Study Abroad with COCE Kenya: Professor Karla's Experience

The Collective for Orphan Care and Education (COCE) is working to create and maintain partnerships with other organizations so that we can develop and deliver innovative, high-quality services. In June, COCE was presented with more opportunities for collaboration through hosting its first group of study-abroad students from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). UTA study abroad students had the opportunity to partner with schools in Busia County to tutor students, attend a community engagement event to learn about the culture in Busia County and discuss topics that the community found important, and participate in COCE’s collaboration with PadMad by distributing reusable pad kits.  

Professor Karla, who is one of our board of director members, was also one of the UTA study abroad instructors who provided materials and classroom-based training to the UTA study abroad students prior to the Kenya trip. The goal of the study abroad course was to prepare UTA students to deliver culturally-relevant tutoring services.

COCE hosted a community engagement event in Sijowa village where we invited local members of the community to share aspects of their culture, social norms, and beliefs with the UTA study abroad students and lead discussions about their community’s strengths and needs. According to Professor K, this engagement event was one of the most impactful moments she experienced during the trip. Through this event, she witnessed a level of vulnerability and authenticity that can be difficult to maintain when discussing serious topics such as menstrual health and gender-based violence. These conversations were especially impactful because they were led by the community which made it easier for everyone involved to be open, willing to share, and able to accept that they could embrace each other’s opinions even if they didn’t agree with each other. Despite factors like varying ages and levels of influence or power, individuals that participated in this event gained the opportunity to expand their worldview through this event, which is supported by people from the Busia County community and UTA students alike told her about how their perspectives were changing because of the powerful conversations.

Professor K’s experience illustrates how working as a collective can expand the knowledge available for personal and community development. Whether hosted in local Kenyan communities or international settings, virtual or in-person, we hope to continue to create spaces that allow participants to be as authentic and vulnerable as we did at our recent our community engagement event. You can look forward to reading about more study-abroad experiences soon. We hope you will continue with us on our journey, eager to discuss serious topics as part of our collective.

For more information about the library project and how to contribute to its development: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/communitylibrary/.