East Africa Day 69 (Thurs July 21): Lehigh in Nairobi

Earlier this year I attended an annual conference in San Francisco for international education professionals. I found out about it from Lisa Lancia, Pace Law's Director of International Strategic Initiatives and the London Law Program. When I got to the conference I discovered that Lehigh had sent several representatives to the conference, including a faculty member from the Graduate School of Education, Tina Richardson, that I had read about in a Lehigh alumni e-newsletter, and had been hoping to connect with!

When I told Tina that I was headed to East Africa for the summer, she offered to introduce me to the Lehigh alums that she knows in Kenya - including a young alum named Uhuru. Uhuru's parents are Kenyan, but he was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He relocated to Kenya last fall and lives in Nairobi. We spoke before I left the USA for Kenya, and he gave me such great advice! We met up today for drinks at a coffee shop style place in Sarit Centre (one of the ex-pat malls) called Java House and talked for three hours about Lehigh, the Kenya education system, brainstormed an alumni mentoring program for incoming Lehigh students from Africa, and planned the upcoming Lehigh in Nairobi Happy Hour. (Details forthcoming.) We also talked about the Microfinance in Kenya Summer 2011 Trip that Lehigh Economics Professor Todd Watkins organized. Still disappointed that I just missed Professor Watkins and the seven Lehigh students in Nairobi! I posted a recap video from the Lehigh trip, below.



This photo of Uhuru and I is for Nancy Merritt ... the fabulous Director of Alumni Outreach and Reunion at Lehigh.