Rahim: African Health and Community Project in Kenya

This summer I spent 8 weeks volunteering for the African Health and Community Project (AHCP) in Nairobi Kenya. I was matched with the African Health and Community Project through AIESEC Yale, which contacted AIESEC Nairobi and found the opportunity for me to work with them. AHCP is an organization located in the Kibera slum of Nairobi. I was able to go on this trip because I was awarded an International Study Award, which provided me with the funds I needed to have this opportunity to travel and experience Kenya.

My project involved me first meeting with headmasters of neighboring primary schools in Nairobi and creating a network that allowed AHCP and these schools to be in constant communication. AHCP was looking at establishing a health education program in schools that currently did not provide health education to its students, and so I worked on a lesson plan for AHCP to be able to teach. We were able to form a network of 4 schools that were very underfunded and without basic resources such as running water and food, and worked out a schedule that included two health classes per week per grade level. The health classes incorporated education on HIV transmission and risk factors, proper procedures for keeping water uncontaminated, and ways in which to ensure good hygiene. I was able to go through every grade level in all 4 schools and complete the lesson plan, and once I finished teaching the class, I worked with the principles of the schools in establishing health education the basic core curriculum.

The second part of my project involved me working with other organizations including the Ruben Center on getting funding for the schools and local clinics that were desperately in need of basic resources that were clearly lacking. I did not have enough time to complete this objective by the time I had to leave, so I have been working on this since I have been back. I wish to go back to Nairobi at some point next summer and continue to work with AHCP to provide more funding and resources for the schools and clinics that I had worked with.

Rahim is a junior in Branford College.