Travel Logs

We were eating our first meal in Nairobi and Laura was served a soda with ice. She asked me if it was safe to drink. A good question because ice is often made with tap water and we mzungu cannot tolerate unfiltered water. So I asked the waitress if they boiled the water used to [...]

At our goodbye dinner with the Kenyan students tonight, Lucy made an important comment. She said that we all travel in circles–we keep going around, but eventually we find our way back to the same places. This was what I needed to hear tonight. I was close to tears tonight, thinking about all that we’ve [...]

Saying goodbye to our Kenyan colleagues was so much harder than I realized it would be. We have made amazing bonds with our new friends over the past two weeks. My life has certainly been changed by these people, and I think they will remain a large part of what Kenya is to us for [...]

These were the words of Dr. Obi tonight during our farewell dinner with the Moi students. Even though we all parted ways tonight, none of us will forget the experiences we’ve shared together. So, in a way, it will be like we never left in the first place. We’ll hang on to our beautiful gifts [...]

Our final night in Eldoret. Our final night with the 12 Kenyan students that less than two months ago were nothing more than voices on the phone and words in an email. We literally hit the ground running. We covered the workings of an incredible organization. We covered real issues with real consequences affecting real [...]

Today we toured Moi University with the MU students. The campus was gorgeous and you could tell the students were very proud of it. We also hiked down to a waterfall. Although the hike was muddy and a little hard to navigate at times, once we got to the falls it was gorgeous. One thing [...]

Friday Brittney, Beryl and I went back to Kasarani Village for one last visit to Kiptoo. When we arrived he asked us to quick come by the school to plant trees! It was so fun we got to plant them and they took pictures of us doing it, we felt like celebrities… haha. They told [...]

Yesterday, I found out that patience really does pay off. I was scheduled to meet Edith, Daniel’s assistant, for an interview in mid-afternoon. That took about an hour, as she was very helpful in talking about Daniel and his accomplishments with AMPATH–both its staff and its clients. He said he would be available to talk [...]

After visiting the textile factory today, I realize we’ve learned a lot about threads … and not just in fabric. Thread, in a way, it is one of the defining words of this trip. Sure, there is the obvious fact that we spent our morning at a textile factory observing the fabrication and sales of [...]

Weekends in Eldoret are calmer than the week days. Rather than wake up and head out by 8 in the morning to report, I usually spend my day uploading audio and reading over my interview notes from the week. Today, my partner Jobe came over so we could go over our interviews. Because most of [...]

We are now near the end of our time in Eldoret. Over the last few weeks I have watched countless friendships start and grow. I figure most of what the students have learned has been taught to them by their friends. See a slide show of photos at:

Yesterday this question was asked by pretty much every student on this trip. Various answers included; Of course! I’m still deciding. Are you going? Absolutely not! Last week Professor Kelly had decided to let us go to a club in Eldoret because some of us were curious to see what the Kenyan night life was [...]

Yesterday the Moi Students and Faculty hosted a dinner for us at the Moi University Guest House. It was a very nice occasion with dinner and speeches from the Dean and the Vice Chancellor of the university. The Vice Chancellor suggested we go to the Rivatex East African Limited textile factory. The textile factory is [...]

This afternoon, our Moi University colleagues treated us to dinner at the Moi Guesthouse across the street from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. We had the honor of not only dining with our Kenyan classmates and friends, but other leaders of Moi Universiy’s communication department, including the dean and Vice Chancellor Richard K. Mibey. Adoration [...]

Today was a very happy yet sad day. Today was the last reporting day (or one of the last, for some of us like me) for us and the Moi students. I find this to be a bittersweet feeling. Of course, we all look forward to being done with the stories we’ve been working on. [...]

After two weeks of field visits and reporting, we finally had a chance to all sit down together and reflect on what we learned. At dinner with the Kenyan students and Moi University faculty, the vice chancellor spoke to us about the unique opportunity we had to work in a partnership with students from another [...]

I can’t believe today was the last day of reporting (well, not that a reporter every really stops …) We still had a busy day, including three interviews. We interviewed two women who were some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. Each of them had cases that went through LACE, a legal service [...]

I can’t begin to express the sincere thanks and appreciation that I owe to everyone involved in extending the IU-Moi University partnership to include communications and journalism studies. I could tell from our first teleconference with the Moi students that our eager curiosity and laughs would extend far into the future. Two weeks may not [...]

