, and class discussions. Excursions include action research to a peri-urban village called Usoma, site ofKisumu International Airport and adjacent to Lake Victoria, where fishing and sand harvesting are primary economic drivers. We also visit Kibera informal settlement, where water and sanitation challenges are part of the lifestyle. Other excursions include: Kisumu County Department of Health, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu County Referral Hospital, Kenya Medical Research Institute at Centre Global Health Research, Kenya Red Cross (Kisumu Chapter), Amani Counseling Centre, and Community Transects in selected areas where students accompany community health volunteers in the field as they collect household data.
During several days in Nairobi, you will visit Kibera informal settlement where KEMRI conducts various research activities; the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) headquarters; and other international organizations where you will explore global health issues and develop your Independent Study Project or internship proposal.
Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.
The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.
Comparative Healthcare Systems – syllabus
(IPBH3500 / 3 credits)
This core seminar focuses on the principles and practice of health system analysis; the sources and utilization of information informing the development, organization, and operation of health services; and frameworks for assessing the performance of different health systems. It analyzes health challenges and their impacts on healthcare delivery and discusses the targets for health in a globalized world. We review health service organization and management, health policy development and planning, and characteristics of personal and community healthcare services. We examine the constitutional, legal, economic, social, and political environments within which health care systems operate and the various patterns that emerge.
Intensive Language Study: Beginning Kiswahili – syllabus
(SWAH1003-1503 / 3 credits)
Intensive Language Study: Intermediate Kiswahili – syllabus
(SWAH2003-2503 / 3 credits)
Intensive Language Study: Advanced Kiswahili – syllabus
(SWAH3003-3503 / 3 credits)
Emphasis on speaking and comprehension skills through classroom and field instruction. Based on an in-country evaluation that includes oral proficiency testing, students are placed in intensive classes at the appropriate level, with additional language practice taking place through homestays, lectures, and field visits. Daily classes during the first two weeks of the urban homestay are followed by continuing lessons in a variety of field settings, which provide an opportunity for additional Kiswahili language practice.
Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)
This course in the concepts of learning across cultures and from field experience provides an introduction to an Independent Study Project or internship. Material includes cross-cultural adaptation and skills building; project selection and refinement; field study ethics and the World Learning/SIT Human Subjects Review Policy; developing contacts and finding resources; field study methods; developing skills in observation and interviewing; gathering, organizing, and communicating data; maintaining a field journal; and participatory evaluation and appraisal techniques.
Choose one of the following courses:
Health and Human Rights in Kenya
Health and Human Rights in Kenya – syllabus
(IPBH3000 / 3 credits)
This seminar explores theoretical links between access to and reliance on Kenyan healthcare services and the conceptions of human rights of individuals and communities in a Kenyan social context. The course is designed to provide firsthand academic knowledge of Kenyan healthcare challenges and healthcare systems, together with analyses of locally informed debates surrounding human rights. Course content, provided via lectures, discussions, readings, presentations, and educational excursions, details the mutually constitutive challenges of health and human rights in Kenya, while highlighting successful coalition-building efforts, civil society organizations, the private sector, and others pursuing community-based approaches to myriad contemporary issues. Throughout the course, students record and analyze aspects of the host culture and examine contemporary development theories and methodologies and current issues related to health and human rights in Kenya.
OR
Epidemiology in Kenya
Epidemiology in Kenya – syllabus
(IPBH3550 / 3 credits)
This seminar examines trends and patterns in the burden of diseases in Kenya and introduces students to the principles, concepts, and methods of population-based epidemiology. It explores the specifics related to epidemiological research conducted in the country by Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and health practitioners that inform the planning, implementation, and evaluation cycle in public health promotion. The course starts by delving into the importance of epidemiology in the context of Kenya, a developing country. Students will describe and apply epidemiological terms using hands-on data to make causal inferences and be able to communicate their findings to both lay and professional audiences.
In addition to taking the above courses, students will also need to enroll in one of the following two courses:
Independent Study Project
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)
Conducted in Nairobi, Kisumu, or another approved location appropriate to the project within Kenya. Sample topics areas: malaria prevention policy and practice; Nairobi’s informal settlements; housing as a human right; primary healthcare options in Kenya; rural women’s cooperatives; prenatal healthcare; land tenure in Kibera; family planning in rural Kenya; urban agriculture; HIV/AIDS peer education; girls’ education; nutrition and health programming in Kenya.
Sample ISP topic areas:
Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects / undergraduate research.
OR
Internship and Seminar
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)
This course consists of a four-week internship with a national, international, or local public health delivery organization that is based in Kenya. The internship enables students to gain valuable work experience in the public health field and introduces students to planning, delivery, and management of public health in the tropics, using western Kenya as the case study.
Sample internships:
In addition, you will submit a paper in which you describe, assess, and analyze what you learned during your internship. The paper will outline the tasks you completed throughout the internship, professional relationships you developed, and challenges you encountered and how you overcame them.
On the relaxed and sloping shores of Lake Victoria, Kisumu is Kenya’s third largest city and your main homestay. Live with a local family for a combined total of five weeks. Kisumu is a major port and trading hub at the crossroads of East Africa and Central Africa, playing a key role in the country’s modern history. Its fisheries and agriculture are important contributors to the local, national, and regional economy. Most homestays will be within walking distance of SIT’s program office.
Accommodation in Nairobi, Kwale, Tanga, Mombasa and Maasai Mara may include hostels, guesthouses, tented camps, small hotels, and private homes. Some may be shared rooms but individual beds and others independent rooms. The accommodation provided per location will be communicated prior to departures for excursions.
Recent positions held by alumni of this program include:
Founder and director of Hatua Likoni, a youth education and career development center, Mombasa, Kenya
Visiting assistant professor in the Department of Applied Anthropology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Special assistant at the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs, USAID, Washington, DC
Research intern researching global health organizations at Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
SIT Study Abroad is committed to ensuring that international education is within reach for all students. We believe in the transformative power of immersive, intercultural experiences and are dedicated to supporting students in their educational journey.
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