An update from Nairobi

From Father Michael Kirwen, director of the Maryknoll Institute for African Studies in Nairobi, Kenya:

The unique MIASMU educational method requires that for every hour of class, students accompanied by their field assistants, do an hour of professionally supervised field research. This research is written up and handed in to the lecturer for review on a weekly basis.

A typical field research event is as follows: A Luhyia woman student with her Embu field assistant did an interview regarding contemporary African cultures with a photojournalist Muslim man of Yao and Giriama descent in his studio in central Nairobi. He said, “African culture has not died and never will. It is who we are and despite the influences of Western culture, we continue to be who we are and thus our culture lives on.”

He then went on to explain how greetings are very important in African cultures as a universal sign of peace. He further said that greetings include inquiry and knowledge of the health of one’s family, his/her animals, crops, etc., news on the illness or death of a member of the community and the happenings in the family and/or community.