I've been preparing for my trip to Nairobi this August. I'm going with UBC's Sauder Social Entrepreneurship (SSE) group and local Nairobi partner Strathmore University. This group has been teaching Business Planning, Accounting, Marketing, and Development on the ground in Nairobi for over 5 years. I got involved with the program a few years ago to support them with developing brand new businesses and entrepreneurship. This will be my first trip with them.
Where in Nairobi?
Here is my Nairobi Map in Google.
Unprepared For Slum Experience
I've been told by past participants that this is a great adventure. They've also told me that there is no way that I can prepare for the "experience" of walking in the slum for the first time. The sights, sounds and especially the smells all trigger strong emotions and feelings. Most participants don't really "aclimatize" in the month. It's that strong a feeling. This does create a bit of anxiety.
Slum Density
On the topic of Slum density. There is an estimated 250K people in the Kibera slum and it is roughly the size of four golf courses. ( when compared to adjacent Royal Nairobi Golf course). It is ironic that the poorest and richest are adjacent.
Culture, Weather, & More
We'll also be having two trips during our stay. One will be to the Maasai Mara reserve ( i.e. the Serengeti) and the other will be to Mombasa. I'm pretty keen to experience the music of Kenya. I don't know what to expect. I've loved African music for a long time. I'm expecting to be amazed at how the youth mashup traditional drumming with synthesizers and group vocals. The weather is supposed to be cool during our stay. This is kind of strange given that Nairobi is on the equator (1 deg South). The cool temperature comes from the 5,450 foot elevation.
Class Rooms
The classroom environment in the past has been a bit extreme. I've been told that this year we will be adjacent to the slums and not in them. Here is the Kibera classroom from August 2013.
School Room Door
School Neighbourhood
Inside Classroom. We will have to pack in and pack out our materials daily. Anything left behind will be gone.
Links to UBC Sauder Social Entrepreneurship (UBC SSE)
SSE on Facebook — lots of pictures and videos
SSE on Twitter — frequent updates from our team
SSE Blog — lots of personal stories of the trip.
UBC SSE webpage — the donations page and "official" notes
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