Name: Alana Boileau

Year of Internship: 2009

Bio:
Alana is a McGill University student completing her Bachelors of Arts, majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Art History. Though Alana’s background includes studying in theater, literature, dance, and communications, discovering anthropology was life altering, and she chose to pursue her studies in this field with the hopes of making a career out of her passion for the discipline. Alana has always enjoyed working with marginalized groups. Her three years as a counselor in a summer camp for underprivileged children with or without behavioral problems, all of which were referred by social workers, helped introduce her to the wonderful world of being with and teaching children. Alana very much enjoys forging new relationships and she thrives on spending time with and discovering new people. While Alana is still uncertain of the path she wishes to follow for her future, she knows she will find a way to incorporate those elements she loves: children, education issues, and anthropology.

Project:
Along with her fellow intern Julia, Alana conducted research on the topic of Africa SOMA’s impact at the community level by carrying out interviews with specially targeted people from the area who have been directly involved with the organization’s activities. This was actually only the first step of a large-scale evaluation plan that the girls created in order to adequately assess Africa SOMA’s effects in Elangata Wuas and the surrounding locations.

Favorite Africa SOMA memory:
Riding in a matatu, along with fellow teachers and students to the traditional dance competition in Kajiado... Listening to students singing Maasai songs as the scenery unfolded before us, dirt road and rocky hills reminded me why we like to travel.

Name: Julia Couture-Glassco

Year of internship: 2009

Bio:
Julia is a U3 student at McGill in International Development, with a minor in Africa Studies. Having always had a passion for cross-cultural experiences and traveling, doing an internship in Kenya was a wonderful opportunity to fully live her passion. Furthermore, her time as a camp counselor developed a strong love of working with children, which is why she truly enjoyed teaching in Elangata Wuas Primary. Julia’s experience with Africa SOMA in Kenya was deeply enriching, one that has helped become the person she wants to be. In the future, she would like to work for development organizations that concentrate on children and women, wherever in the world that may take her!

Project:
Evaluation of Africa SOMA and assessment of accountability of the organization

Favourite Africa SOMA memory:
It’s a tie:
- attending the traditional dancing competition and seeing all my students dressed in Maasai attire, dancing beautifully in the setting sun, being so proud of them!
- our Maasai blessing ceremony! Having all my friends together for supper, slaughtering a goat for them, being blessed and receiving my Maasai name, Naserian.

Name: Matthijs Plak

Year of Internship: 2009

Project:
Matthijs conducted a research in the community of Elangata Wuas on indoor air pollution (IAP). An attempt was made to obtain an overview of the current health situation of the community with respect to the health risks posed by IAP. And since IAP concerns people rather than things, the goal was to hear their perspectives rather than solely looking at the statistics. As turned out, people were very aware of the health hazard IAP posed and proclaimed to be eager to change the situation but were in practice unwilling to alter any aspect of their behaviour. Unfortunately, an explanation could not be found as no theory encountered up till now turned out to apply and common sense did not provide the solution either.

Favourite Africa SOMA memory:
Never easy to recollect after such an overwhelming experience. Maybe when I was sitting on the hill after having spend most of the day teaching, preparing the research for tomorrow or so. All of a sudden, the silence becomes filled with a number of voices, students singing while travelling home. And then, after the last echo slowly had fainted away: a response! Another group of students sings back, from further up the road. And so the rite continuous, up and down the road, accompanied by laughter, while weakening as they move further away from me and closer to home.

Name: Julia Snider

Year of Internship: 2009

Project:
Because Julia’s internship was not credit-based, this gave her room to tie lose ends from previous internships and complete other projects. Work on health pamphlets, life-stages in a Maasai life, along with other smaller research endeavors like charcoal interviews and interviews with her students on sexual health kept her more than busy throughout her time in Elangata Wuas. Other work included organizing and preparing the books of the Elangata Wuas Resource Centre for the completion of the physical building.

Favourite Africa SOMA memory:
Attending a pre-wedding party and wedding of a friend. This was an opportunity to see women interacting and socializing with other women, and enjoying each other’s company through song, dance and games. The wedding was amazing; the elaborate dress and songs were unforgettable.

Name: Elske Tielens

Year of internship: 2009

Favorite Africa SOMA memory: Hearing the otherwise shy students speak of which parts of their culture inspire them. I was sitting with them in the shade as they discussed what it meant to them to be Masai, and what they felt was essential to pass on to their children. Their sense of community and identity was incredible, and I felt proud of how well they managed to share this with each other, and with me.

