Germaine Tuyisenge
Program: Masters - Health Geography
Internship Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Partner Organization: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Internship Project: Probiotic Yoghurt Project
Internship Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Partner Organization: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Internship Project: Probiotic Yoghurt Project
Germaine Tuyisenge just completed her Master’s program in Health - Geography at Western University (Canada). Her main interest is in community maternal health. Her thesis looked at the barriers to access maternal health care in Rwanda. As a winner of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship -2015, she is doing an internship at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya, through Western Heads East, an international program at Western University whose goal is to establish programs for disease-fighting probiotic yoghurt in highly underserviced areas of sub-Saharan Africa with alarmingly high rates of HIV/AIDS infection. Health improvement and women empowerment are one of the main aims of projects and this is done through yogurt kitchens implemented in the communities, where the probiotic yogurt are made and sold by women. This helps women to improve their economic status while improving the health and well being of community members, especially people with low immune system. Germaine’s placement will involve collaborating with local partners and other interns to establish the yogurt Kitchens at JKUAT and in surrounding communities and conducting community – health education among those communities for health promotion.
