What is this?

CUPID is not some dating group.
CUPID stands for Columbia University Partnership for International Development. It is a student-led effort across graduate schools at Columbia University to facilitate multidisciplinary dialogue, awareness, and action on international development. Recognizing the University’s excellence in this field, CUPID serves as a channel for individuals interested in international development to take advantage of the University’s wide-ranging human and institutional resources in their academic, extracurricular, and professional endeavors. Encouraging a collaborative spirit among students, professors, and alumni with diverse specialties, CUPID aims to explore and demonstrate how a multidisciplinary approach to international development can produce innovative, holistic solutions for disadvantaged populations.

So, why are we going to Kenya?

One of the initiatives of CUPID is designed to be educational and experiential. We take action to work on a project to combine student and local knowledge in a holistic development framework, creating long-term positive impact for students and communities alike.

The project this year is to work at The Abila Creative Center in Kisumu, Kenya.
The Abila Creative Center was formed in 2003 with the aim of bringing artists in Kisumu together and acting as a formal link between art and the rest of the society - corporate, academic and business. It was also an open space where young people could come together and learn from each other and use the resources and forums to inform their creative work. Indeed the term 'Abila' is a Luo word that means a hut in which older men passed wisdom and knowledge on the ways of the community to the young men... where the young men learnt at the feet of the elders. Through theatre performances and visual art exhibitions, the Abila community engaged the rest of the community in critical social commentaries on the society.

The Columbia students taking part and writing in this blog come from the Columbia College, CU School of Social Work, CU School of International and Public Affairs, and Teachers College. We are Chandi, Joe, Moira, Porsha, Stacey, and Yasu.