LIVING IN KENYA, EXPERIENCE FROM MY DAAD DAYS
Albert Kobina Mensah
Gold mining continues to threaten the sustainability of the ecosystem in Ghana, polluting the
essential environmental resources such as the water, land, soil, biological flora and fauna, amidst
varied social impacts in mining communities. All these while, as I climb through the academic
ladder, it had been my greatest passion and motivation to become an environmental scientist in
order to find sustainable solution to the environmental degradation problems confronting Africa
and my country, Ghana in particular. It was a great privilege and dream come true that after
graduating with my Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) degree from the University of Cape Coast,
Ghana in 2011, I received an In-Country/In-Region Scholarship from the German Academic
Exchange Service (DAAD) to pursue a two-year M.Sc. degree in Integrated Watershed/Water
Resources Management (IWM/IWRM) at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, and that was what took
me to East Africa, Kenya, for the first time. The experience was nothing but a mixed feeling of
beautiful and challenging moments; spanning from eating new foods to meeting new people with
different lifestyles and culture backgrounds; to adjusting to new environment to exploring new
places. I lived in Nairobi throughout my entire period for two and half years between September
2013 to February 2016, but travelled extensively in the country and neighboring Uganda and
Tanzania. Although it was challenging at the beginning, especially coping with the new and
different food, I eventually came to adapt to certain foods which I really loved. Foods such as
“Nyama Choma”, Tusker Beer, “Ugali”, “Chapati”, and “Chai” later became some of my
favourites.
In front of Kenyatta University Main Gate, Nairobi, Kenya.
I got very conversant with the research landscape and terrain in Kenya. I was at Masai located in
Masai Mara County for field survey and church outreach programmes. I was also at Mombasa for
four days’ tour as part of Kenyatta University International Students outreach sponsored by the
Vice Chancellor of the university at that time, Prof. Olive Mugenda. I was in Gatundu in Kiambu
County on several occasions for field surveys and research works. I was again at Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology for a short course in SPSS from October 2015 to
December 2015.
During my days as student at Kenyatta University, I conducted field research and wrote various
scholarly scientific papers in peer reviewed journals. First, in November 2013, I carried out a field
research on the Effects of Banana and Maize Land Use Systems on Soil Infiltration Characteristics
in Gatundu, located in Kiambu County. On November 2014, I conducted a field study on extent
of groundwater use for domestic and irrigation activities in Thiririka sub-catchment located in
Kiambu County. From December 2014 to December 2015, I carried out a research and wrote a
thesis on the “Effects of Eucalyptus spp. plantations on soil physico-chemical properties in
Thiririka sub-catchment, Kiambu County, Kenya”, as part of my 2-year Masters of Science
programme at Kenyatta University. The thesis found out among other things that, Eucalyptus sp.
depletes the soil essential nutrients such as Nitrogen and Phosphorus; raises the soil pH; drying
water courses; and impacting negatively on the biodiversity and undergrowth regeneration through
its allelopathic effects.
Doing soil sampling under Eucalyptus plantation in Thiririka Sub-catchment,
Kiambu County, Kenya. Thesis Research Time, 2015.
DAAD Scholars in Africa workshop on E-Library resources,
Sarova Stanley Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. 25th to 29th August, 2014.
I attended various international conferences in Kenya. From 2nd to 6th November, 2015, I attended
a workshop on participatory GIS and E-Learning organized by Institute for Geographical Sciences,
University of Berlin and Kenyatta University and held at Kimunye in Mount Kenya. I attended a
workshop on developing lively E-Learning materials for Integrated Watershed Management
organized by University of berlin (Germany) and Kenyatta University (Kenya) held at Thika, from
27th October to 1st November, 2014. Further, I attended an international workshop for DAAD
scholars in Africa on E-Library resources organized by German Academic Exchange Service
(Nairobi) and Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (South Africa) held at Sarova
Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, from 25th to 29th August, 2014. From 30th to 31st July, 2015, I
represented at the International 2nd Africa Ecosystem Based Adaptation Approaches for Food
Security Conference held at the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Headquarters in
Gigiri, Nairobi; among others.
DAAD Workshop, Blue Post Hotel, Thika, Kenya. 27th October to 1st November, 2014.
Kenyatta University, a great University with impressive Infrastructural development and structures
from the University's main gate to the various schools and departments, is one of the very good
universities on the continent of Africa. You can give them thumbs up for postgraduate studies and
research. Their strategy of employing a three-person blind review system for postgraduate research
theses - two internal supervisors from different subject departments within the university and one
external supervisor from outside the country is a plus. This strategy goes to improve upon the
content of your work from different perspectives and professors who are experts in research in
those areas captured in your work. Their Defense, where a candidate gets to defend and present
his findings to a board of only examiners chaired by the chair of graduate school is also worthy of
commendation.
DAAD Workshop on Participatory GIS and E-Learning,
Kimunye, Mount Kenya. 2nd to 6th November, 2015.
The Kenyatta University experience and training with many presentations, field works and
proposal writings coupled with various workshops and seminars from DAAD built my confidence
level and provided me a very formidable step towards further studies and research at the PhD level.
It was again, no wonder that these trainings enabled me to win another DAAD scholarship for PhD
training in Germany. I am currently in Germany and doing my PhD at Ruhr University in Bochum
in the area of phytoremediation and reclamation of heavy metals polluted Ghanaian gold mined
soils. Danke Sehr DAAD!