The Orange Hat

Kenya

I began thinking about going on a traineeship last summer at the AIESEC summer conference. To be honest I was jealous of how many far off places other people had gone to, and I hadn’t experienced. I sat and Watched two amazing buffoons running around in Kurta’s with Coffee pots spouting out grandiose ideals of travel and wild parties they had attended, and how coming back home only made them realize that they needed to get out more (and there was something about echo tap). After a good hour of laughing, and later nights of long talks about far away places with interesting people passing around a Hookah… I realized I wanted that.
For those of you who don’t know me as well as some, I’ll let you in on a little secret, I don’t really need to travel to find myself, I could spend the rest of my life in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama (yes even Alabama) go caving every weekend, climb and meet great people and develop amazing relationships. In fact I think I’ve already started to do that. That was all one sentence.

But I’m not going to do that, because while I love where I am, I want to learn more about where other people are, and how they do things. I think when I first joined AIESEC (a diverse group of people who love to travel, exchange culture, and fulfill human kinds potential! Yey) I wanted to go to Nepal and climb something tall. Since then I think I’ve learned to enjoy my surrounding more – realizing that everywhere has something to offer, caves, oceans, mountains, or plains… though that might involve horses, which I’m somewhat afraid of. So I met new people, saw where they went and had the urge to find my own experiences in the world.

I started off by looking at my life goals, which mainly involve having fun and doing everything. Supporting my self to do that seems more difficult. So I looked into careers that involve lots, and lots of travel. I actually want to spend time where I am, so being a pilot just doesn’t seem right, and I didn’t really want to work a job that I can’t quit – no offences to those of you that took that option, but I started looking into the NGO side of political action, and found myself drawn to disaster relief. Maybe it was an article I read in Adventure, or maybe it was me trying to get over my fear of bums, but it was enticing. I found myself reading people job description, the rolls they had, and the qualifications that were needed. Funny enough, you need to be in a) disaster areas or b) part of the “developing world.”

I actually started looking at Rwanda to go along with my French studies. That ended really fast when I couldn’t find a way to support myself in such endeavor. I’m really good at spending money. My mountaineering course in the Cascades probably put me back a whole year. A fun year, but a year. So I needed to find something that would pay. I looked into the YES programmed mainly because AIESEC Nairobi had so many Traineeships, and it was in the right area. Originally looking for a single semester program, I found a way to convince myself that 9 months wasn’t so long, and I would have to make sacrifices if I was going to support what I was doing, in the field I was going in.

Mind you this traineeship is not developmental, it’s managerial with I have some experience in with AIESEC, and through outdoor leadership. I do plan on using this internship as a learning experience in many aspects.

I started getting the TN underway a few weeks before Thanksgiving, hoping I could finalize something before December came, and I would know what I was going to do before I had to register for classes. That didn’t happen, then it rolled into December, and I was calling people on Christmas night, then I got accepted. I was thrilled, we were still working out details, but verbally I had been accepted.

Then there were elections in Kenya. And all hell seemed to break lose, and I went back and forth, trying to figure out what was going on, I couldn’t contact people on cell phones for two days.

Now I’m being reassured that it’s fine, the violence is only in select areas, but to be truthful, I’m nervous, I’m sure it will be ok, because I’ll use my better judgment, and not be an “obnoxious American.” I’ve been talking with missionaries who are very close to the slums, with African college students, and with 10 year veterans who go back and forth between the US and Kenya. They say I need to avoid any unrest, but I should be ok, it’s still a rough town. The news says there are mass killings everywhere, and that it’s a warzone.

Numbers don’t lie, but I trust the people who are there now, who are not being paid to advertise events, and who are in a similar situation as I am. I’m not going to be stupid with my life, but I’m going to take acceptable risks to enjoy and experience a situation, and do everything I can to help if need be – I haven’t really gotten into the details of my job yet, but depending on the direction it goes it could involve treating those in need. I want to get involved with a medical effort (a month a go I took an 80 course on wilderness first aid- this doesn’t make me an expert, just … interested)

I want to go to a situation where not everything is perfect, and figure out what I can do. No I don’t like that people are dying, and I don’t want to be hurt, and I would still go if it weren’t like this, but things like this (riots, skirmishes, flights, political troubles) do happen, and if I’m going to be working in the environment in the future I guess this is one way to learn if I’m suited for it.



Passenger(s): SEAN KOLK

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Delta Air Lines # 1019

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson ATL (ATL) to Washington Dulles Intl (IAD)
Departure (ATL): January 30, 7:20 PM EST (evening)
Arrival (IAD): January 30, 9:03 PM EST (evening)




Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Qatar Airways # 52

Washington Dulles Intl (IAD) to Doha (DOH)
Departure (IAD): January 30, 10:25 PM EST (evening)
Arrival (DOH): January 31, 7:00 PM AST (evening)
Class: Economy


Friday, February 1, 2008
Qatar Airways # 532

Doha (DOH) to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl (NBO)
Departure (DOH): February 1, 9:00 AM AST (morning)
Arrival (NBO): February 1, 2:20 PM EAT (afternoon)


Be Prepared