I am currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Political Science program at McGill University, with a specialization in Development Studies. I am entering my final year of this program and aim to focus my final research paper on the topic of access to safe abortion and abortion stigma. On a broader level, my research interests include the health rights of women and girls. For instance, I also addressed the issue of menstrual hygiene management among the homeless population in Montreal for a previous course, an issue which persists in a variety of country contexts. I recently wrote a paper on constitutional reform of abortion rights and access to safe abortion in Colombia and upon some research throughout my internship, I realized that there are numerous parallels between Colombia and Kenya regarding this matter which I would like to examine further in my academic career.
In the semester prior to embarking on this internship, I participated in a seminar on African politics which sparked my interest in land rights injustices, especially as part of the legacy of colonialism. An internship at IMPACT provided me with the ideal setting to explore and learn about these continuing issues. IMPACT stands for the Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation. Their mandate involves working with marginalized communities in Northern Kenya, particularly pastoralist communities such as the Maasai and Samburu. As highlighted on their website, IMPACT has sought to address the loss of land rights among these communities, historical land injustices they have faced, and the exploitation of resources which have failed to involve their participation or benefit. This relates to biases and injustices that are perpetuated by government and corporate policies. I learned about issues such as cattle raiding, exploitative resource extraction, and political corruption in the region.
IMPACT conducts activities such as legal advocacy and education. For instance, we were able to join meetings with rural communities that aimed to ensure they were informed on the Community Land Act, a piece of legislation which would significantly affect their livelihoods but which the county governments had made little effort to inform them of. We also had the opportunity to visit women’s cooperative groups which IMPACT had collaborated with on livelihood diversification strategies such as beekeeping. In addition to these experiences, our tasks throughout the internship included reviewing grant applications, researching academic literature on relevant topics, and attending meetings with colleagues and collaborating parties. A major highlight was engaging in a field research trip partnered with McGill University, which involved conducting interviews with community members about land demarcation and related land rights issues in Samburu County. We were given relative freedom to incorporate questions about our own research interests during these semi-structured interests, which enabled me to ask questions about issues such as gender relations and labour division in the household, and access to family planning and sexual health services.
I am not receiving credit for this internship, however this internship has certainly influenced my future career and education path to come. My interest in sexual and reproductive health rights has expanded, and I’ve come to understand how it can be interrelated with various other issues such as land rights. Moreover, I’ve realized how much more there is for me to learn, especially in terms of the unique experiences of indigenous communities. I also had the wonderful experience of meeting Hellen Gathogo, a child rights advocate and director of a safe house for girls escaping abuse such as forced marriages and female genital mutilation (FGM). She explained to me how there is a need for further research in this field which incorporates the voices and experiences of victims, something which is often overlooked. I aim to get involved with her organization, One More Day for Children, in the future by perhaps helping fill this gap and collaborating on research on violations of sexual and reproductive health rights.
I am deeply grateful to Mr. David Roland (BA’91) for the Roland Arts Summer Internship Award. This award enabled me to go on this internship in the first place, as well as to focus on my time and work there without stress and distractions. This award enabled me to embark on an incredible experience, meeting wonderful people and seeing beautiful places and shaping my future path to come. I appreciate it immensely.
