Koins for Kenya Internship

Well, here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on for my current internship. I don't have a lot of time, but I thought I'd paste my internship description from my "Letters of Intent" below:

My commitment to literacy and prevention is currently manifested in my work as an intern for the non-profit organization Koins for Kenya. Working in partnership with LDS Humanitarian Services, we are developing female hygiene kits to aid girls in rural Kenya to overcome the challenges that adolescence poses to continuing education. Many young girls are forced to either miss school regularly during their menstrual cycle or withdraw altogether given their limited resources and the unsanitary conditions of their schools. Withdrawal from school is often followed by a variety of tragedies ranging from early marriage, to contraction of HIV, to obstructed labor and impending fistula. Research has demonstrated that by preventing withdrawal from school many of these painful outcomes can be prevented. Having personally learned from my research not only the cost of dropping out, but the increased potential of girls who complete their educations, I am delighted to become a part of the solution. As a complement to the re-useable menstrual pads and other products found in the hygiene kits, I am developing educational materials for the instruction of women and girls regarding their hygiene and the changes that occur during puberty. Though the project has just begun, I already eagerly anticipate the opportunity to pilot these materials in Kenya this summer with local women and girls. I am thrilled at the prospect of being engaged in this important work which will truly help eliminate disparities at the ground level; enabling young girls in rural Kenya to have a better chance of becoming educated, healthy members of their society.

Sorry, I'd write a paragraph just for the blog, but this one is great (maybe a bit out of context) and I'm busy :). lol. But so far it is going AMAZING and I love love love my work. We're planning to pilot the booklets in Africa, but the hope is that they can eventuallybe distributed worldwide. Hence the pictures of girls from different countries. The picture above is of a the mock-up I've made of the first page of the Hygiene & Sanitation Booklet I'm making (one of three, the others will be on puberty and menstruation). In this booklet we talk about germs, parasites, hygiene (from washing hands to preventing vaginal infections, which are a common and painful problem), methods of sanitizing water, how to make a tippy-tap (a basic device that helps water to flow over hands while washing them) and how to make a rehydration drink (dehydration is the #1 cause of death among children in developing countries). Awesome right? And I get to draw a lot of the illustrations, which is SO fun. It's the perfect blend of my two passions :).

More to come later. For now, I'll leave you with these startling facts to ponder on:

"More girls were killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, than men killed in all the wars in the 20th century. More girls are killed in this routine gendercide in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century."

and

"The equivalent of 5 jumbo jets worth of women die in labor each day... the life time risk of maternal death is 1,000x higher in a poor country than in the west. That should be an international scandal."
--Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl Wudonn "Half the Sky"

Life, Internship, Books... the whole shpeal

Well I've been a bit negligent with this blog. In my defense, I've been submitting 1-2 fellowship/scholarship/essay contest/grad school applications every week for about the last month or so. Hope I see some fruits for my labors (fruits in this case being some serious green! :). I'll keep everyone posted.

Well actually, I have heard back from one entry. I submitted an essay last Fall to BYU's Annual Religious Student Symposium, and was selected to give a 15-minute presentation about my essay "Female Rights in Islam: The Contextual Qur'an" at the symposium! Pretty neat. And I've been informed that I'll be receiving some kind of award... which could be one of the cash prizes, or an honorable mention. I'm crossing my fingers for the former! But regardless, I'm actually excited to talk about this essay because I think it's both fascinating and important. Here's my abstract, to sum up what I'll be talking about:

This submission discusses the place of women in the religion of Islam. Discussion includes an examination of both the treatment of women culturally (in both the East and West), as well as the various cultural and literal interpretations of the Qur’an regarding the treatment of women and their rights within Islam. This discussion demonstrates the discrepancies between modern, contextual interpretations of Islamic scripture with the poor treatment of women “based” on Islamic scripture. It becomes clear that the original intention of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an is often inconsistent with Islamic culture, and that women of Islam can assert their rights by becoming literate and understanding the true interpretations of their holy book, the Qur’an. The paper concludes with a celebration that true, unadulterated Islam is a safe place for women, and with time and education hopefully they can find a healthier and more gospel-appropriate culture of women as equals to men.

What else? Well, we're both pretty busy with school and work and what not. Jordan is taking a healthy load of classes, he continues to work doing physical therapy (PT) with Capricia 3 times a week, and is applying to be a volunteer PT assistant at the hospital here. The hope is that if he volunteers for the next couple months and they like him (which I'm sure they will, who doesn't?!) that they'll hire him to work for them this summer. It would be a great job, pays well, and would give him the hours he needs for his applications to PT school (in two year and counting). Fewf! He also was recently released from his position in the Bishopric in our ward, having fulfilled the year that they ask us to serve in a student ward. It was bittersweet for both us-- more time together, but we both enjoyed the extra service to the ward. But Bishop didn't let us off the hook for long... within like 2 days we were called as Temple Prep instructors, so we're working with 3 couples in the ward who are preparing to attend the Temple and be sealed! We feel so fortunate to have this wonderful opportunity, and love learning more together.

As for me, I'm busy busy busy with applying to grad school, full-load of credits, an internship, and 2 jobs. I'm working as the TA for both Environmental Health (which Jordan is taking, fun huh!? Lol we've been joking about he's seducing the TA for a good grade... I'm still waiting for chocolates and flowers though... ;) and for the Refugee and Immigrant Health class that I helped Dr. Cole develop. Keeps me plenty busy. And on the note of refugees, here's a shout out on behalf of Haiti: if you go to iTunes there's a wonderful cd available from last week's "Hope for Haiti" program, which costs $8 and all the proceeds go to really great, reputable charity organizations working in Haiti. So if you're thinking about donating to the cause, this is a way you can donate, and get some beautiful (mostly) music to listen to as well!


Well, I think that's plenty for now. I'll have to bore you with details of my internship next time (although I won't lie, I find it REALLY interesting :). I'll wrap up with this picture of me and the suh-weet book I bound! A girl in the ward taught a group of us how to bind books, and I'm a bit obsessed. I'm really hoping to get into the bookbinding class at BYU this spring...

The Sick-Stress Theory (kelsey style)

Soooo I remember learning/reading that we tend to get sick when we're stressed. Most of us have probably heard this. Sad news for all of us students-- that makes for a very sick finals week! But I seem to be following a different trend. About a day or two after arriving in California for Christmas, right after finals were complete, I found myself feeling mighty sick. Similarly, I found myself one sick puppy beginning the very afternoon after taking the GRE this week. Still recovering, it's been a doozy. Questionable though, right? I'm thinking my body is taking on a new version of "sick when you're stressed," and this new version might be called "body, you better dang not get sick while i'm so stressed..." followed by a total body collapse after the stress is over. lol. Just a thought. Any similar experiences?