Service-learning continues to grow in the Kasigau area of Kenya with ever-expanding projects and contributions from WKU students, student organizations, faculty and staff. This year students from Americans for Informed Democracy traveled to Kenya to work with the communities and provide some relief from the current two-year drought. During the Spring 2009 semester, these students raised funds in the United States which were used to purchase seed grain upon arrival in Kenya. Enough money was raised to buy grain for all seven of the communities WKU has been working with for the past five years. In addition, the WKU Students In Free Enterprise Program (SIFE) continued its work with the seven Basket Guilds, purchasing a total of three hundred baskets, one hundred more than were bought last year. These baskets will be sold here in the United States through local civic organizations and at the WKU Bookstore. one hundred percent of the proceeds from the sales go back to the Guilds to fund school fees for needy students, build structures for community use, buy seed grain and purchase medical supplies for the three health clinics in the area.
In January of 2010, WKU pre-med students and three Bowling Green physicians will make their second trip to Kenya to work at these health clinics for a ten day period. And last, Rotaract, the University version of Rotary, provided shoes that went to the Widow and Orphans organizations in each village. As the partnership grows stronger with these communities, WKU hopes to provide more initiatives which will meet community needs and bring sustainable projects to the area.
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