Name: Jennie Glassco

Year of internship: 2008

Bio:
After returning from the Canadian field studies in Africa program as a McGill student in 2007, Jennie Glassco had been bitten hard by the Africa bug and the only thing that she was sure about was that she wanted to go back to Kenya as soon as possible! She worked in Montreal for a year and then returned to Kenya as an Africa SOMA intern in the fall of 2008. She was lucky enough to be able to stay in Kenya after her internship to work as a research assistant close to Mount Kenya until April 2009. Jennie is currently working as a research assistant in the Faculty of Anthropology at McGill University. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in Anthropology in the fall of 2010.

Project:
Interviewing people about their experiences with charcoal burning and climate change as a first step towards an Environment Exhibit in the Elangata Wuas Resource Centre (EWRC). Jennie also continued working on Hinde Haest’s Maasai Life Stages exhibit.

Favorite Africa SOMA memory:
Planting over 300 aloe plants around the EWRC with help from all of the students at Elangata Wuas Primary. I was so amazed at how quickly the work was completed with so many helping hands!

One memorable experience was the spontaneous inaugural meeting of the Boys Club (to which the Girls Club was the forerunner). Bewildered by the prospect of providing guidance or advice to young men in a very different cultural context I had no idea what to expect. What I got was an outpouring of enthusiasm and curiosity by a group too frequently deemed disrespectful or disinterested. My opinions and approach to gender issues were then forever changed.

Name: Marieke Hounjet

Year of internship: 2007

Bio: When Marieke interned for Africa SOMA in 2007 she was studying liberal arts and sciences at University College Utrecht in the Netherlands, majoring in development studies. After completing her undergraduate studies she started the Erasmus Mundus Global Studies programme where she spent a year at the London School of Economics (UK) for an MSc in Global Economic History and one year at Leipzig University (Germany) for an MA Global Studies, and finished in 2009. Marieke is fascinated with the 'world of international development' where there are still many challenges and issues in need to be faced and aims to understand it better in order to make a sensible contribution. Therefore, Marieke undertook an internship at the Overseas Development Institute (London, UK), worked as a conference blogger for the magazine The Broker, and is currently a programmes assistant for Iraq and Afghanistan with War Child UK.

Project: conducting research in Elangata Wuas, together with the other interns, on the expectations of the community regarding the development of the community library programme and learning more about the history and future potential of the Elangata Wuas Resource Centre.

Favourite Africa Soma memory: joining the pupils at Enchorro Primary for their sing and prayer afternoon session, singing and dancing to celebrate the day!

Name: Maša Loncaric

Year of internship: 2007

Bio: Maša was a student of University College Utrecht in 2007 (majoring in development studies, political theory and economics), when she decided to intern for Africa SOMA. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Maša worked in the Slovenian parliament in the foreign advisory office. She is currently a student of Hertie School of Governance, obtaining a MA in Public Policy in Berlin. It has been a palette of experiences from the context of international politics and development that led her to a decision to undertake a Public Policy Master, however, her internship in Maasailand certainly served as an important piece in this puzzle. Realizing the weight of policy-structures in developing countries, Maša is currently focusing her research on the evolvement of approaches to democratization, the importance of the rule of law in post-conflict areas and the impact of trade agreements in global policy making.

Project: Together with Marieke Hounjet, Jessika Tremblay and Sophie Boutilier, Maša conducted a research in the local community, focusing on the projects of Elangata Wuas Resource Centre and the Elangata Wuas Ecosystem Management Programme Eco-Tourism Camp. Next to interviewing, gathering information and writing proposals for the two projects, Maša also, together with Sophie Boutilier and women of the Mayopian Curio Shop, worked on a micro-enterprise initiative and helped re-designing local jewellery and décor enterprise.

