Our orientation week in Nairobi was fast-paced, thought-provoking and rich with novelty. As expected, we hit the ground running with an introductory lecture at Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS). This lecture gave us the necessary context insofar as conservation is concerned in Kenya.

After the KWS lecture, we put our occasional tourist hats on and through that, we were exposed to wildlife in two ways: first, we visited the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage where we were jolted out of our jetlag by young, energetic and temporarily domesticated elephants. While watching them feed and splash mud on themselves- a sight for the books- we also got a chance to hear about their rescue stories. Later on, we encountered wildlife in its more natural habitat in the Nairobi National Park and the difference between these two environments gave us an idea into the diversity of conservation programs in Kenya.

The week proceeded with a visit to The University of Nairobi (UofN) one of the largest and most well-known universities in the region. At The UofN, we were given a talk on the historical, geographic and political context of Nairobi and Kenya by Professor Sam, an alumnus of McGill who now teaches at the UofN. We subsequently got an opportunity to see the city through the eyes of the students of The UofN. In this exchange, we were reminded of how globalized the World is and that despite different backgrounds, university students will always bond over the biggest and most notorious student problem: procrastination.

Another highlight that characterized our week in Nairobi is the United Nations and the place it holds in international development. We had the privilege of hearing from a diverse cast of experts working at UN Environment Program (UNEP).The take away message from the UNEP visit is that every major global challenge is linked to Climate Change and that we all have a role to play in ensuring that we do not push our planet to the point of no return.The role of the UN in development was further discussed in informal talks led by Michael Brown and David Barrington-Marquis.The former is a man who wears many hats, some of which include being a seasoned UN diplomat and a McGill professor of practice. He spoke candidly about the good, the bad and the ugly of being a UN employee. The latter is a former AFSS risk manager and and current UNEP employee who gave us his take on how to transition from McGill and AFSS to being a young professional.

Last but not least, we ended Week 1 with a visit to the Canadian High Commission which gave us an understanding of Canada’s foreign missions and how the High Commission acts as a security umbrella for Canadians travelling in the region.

All in all, our week in Nairobi set the tone for the rest of the trip and internally, we were given a small window in what to expect for the coming weeks in terms of expedition behaviour and academic content. That said, it was stressed that being in the field is synonymous to expecting the unexpected. Stay tuned!

By Divine Usabase