My first impressions as a physics exchange
student in Nairobi
October 2005
Having been in Kenya for a little for than two months now it is time
for me to briefly summarize my experiences here at Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
When I arrived at the international airport of Nairobi at the beginning
of August I was completely overwhelmed by the luxurious reception I
got. Not only were the Dean of Science and his Associate already
waiting for me to bring me to the university, when we arrived there
they showed me to a nice little house on the university grounds in
which I was going to live for the next ten months. This house,
consisting of three bedrooms, a bathroom and a separate toilet, a
well-equipped kitchen and spacious living room was already occupied by
Jane, a girl from Scotland, and Renee from Germany who were at JKUAT
for a few months on an IAESTE-program, so that the last of the bedrooms
was left to me. By now they both have left for their respective home
countries, but Renee's Kenyan IAESTE-partner is still staying with me,
which not only gives me good company but also a chance to get to know a
Kenyan student very well.
The university is set on a very beautiful campus, there are lots of
trees and bushes all neatly trimmed and some sports grounds are
available as well. Most of the university's buildings are in pretty
good shape, though some of them could need a little renovation. The
library is not very big, but sorted well and so far I found some books
on any topic that interested me.
My lectures were supposed to start right the next week after my arrival
- however, as seems to be usual in Kenya the first week of lectures was
necessary for students to get used to being here again, and no lectures
were held yet.
The university's administration gave me a lot of freedom in choosing
the lectures I wanted to attend - I can choose freely from physics as
well as math courses, and if I had inquired to attend anything else it
would most certainly have been possible. More important - I could drop
all the courses I did not want to attend, even if they are compulsory
for the fourth-year students. The Dean of Science seems to be very
eager to make this a working exchange and an interesting experience to
both sides and helps me a lot. His Associate and the Chairman of
Physics are also helpful whenever I have any problems.
The quality of the lectures differs widely, and one has to choose
carefully in the beginning to find appropriate lectures, especially
since many of the lectures that are part of the Kenyan curriculum in
the fourth year are held in Germany in the second or third year.
However not all the courses listed on their webpage are offered, which
was somewhat disppointing and does limit the choices one has. The style
of lecturing in Kenya is very different from what I was used to in
Germany - and in the beginning it is certainly a surprise to see how
lectures are held here. In most lectures we are only 15 to 20 students
giving a very personal atmosphere. However some of the lectures seem to
suffer the same shortcomings when it comes to being on time, or being
prepared, as was reported from the University of Nairobi by former
exchange students there. The quality of the lectures reaches from being
good to rather bad, with some of them being held well, interesting and
clearly organized while others are not really worth wasting time with.
I also noticed that physics here is widely understood almost as some
kind of engineering science. This does show in some lectures, but much
more fourth-year projects my fellow students are undertaking, which are
mainly concerned with developing real-life appliances like
AC/DC-converters, or security systems. Research clearly is not the
focus here - not for the undergraduate courses anyway.
Life in Kenya is much different from life in Germany, and the biggest
change I have to cope with is that here one has to be constantly aware
of his security. University grounds are considered pretty safe, but
still there are reports of thievery from the houses - so I have to keep
my windows shut whenever I am not in my room - and of course university
grounds are only safe because of a big fence around them, and guarded
gates. In town it is much worse, at night you move in constant fear of
being robbed, houses of the middle and upper class are fenced-in
compounds with guarded gates, and still have grills on all windows and
doors. The expats I've met so far seem to be really frightened if the
topic comes up and a lot of them do not go into town at all. I am
missing the freedom to move around as I wish without worrying a lot.
Still I am rather lucky - I just met someone working at UNHCR and he
told me they were forbidden to use matatus, walk the streets or even
rent a house wherever they want to by their security personell.
However apart from these security issues Kenya is a beautiful country,
with very friendly and open people and a beautiful landscape I did not
expect here. My fellow students accepted me amongst their midst very
quickly, and though we sometimes have vivid discussions about religion
and politics, and often my opinion is very much different from theirs,
this is one of the things an exchange like this is all about. They are
really interested about anything going on in Germany, and are very well
informed about German politics - they know much more about Germany than
Germans usually know about Kenya. Already I got the chance to visit
Mombasa on a field trip with the university, where we went to some
Kenyan companies. But also this was very important to me to get to know
my classmates more personal and outside class. I also did a very
impressive safari in Masai Mara, went on a private trip to Mombasa, and
got a chance to visit some places around Nairobi.
By now I just found someone reaching Kisuaheli, and I hope the lectures
will start soon. This should give me deeper insight into local cultures
and the chance to speak to some people better than I can do now.
Altogether so far my stay seems to be very worthwhile and even if there
are many difficulties to meet in everyday life I am sure with the help
of many friendly Kenyans I can overcome whatever difficulties there
might be. I hope I will get to know some of the friends I made so far
even better, and to learn a lot more about Kenyan culture, as well as
helping Kenyans to get some impression of Germany.
Atreju
Tauschinsky,
February 2005