There are so many ways to go abroad during your time at Princeton, including international internships such as the International Internship Program or Internships in Global Health, Global Seminars (Princeton classes taught by Princeton faculty abroad), summer language courses, or applying for funding for an internship, course of study, or research trip of your own design. I had the opportunity to travel to Toronto over fall break of my sophomore year with Canada Club, spend my junior fall studying abroad at ETH Zürich in Switzerland (which you can read more about here), and travel to Kenya through the Global Health Program. I could never have imagined being able to go on fully-funded trips in three continents before attending Princeton and am so grateful for the resources and support provided by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS) and the Office of International Programs.
I had the extra special opportunity to feel at home during my semester abroad when I visited my high school, UWC Robert Bosch College in Germany, and caught up with my teachers and host family. I also had the privilege of spending the holidays with the families of some of my closest high school friends in southern Switzerland and northern Germany.
In January, it was off to Kenya! I was lucky enough to be selected in a random draw for students in the Global Health & Health Policy minor who were interested in a trip to Kenya to learn about global health research and initiatives on the ground. We spent the first half of the trip in the capital, Nairobi, where we spoke with UNICEF staff and visited the US Embassy (and met Meg Whitman ‘77, the US ambassador to Kenya and donor of Whitman College).
The most impactful activity for me was visiting Mathare, the second largest informal settlement in Kenya, and hearing the passion the young people there have for improving their community. One adolescent girl shared the story of seeing children playing in an area used as a garbage dump and taking the initiative to clean it up and turn it into a park. Many of the people we spoke with are Community Health Workers, people chosen by their community who are responsible for making home visits to 200 homes in their neighborhood, providing basic medical care and referring people to higher levels of care when necessary. I think we should consider using similar community-based models in North America, where many people have limited access to affordable primary care.
The second half of the trip we spent at Mpala Research Centre, about five hours north of Nairobi by car, where we learned about some of the impressive ecological and health research being conducted and got a taste of fieldwork. My group drove around looking for Grevy’s zebras, which we learned have rounded, Mickey Mouse-like ears unlike plains zebras which have pointed ears. Once we spotted some, we waited for them to poop so we could collect the dung for the Princeton Zebra Project, which studies the endangered zebras’ diets and parasites.
My favorite experiences from the second half of the trip were hearing from the Beyond Zero Mobile Health Clinic, which sets up temporary clinics across Laikipia County and provides services ranging from reproductive health to specialist care, and visiting Daraja Academy, which provides girls who might not otherwise have been able to finish high school the chance to pursue postsecondary education. I was so inspired by the student who gave us a tour and how enthusiastic and committed she and her classmates are to using their lives to make a positive impact.
My semester abroad and trip to Kenya will remain some of my most memorable experiences from my time at Princeton. I hope you will all consider studying abroad, taking a class which involves travel, or pursuing an internship abroad! If you need any more convincing, I encourage you to take a look at the winners of the annual International Eye Photo Contest. As always, feel free to reach out to the email in my bio if you have any questions!
