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Two 2007 Doane College graduates left in October 2007 for six months of volunteer service in Kenya.
Amy Sherwood of Mitchell and Shawna Clement of Lincoln will pioneer Doane Corps with their service in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya, about three hours northwest of the capital, Nairobi. Both will teach in the Special Unit of the Ol-Ng'arua Primary government school and also in the Ol-Ng'arua regular primary school.
The Special Unit is a division of the government school for physically and mentally challenged children, offering classroom instruction, room and board. The primary school serves the Ng'arua district for several hundred children. Sherwood and Clement will join the primary school faculty in special-needs instruction and student care. Sherwood will help teach general science and biology, while Clement will help teach English language, reading, and writing in the regular primary school.
During their Doane Corps service, Sherwood and Clement will stay in Gachura village with the Kinyanjui family. The family includes Isaac Kinyanjui, who spent a month in residence at Doane College in April 2007, lecturing and visiting classes. A naturalist and wildlife guide, he previously worked with Doane Professor Betty Levitov through her Semester in Africa program. The Doane alumnae hope to become part of the Kinyanjui family and village life.
Clement graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and English. Sherwood earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 2007. Both participated in the Doane College Semester in Africa during the fall of 2006 with 13 other students and Levitov, living and studying in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
Sherwood and Clement are members of the Roots & Shoots organization, Jane Goodall's ecological and humanitarian program at Doane College. Sherwood was a founder and president of the organization from October 2005 to May 2006.