SHA Service Learning
SHA Service Learning combines cross-cultural immersion and responsible community service with off-the-beaten-path adventure. Through experiential learning, students gain firsthand insights into the complexities of global tourism, including its environmental and social repercussions. Additionally, the program helps participants develop a deeper cultural appreciation, enhance their problem-solving skills, and contribute meaningfully to community-led initiatives that prioritize local well-being and ecological balance. This transformative experience fosters a more ethical and responsible approach to travel and tourism.
This curated journey will provide Boston University undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on opportunities to address real-world challenges and explore topics such as healthcare, wellness, entrepreneurship, culture, events management, and sustainability.
Program Dates: May 18 – 29, 2026
Key Dates:
Application deadline: Jan. 31, 2026
Accepting on a rolling basis. Apply early to secure your spot!
Notification of program acceptances: February 2, 2026
Payment deadlines:
30% deposit: February 9, 2026
Final 70% payment: April 16, 2026
Estimated Program Cost: $3,090*
Includes accommodation, activities, and meals. The fee does not include airfare to and from Kenya.
*The final fee will depend on the number of students participating in the program.
More than just a trip, this is a unique chance to expand your worldview, build global connections, and contribute to projects that make a lasting impact. Return with new skills, profound insights, and a renewed commitment to creating solutions where human care and innovation matter most.
Learning Outcomes
- Enhance the ability to engage respectfully and effectively with individuals from different cultural backgrounds.
- Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through hands-on activities.
- Build resilience and adaptability by navigating and overcoming real-world challenges in diverse settings.
- Apply theoretical knowledge from classroom settings to practical experiences in hospitality environments.
- Network with local professionals and gain insights into the global healthcare and hospitality sectors.
Itinerary Highlights
Swahili Language Lesson
- Kiswahili is the national language of Kenya. In the service of increasing intercultural communication skills, students will receive Swahili language lessons and will put their language skills to practice during engagements with local community members.
Home Visit and Cooking Exchange
- Food and its preparation are an integral part of any culture, and eating together is a greatly valued mark of friendship and partnership. Students will join a local Kenyan family in preparing and cooking a traditional Kenyan meal. Students will also be encouraged to prepare a dish from their home context to add to the Kenyan meal in a valuable cooking exchange.
Limuru Marketplace Challenge
- Located about 20 miles northwest of Nairobi within Limuru town, Lumu Marketplace is a vibrant and colorful spread of informal vendors selling a staggering variety of fresh produce, clothing items, and household goods. The marketplace is always a beehive of activities as bartering takes place all day. A visit to this market provides an opportunity to directly engage with the community and increase intercultural competence. Working in small groups, students will be armed with some key Swahili phrases, tips on ethical bartering, and a list of items to find and purchase within a small budget that will be provided. All market goods purchased will be donated to local community projects.
Peer to Peer Engagement with Kimlea Training School
- Kimlea Girls Technical Training College, located in Tigoni, Limuru, is dedicated to transforming lives through education. Since its inception in 1989, Kimlea has empowered over 20,000 women and girls with practical skills in the hospitality industry.
Maasai Mara National Reserve Game Drive
- Located in the southwestern region of Kenya, the Maasai Mara National Reserve is one of the world’s most famous wildlife conservation areas. The reserve is home to the world-renowned great wildebeest migration and is part of a highly diverse ecosystem and migratory corridor that runs south to the Serengeti in Tanzania. Its natural wonders cover a stretch of over 600 square miles. A visit to this vast reserve givesstudents the chance to witness spectacular and diverse wildlife in their natural habitat, while learning about the reserve’s conservation model and how this compares with other models globally.
Limuru Children’s Center
- The Limuru Children’s Center is in Limuru, on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. It was established as a caregiving organization by volunteers from the local community. The Center has five major components: the main branch which is home for over 40 orphans and provides free preschool education to vulnerable children in the community, a baby home that cares for abandoned children from birth through four years, a satellite preschool, a transition program for teenagers beginning secondary school (Life House), and a feeding program based at both the main and satellite preschools. Students will engage with the children here by donating market goods purchased in Limuru Marketplace Challenge, as well as providing general care by feeding and assessing the babies as directed by their primary caregivers.
*Itinerary is subject to change.
Accommodations
Wildlife Tourism College
The Wildlife Tourism College is an educational facility situated in the heart of the Pardamat Conservation Area in the greater Maasai Mara ecosystem. The college provides critical skills training that is aimed at meeting the increasing demand of the wildlife tourism industry in Kenya. This first-of-its-kind initiative is designed to be a catalyst for the development of a centralized tourism, vocational training, research, and community capacity building hub within the region. The college has a student wing as well as a guest wing with a total capacity of 40 beds in flexible self-contained rooming arrangements of between 2 and 8 students sharing. Additionally, there are state of the art facilities that include learning spaces, an atrium, a library, and a viewing deck.
Brackenhurst, Limuru
Brackenhurst is located approximately 20 miles northwest of Nairobi in a peaceful and quiet area, nestled in the rolling hills of the Limuru region, most famous for vast fields of tea and farmland. The facility can house up to 270 guests and is known for its warm hospitality. Rooms are comfortable and fitted with en-suite bathrooms with hot showers. Brackenhurst is equipped with a nurse, a clinic, and a 24-hour security team.
*Accommodations are subject to change
