After 10 weeks of training and learning KSL (Kenya Sign Language) I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on December 14th, 2011. I will be serving in Kenya for the next two years as a Deaf Educator and Behavior Change Communicator.
Life Is About Creating Yourself
Life Is About Creating Yourself 
My name is Sara Reeves. I am an RPCV (Samoa ’07-09) and will be in Kenya this summer from May through July. I am managing an Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) program that will bring 14 graduate students to (mostly) Western Kenya for a course on project design and internships with local partner organizations. We will be headquartered in Mumias, just outside of Kisumu, and most of our students will intern in the Western area, we also have one partner organization on the coast outside of Mombasa.
I am reaching out to PCVs in Kenya in the hopes you might be willing to provide advice/recommendations I can pass along to my students. About four months after our COS, my husband and I traveled for three months in Thailand and Cambodia. Beforehand I also reached out to PCVs in the area. They were able to provide invaluable advice and we were also able to meet up with many of them (which allowed us to stay in rural villages, rather than being trapped in the tourist spots).
If you would be willing to share insights into Kenyan culture and living and working in Kenya, that would be wonderful. In addition, any suggestions for a packing list are also welcome. I relied heavily on the Peace Corps Kenya Welcome Book when creating the handbook for my program. However, if I remember correctly from Samoa, the packing list in the welcome book does not include some of the most important things (and doesn’t provide the context, so you do not realize until you arrive without an item on the list, you thought was silly, just how important that item is).
I appreciate your consideration. You can reach me at reevess@indiana.edu.
Thank you,
Sara Reeves
(RPCV, Samoa ’07-09)