Why I Chose Kenya: 20 Days til Take Off

As I prepare for my trip to Kenya, I've had a lot of time to reflect on what different adventures, trials, and joys this experience will bring me.  When I tell people where I have decided to study abroad, I get one of two responses.. The first is: "WOW! That sounds like such an amazing experience for you!" The second goes a little more like this: "Why would you EVER want to go there?  It's dangerous!"  While I'd love to tell you I get the supportive and positive response most often, unfortunately, it seems as though I usually get the latter.  I get it: I mean, a developing country where the people don't necessarily look like me or live like me, why would I choose that over a semester traveling around Europe?

I'll tell you why: I want something new, and I want something different.

Before making my decision, I was convinced I wanted to study in London where I could get a taste of a little bit of everything as I traveled from one country to another and lived out my lifelong dream of riding on the back of a moped through Paris, just like Mary-Kate and Ashley.  I am definitely not saying that choosing Europe is a bad choice, and if that is where you studied abroad, I am so envious!  Going to Europe is still on my bucket list (as is the part about the moped), and if I could do it all, I most certainly would, but right now, that is not the trip for me.

Africa has always been somewhere I wanted to travel, and I thought going on a one or two week vacay there would suffice.  But then I found this program in Kenya, and it was something I just couldn't pass up.  While I'm studying abroad there, I will have the opportunity to take classes for the first half, learning some Swahili, taking some courses on education, and living with a host family in the capital city of Nairobi.  The second half of the semester, I'll move to a rural area with a different family, where I will intern at a nonprofit organization, like a school or an orphanage.   Now, as much as I want to sip on wine and meet cute British boys, I really do think this is the program for me: full of service, learning, and travel.  Not only will I be learning through my course work, but I will also be learning so much from the people and the culture around me.  And I think I'll even discover that we have a lot more in common than meets the eye.  Being surrounded by a completely different culture intrigues and also frightens me.  As a member of society, and especially as a future educator, I think it is of utmost importance to continue to challenge yourself to learn from a variety of different people in order to best serve your students and people in general.

I think so often we assume that because it's in another part of the world, it must be inferior to us: full of war and poverty, and while that may hold some truth and I'll definitely see things I'm not prepared for, what we forget is that we have some of those same struggles here.  I've gotten a lot of comments about living there with the dangers of terrorists and violence, but this school year, we've had numerous crime reports each week, and I can't even walk home from the library without fearing my safety.  I'm not by any means saying it's the same thing, and as a foreigner, I'm going to need to take precautions and make good choices, but bad things can happen anywhere.

You're still probably asking me "why" and why I can't just gain experience here.  But I want to learn.  I want to grow.  And I want to see the world.  (Also, who doesn't want to get out of the frigid Minnesota winter and see zebras instead?)  I truly do think that this trip will provide me with an unforgettable experience I will be able to take with me and share wherever I go, whether that be with the strangers I meet, my future classroom, or my friends and family back home.

I know a lot of you aren't trying to hate on my decision to travel to Africa and are just concerned with my well-being, but I will be okay.  Is it going to be easy? No, probably not. Will I see a lot of things I'm not prepared for?  Yes, I'm sure I will.  How many mental breakdowns will I have before I leave? Probably 7. Am I nervous? Yes.  Scared?  Without a doubt.  But I am also SO EXCITED for this adventure God has me embarking on.  Never again will I get the chance to study abroad like this while living with a host family, learning from the people, and gaining experience in my career field.  I want to thank all of you who have supported me from the start.  Maybe some of you still don't really get it, and I don't know how else to best explain my decision to study in Kenya, but I hope with this blog I will be able to show you.  Support and prayers are always welcomed as I'm sure I'm going to miss you all a whole lot, and I hope that as my eyes are opened during this wild experience, I can bring some of that home to you!

Blessings,

Jen