2008 Woodie Awards
Kenya summer program will relocate to Tanzania
Ben Garbarek
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Campus
While violence and unrest fire shockwaves throughout Kenya, its ripples are now being felt in Oxford.
Miami University's two-week study aboard program, Biodiversity of Kenya, has relocated to neighboring Tanzania this summer as fighting continues after a hotly disputed election in December.
"We made a decision to move the program to Tanzania for one year and let (the violence) settle," said Kim Medley, a professor in the geography department involved with the trip.
The program was set to travel to Kenya to study wildlife conservation and human livelihoods in different areas throughout the embattled east African nation.
Medley said that despite the fact many of the planned destinations would be away from the current violence, some of their locations would be in the center of the unrest.
Junior Seth Menter signed up for the program because it gave him a chance to go to Africa, but became weary when the turbulence erupted.
"Dying is not high on my list of things to do right now," he said, "My parents weren't too happy about (the violence in Kenya)."
Medley also said that recruitment for the program stalled briefly due to the uncertainty surrounding a trip to Kenya. One student enrolled in the Kenya program withdrew.
"It's been hard to recruit," Medley said "There was a three week period where I didn't know what to do and (recruitment) lost momentum."
Medley said that the program typically attracts 22 to 24 students, but may have only half that number this year.
Despite the change of destination, Medley said the program's flexibility might eventually prove advantageous.
"(The change to Tanzania) represents a chance to expand our program to biodiversity in East Africa that might alternate between the two countries," she said.
Menter said the difference between the two east African nations
isn't much.
"Tanzania is just south of Kenya," he said, "The environment is roughly the same … it's a little bit different but it's still Africa."
Miami University's two-week study aboard program, Biodiversity of Kenya, has relocated to neighboring Tanzania this summer as fighting continues after a hotly disputed election in December.
"We made a decision to move the program to Tanzania for one year and let (the violence) settle," said Kim Medley, a professor in the geography department involved with the trip.
The program was set to travel to Kenya to study wildlife conservation and human livelihoods in different areas throughout the embattled east African nation.
Medley said that despite the fact many of the planned destinations would be away from the current violence, some of their locations would be in the center of the unrest.
Junior Seth Menter signed up for the program because it gave him a chance to go to Africa, but became weary when the turbulence erupted.
"Dying is not high on my list of things to do right now," he said, "My parents weren't too happy about (the violence in Kenya)."
Medley also said that recruitment for the program stalled briefly due to the uncertainty surrounding a trip to Kenya. One student enrolled in the Kenya program withdrew.
"It's been hard to recruit," Medley said "There was a three week period where I didn't know what to do and (recruitment) lost momentum."
Medley said that the program typically attracts 22 to 24 students, but may have only half that number this year.
Despite the change of destination, Medley said the program's flexibility might eventually prove advantageous.
"(The change to Tanzania) represents a chance to expand our program to biodiversity in East Africa that might alternate between the two countries," she said.
Menter said the difference between the two east African nations
isn't much.
"Tanzania is just south of Kenya," he said, "The environment is roughly the same … it's a little bit different but it's still Africa."
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