Today was the final reporting day for our trip. It is weird to think that we have been in Eldoret for nearly two weeks. From our time here, here are a few lessons that I learned: 1. Don’t be surprised when people stare at you. Especially in the villages, we were some of the first [...]

I woke up this morning thinking that my reporting was done. I had great stories from social workers, and all I needed was basic facts. The 4-1-1 on AMPATH social work. And then I walked into Cleophas Chesoli’s office. Mind you, the social work office at AMPATH is one that you will walk past without [...]

Day two of walking around a Kenyan slum proved just as interesting as day one. Lucy and I traveled to another, more rural area of Eldoret with Lois, a community health worker from AMPATH’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program. She took us into so many houses that the faces and stories started to blend [...]

These are the two traits I see most frequently in Kenyans. Ever since our arrival in Kenya, everyone was so friendly and welcoming. You could always find people enthusiastically greeting each other with a simple “Jambo!” and a handshake. It was a great first impression I received of a new culture, but you never quite [...]

I was walking down the street today from town when someone yelled this to me. Diana and I had gone to talk with the boda-boda drivers and were walking back toward AMPATH when I heard this comment. I had my camera out and a man named Charles who shines shoes for a living wanted me [...]

As our time in Eldoret dwindles down to just a few more days, I find myself thinking constantly about my stories. Whether I’m at dinner, walking to AMPATH, or even taking a shower, I am arranging quotes and soundbites in my head. Tomorrow is my last official day of reporting, which is bittersweet. I’m looking [...]

Today went well as far as reporting goes, but the most memorable parts of the day came from the periods of downtime. We left the IU House at 7 a.m. for our final trip down to Burnt Forest – about a 45min drive from Eldoret. We were scheduled to meet with a Home Counseling and [...]

Let me begin this post by getting one thing out of the way; I had a rough start to my week. I had an interview that didn’t go well on Monday afternoon, and Tuesday and Wednesday I wasn’t feeling very well. Ok, that’s all. I rested, I took some medicine, and I told myself that [...]

Today was a very uplifting day. We visited Starshine Academy to talk to a wonderful woman named Sylvia. She is an orphan caregiver and also a teacher at the academy. We got to spend the day playing with the children and got upset when we were going to leave before porridge! So we stuck around [...]

Today Ryan, Clive, Jennifer, and I went out to a village in Burnt Forest to finish up our stories. Unfortunately, because of a little bit of miscommunication with the program, this was the last trip out to the village that our whole group can make. The trip was very informative and helpful though. Sitting in [...]

Your family members are supposed to be the ones to support you. The ones to care for you when you are sick; to be there for you in good times and bad. That’s what we were taught and that’s why Beryl and I left one AMPATH patient’s home in shock. Locked inside her sister’s home [...]

Everyone here is quick to apologize, even when they have done nothing wrong. Exhibit A: I am sitting here typing up notes for a story. As I am working, I bumped my knee on the desk. “Sorry,” Harriet says. Certainly, Harriet is not responsible in any way for me hitting my knee. That can be [...]

Over the past two weeks, I’ve worked with a majority of adults dealing with HIV and the burden they carry because of their status. With children, it’s a much different scenario. Children, like my little friend Wellington here, oftentimes cannot comprehend the severity of the AIDS epidemic, even when the disease is in the family. [...]

I just finished showering, and I still feel dirty. My reporting partner, Lucy, and I commuted to Langas this morning–the largest slum in Eldoret–with a community health worker, Margaret, from AMPATH’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program. Our new story is about homes run by child orphans because their parents died of HIV/AIDS. The information [...]

Today, I went back to Munyaka to visit the same families I met on the first day of reporting. Lucy, my partner from last week, said Kenyans love when visitors return. She said in Kenyan culture, it shows the host how grateful and open you are. She was right. The women squealed and clapped when [...]

It’s important to remember why we are journalists and why we are here. Our decisions — from story selections, to sources, to how we interact in the community — should all be based in understanding our purpose as journalists. I’ll be honest, at times when we are sitting at IU House cracking jokes and enjoying [...]

Every Wednesday, it is tradition to go out to a local restaurant as an “IU House family”. For the past two Wednesdays that we have been residents here, we’ve dined at two different Indian restaurants. Now ironically, I had never had Indian food until I came to Kenya, and I must say it’s pretty tasty [...]

I received the pleasure of spending most of the day with Daniel Ochieng, whom I talked a bit about the other day. Though a bit quiet, he is a very nice guy. My partner Maureen and I accompanied him on AMPATH site visits throughout the day and were able to learn a bit more about [...]