State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Kenya2

  • Notes from a Gender Needs Assessment: Kisumu’s Greatest Resource

    Notes from a Gender Needs Assessment: Kisumu’s Greatest Resource

    The following is a guest blog, authored by Sarah Jaffe, an MCI researcher who is carrying out a Gender Needs Assessment for Kisumu, Kenya.   My mobile buzzed in my pocket, and I shifted the crate of Fanta my seatmate had rested on my lap to one side. It was my colleague, Ben: “Madame Grace is…

  • Preventing Malaria in the Millennium Villages

    Preventing Malaria in the Millennium Villages

    I work at the Malaria Program of the Earth Institute’s Center for Global Health and Economic Development. The bulk of our work takes place at the Center for National Health Development in Ethiopia, which supports national malaria control programs in ten African countries and contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Ethiopia.…

  • My Day with a Community Health Worker

    Originally posted at karibusauri.wordpress.com The other week I walked the footpaths of Nyaminia, a sub-location of the Millennium Village Project in Sauri, Kenya, to visit households with Richard*, a Community Health Worker (CHW). Going around with a CHW was eye-opening. It’s one thing to read about nutrition screenings and the use of mobile phones for health…

  • Improving Access to Safe Water and Sanitation in Kisumu, Kenya

    Many families in developing countries, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. Proper sanitation facilities are also rare, particularly in informal settlements and peri-urban areas. Despite the valiant efforts by local and national governments, international NGOs, foundations and corporations to bring clean water and sanitation facilities to sub-Saharan…

  • Monitoring and Evaluation is Hard*

    A primary component of the Millennium Villages Project education strategy is to improve the quality of education. But are MVP interventions such as school feeding programs, classroom construction, and teacher training truly having an impact on student performance? On Wednesday I attended a planning meeting for an evaluation designed to measure just that. The standardized…

  • A Week with the Sauri, Kenya Education Team

    Originally posted at karibusauri.wordpress.com My first week’s rotation at the Sauri Millennium Village was with the education sector. In three short days I observed MVP sponsored computer labs, school feeding program kitchens, gender separated latrines, a monitoring and evaluation planning meeting, rainwater harvesting, school livestock; the list goes on. The education team is constantly on the…

  • Changing Lives One Surgery at a Time: A Team of Urologists Makes an Impact in Kisumu, Kenya

    Imagine living out in Western Kenya, suffering from a urological disorder, without access to an affordable specialist. That may be difficult for many of us to picture; unfortunately, that is the reality for hundreds of people living in Kisumu, Kenya, and the surrounding province. With only one urologist in the entire catchment area of five…

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Notes from a Gender Needs Assessment: Kisumu’s Greatest Resource

    Notes from a Gender Needs Assessment: Kisumu’s Greatest Resource

    The following is a guest blog, authored by Sarah Jaffe, an MCI researcher who is carrying out a Gender Needs Assessment for Kisumu, Kenya.   My mobile buzzed in my pocket, and I shifted the crate of Fanta my seatmate had rested on my lap to one side. It was my colleague, Ben: “Madame Grace is…

  • Preventing Malaria in the Millennium Villages

    Preventing Malaria in the Millennium Villages

    I work at the Malaria Program of the Earth Institute’s Center for Global Health and Economic Development. The bulk of our work takes place at the Center for National Health Development in Ethiopia, which supports national malaria control programs in ten African countries and contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Ethiopia.…

  • My Day with a Community Health Worker

    Originally posted at karibusauri.wordpress.com The other week I walked the footpaths of Nyaminia, a sub-location of the Millennium Village Project in Sauri, Kenya, to visit households with Richard*, a Community Health Worker (CHW). Going around with a CHW was eye-opening. It’s one thing to read about nutrition screenings and the use of mobile phones for health…

  • Improving Access to Safe Water and Sanitation in Kisumu, Kenya

    Many families in developing countries, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. Proper sanitation facilities are also rare, particularly in informal settlements and peri-urban areas. Despite the valiant efforts by local and national governments, international NGOs, foundations and corporations to bring clean water and sanitation facilities to sub-Saharan…

  • Monitoring and Evaluation is Hard*

    A primary component of the Millennium Villages Project education strategy is to improve the quality of education. But are MVP interventions such as school feeding programs, classroom construction, and teacher training truly having an impact on student performance? On Wednesday I attended a planning meeting for an evaluation designed to measure just that. The standardized…

  • A Week with the Sauri, Kenya Education Team

    Originally posted at karibusauri.wordpress.com My first week’s rotation at the Sauri Millennium Village was with the education sector. In three short days I observed MVP sponsored computer labs, school feeding program kitchens, gender separated latrines, a monitoring and evaluation planning meeting, rainwater harvesting, school livestock; the list goes on. The education team is constantly on the…

  • Changing Lives One Surgery at a Time: A Team of Urologists Makes an Impact in Kisumu, Kenya

    Imagine living out in Western Kenya, suffering from a urological disorder, without access to an affordable specialist. That may be difficult for many of us to picture; unfortunately, that is the reality for hundreds of people living in Kisumu, Kenya, and the surrounding province. With only one urologist in the entire catchment area of five…