Favourite Africa Soma memory: All those days, when waking up with the dawn, Marieke and I, hit the dusty road, the labyrinth of spiky bushes, the trail of the animal footsteps…all to come into the environment of shining eyes of ‘our’ Enchorro Esenteu children and teachers. Relationship I have managed to establish with those kids and teachers was surely one of the most enriching parts of my Kenyan experience…

Name: Kate Quinn

Year of Internship: 2007

Bio:
Kate graduated from Queen's University in 2006 with a bachelor's in Political Science and Women's Studies. In early 2007, she and Andrea Webber ventured off to Elangata Wuas to intern with Africa Soma. Although Kate's experience in Massailand busted many of her pre-existing paradigms, it simultaneously cemented many longstanding beliefs surrounding the value of sharing one's story and the desire to understand the complex roots of marginalization that exist everywhere. Currently Kate resides in Toronto where she works for in early intervention services for the Child Development Institute, a children's mental health and family service agency. She thoroughly enjoys working with women and children in Toronto and hopes that Africa Soma keeps up all the GREAT work!.

Project:
Andrea and Kate worked on the community library project by securing book donations and facilitating community meetings regarding infrastructure and management. While in Elangata Wuas, they also volunteered at Enchorro Essentu in Standards 7 & 8 and facilitated an art exchange with Selwyn Public School in Toronto.

Favorite Africa Soma memory:
Riding home from a soccer tournament in a lorry filled with children from the community. The night sky was covered with a blanket of stars and the children's beautiful singing echoed through the air. So incredible!

Name: Jessika Tremblay

Year of Internship: 2007

Bio:
Jessika is in her first year of her Master’s in Anthropology and Development Studies at McGill University, having completed her BA in the same discipline in 2008. Her experience working with the Library and Resource Centre in Elangata Wuas inspired her to pursue research on the impacts and potential of Information and Communications Technology (like the internet) on development in rural areas of East Africa. She is planning to conduct 6 months of field work in Rwanda in 2010 to study the progress of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project that took root in several primary schools in 2008. The initiative aims to improve access to computers and internet at the elementary school level, with the hopes of leapfrogging Rwanda into a global information economy.

Project:
Jessika interned with Sophia and collaborated with her on a number of projects, while pursuing her own interest in the potentials of having internet-connected computers installed in the local library. Sophia and Jessika helped the primary students at Elangata Wuas to start a peer tutoring program on Saturdays. They interviewed community members to understand their hopes and aspirations for the community centre, and collaborated with Masa and Marieke on gathering information for the writing of grant proposals to help fund both the camp and the library projects, among other things.

Favorite Africa Soma memory:
Walking to school with Sophia and Choo, the camp’s dog. Walking to school in North America would be much more fun if it was in warm, semi-arid thorn country with dusty trails made by ungulates snaking through acacias and hills. And if you got to meet hordes of excited and giggling children running and eager to hold your hands. And if you actually greeted every single stranger you met on your path ‘hello’ and a handshake. And if the household dog could accompany you and spend the day at school by your side, just because it feels like it. And…ok you get the picture. Oh nostalgia…

Name: Jordie Burton

Year with Africa SOMA: 2006

Bio:
Jordie is currently a teacher in the Toronto area in Ontario. Focusing on using art as a medium to facilitate education has been one of Jordie’s goals as an educator. He is currently involved in art projects for education and a continuing supporter of Africa SOMA.

Project:
Jordie and Heather Finlay were involved with the arts exchange program and experimenting with different activities and curriculum for the program.

Favourite Africa SOMA memory:
After staying the night in a local boma and being quite ill, everyone that I met anywhere in Elangata Wuas would ask how my stomach was feeling. The news had spread quickly and it seemed that the whole community was concerned with my well being. I felt very cared for.

Name: Heather Finla

Year of internship: Summer 2006

Project: Experimenting with the art exchange project.

Favorite Africa SOMA memory: Drinking Tea with all of the locals.

Name: Allison Rhoades

Year of internship: 2005

Bio:
Allison Rhoades is currently a student at the McGill Faculty of Law with an interest in international and public-interest law. She is also a Director of the McGill Legal Information Clinic in Montréal, Québec. Allison completed a degree in International Development Studies (first class Honours) at McGill University in 2006. She interned in Elangata Wuas and with Canada Corps in Kenya in 2005. She returned to Kenya as an intern supervisor for Africa SOMA in 2007, and interned with the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania the following summer. Allison first traveled to Kenya as a student on McGill’s Canadian Field Studies in Africa program in 2005.

Project: governance challenges of community-based organizations; working with local women's groups on micro-income generating projects.

Favorite Africa SOMA memory:
Enriching conversations with members of the community at any occasion; discovering a another cultural context; learning first-hand about passionate interests of mine; first arriving in Elangata Wuas after being away for two years, with the sun setting and the smell of dust in the air.