Off to Kenya

So I am off to Kenya. This will be my first time in Africa and I am pretty excited about it. Let's start with why I am going. The Navy is bringing me and a partner in to teach computational hydrology as part of a program to build water resources capacity in the horn of Africa.

A little known component of the Bush foreign policy involves using military funds to build water infrastructure in the horn of Africa. This is intended to head off future water related violence. While I am no fan of the sitting president, I am pretty shocked that these aspects of his foreign policy would not be of enough interest to the American public to be news worthy. I think it illustrates what a truncated picture of our government’s activities the entertainment industry actually provides us while generating a narrative it deems profitable. It is a program that I am proud to be a small part of.

We will be teaching government engineers and university professors how to use hydrology software. This is a little off-specialty for me (I am more of a hydraulics guy than a hydrology guy) but I taught this class in Afghanistan and used the software extensively before I specialized so it is still in my wheelhouse.

We will be there for two weeks including a weekend and are planning outings typical for first time visitors to the continent...including a Safari. So I am hoping to post pictures of large predatory mammals. Until then, I will try to keep a running journal on this page.