MSW student Diane Scott hopes to return to Kenya

Diane Scott

   March 25, 2008 -  Diane Scott’s life these days revolves around the practical necessities of finishing her internship at St. Vincent’s Oncology Center and completing a remaining class to earn a Master’s of Social Work degree in May.

But don’t blame her if she has a far away look in her eye.

     A Hoosier, who grew up in Miami County south of Peru, Scott has not only found a new career path, but fell in love with Kenya and its people.

     Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies and had worked with nonprofit associations when she set out to decide what to do with the second half of her life.

     She had taken some introductory social work classes and thought about how much she enjoyed those. Sitting down, she wrote down what her passions were and listed working with an HIV-AIDS program in Africa.

     The next day she found herself walking into the elevator in the elevator in the School of Social Work building on the IUPUI campus and saw a flier advertising an upcoming information about the IU-Kenya partnership and its AIDS program in Kenya.

     She made her first trip to Kenya as an independent study project in 2005. By the time she returned to take up her regular class work for her master’s of social work program, her life had changed.

      “People who haven’t been there and shared that experience don’t understand,” Scott of the trip’s impact on her life. “It totally changed my life. It changed my world view of everything.”

     Scott had done some traveling prior to heading to Kenya. She had been to China and had spent time in some third world countries. She had no idea though what she might find in Africa.

      “I never felt as much peace as I felt there. The people are so joyful, so full of hope and so welcoming.”

      Scott returned in 2007 for her practicum and then a third time in December for three weeks. She made her latest trip because she felt compelled to check up on a group of girls she had been working with as part of the IU-Kenya Partnership’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children program earlier that year.

      Some of the girls ages 15 to 20 had become the head of their families after their parents had died from AIDs.

      Scott had developed a creative expression psychosocial support group, which included photography and creative writing projects. The group’s projects required different skills than they normally used in school. As one of their first assignments, she asked her class to write about their lives.

      One her students, Ruth Ongaro, wrote, “My life is like stagnant water that  has neither inlet nor outlet and is unfit for human beings and animal.”

      Her third trip ended just days before the country exploded in violence following the presidential elections.

       Scott found herself carefully watching new video clips to see if she might spot a familiar face and anxiously checking her e-mail for news from her Kenyan friends.

        In mid-January, one friend wrote to let Scott know she and her family were safe. “It was good that you left Kenya before this shame befell us,” Margaret Alegwa wrote in her e-mail. “The post-election results have left Kenya naked,” she added. Her friend mentioned how homes had been burned and that they had gone hungry because all the shops were closed.

     An e-mail from another friend, Grace Nyambura Kuria, spoke of how she was separated from her husband and two-year-old daughter and felt none of them were really safe. Her friend explained how she had to be prepared to run at a second’s notice.

     Safety, Scott soon learned, meant her friends were safe at the moment they sent the e-mail. Then when days would pass without another e-mail, she was left wondering if it was because they didn’t have access to a computer or some other reason.

     While the news pictures depicted violence, Scott remembered a different Kenya, a place that was breath taking in its beauty and the strength and resilience of its people a constant source of amazement to Scott.

     While working in Kenya, Scott was often out in the countryside checking on families.

     “Even the smallest of children here will greet you with a handshake,” Scott wrote in a blog she kept of her experiences there.

      And while Americans take many things for granted, Scott found the smallest of gifts could bring an amazing amount of joy to Kenyan children. She recalled visiting one home with several Kenyan co-workers to discuss a new project.

 Scott took out a small bottle of bubbles she had brought with her. The first blow left children giggling and chasing after the ephemeral spheres as they floated away. Later, as they returned to their car, a teenage girl ran up with the bottle she had left at the home. When she told the girl, no, the bubbles were her’s to keep, Scott remembered the look of surprise and gratitude that crossed the teen’s face.

     And generous doesn’t begin to describe a people who have very little, but are more than willing to share it with you.

      She recalled visiting one home to see if the family qualified for food assistance. A young woman living in the home was very excited to show the visitors the family’s cooking pot. As Scott got ready to leave, she stopped to take a picture of a string of gourds hanging in the hut. They had been decorated by the grandmother who lived there.

     Before Scott got out the door, the grandmother took two of the smallest gourds off the string, used some precious water to clean the dust off and then offered them as gifts.

     And then there was George, a 14-year-old entrepreneur who had started his own tree nursery from seeds he had found on the ground during his long walk to and from school. He plants the seeds and once the plants are big enough he sold them to neighbors and thus helped earn money for he and his three siblings whose parents were dead. 

 Scott wondered what she could to help others copy George’s efforts and start their own seed beds. That night when she returned home, Scott found an e-mail from a friend who mentioned her sister’s church’s ministry program had collected dimes and wanted to donate the money to a worthy cause. Did Scott know of such a project?   

Two chidren helped by the seed project

Yes, Scott wrote back, describing George and the seed project. Since then others have been encouraged to copy George's seed bed idea.

     Scott says she is encouraged by the recent news that a peaceful solution had been found to resolve the violence caused by the election that calls for a partnership between the two factions.

      “While the end of violence is welcome news, there

is no doubt that it will be a long road of healing for Kenyan people,” Scott said.

     Recently her friend Margaret sent an e-mail from Kenya, saying, “We have gone through a lot of many bad emotional things as a country.”

      “My family is good and the children are back to school. Only that my son is still scared and when he sees any smoke he asks if the houses are being burnt again. Any bang and ambulances makes him ask if a person has been killed.”

       Shops have yet to reopen, Maggie wrote, but on the other hand she described how they have moved into a new AMPATH building and she was looking forward to Scott seeing it on her next trip to Kenya.

      So will there be another trip?

       Knowing the needs of people are even greater now than before, Scott said, “I’m sure there will be a fourth trip.”

     For more information contact Rob Schneider, Indiana University School of Social Work, 317-278-0303 or at robschn@iupui.edu