Two more postgraduate students from the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies benefited from a one-semester exchange programme to the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. These are Michael Kaelo and Belinda Omungu (middle two in photo). According to Michael and Belinda, “the North-South-South exchange programme was an eye opener and a priceless experience for us.

The programme started from 2nd of January to 29th of May 2013 and was hosted by the Department of History and Ethnology of the University of Jyvaskyla. The experience offered us an opportunity to enjoy world class education in a technologically advanced environment while interacting with other exchange students from other countries and those from Finland. The culture and winter sports and activities made our stay quite memorable. The winter gave us an opportunity to enjoy skiing, ice skating, ice-fishing and the sauna – an essential part of Finnish culture. In spite the frigid temperatures of sometimes up to minus 30 degrees centigrade; there was always room for keeping warm and fit with such facilities as indoor sports and gym, among others. The hospitality of the Finnish people is excellent, we were allocated a friendship family so that we can enjoy the cultural delights of the Finns, their foods, their entertainment and all privileges that come with a home away from home. We would like to thank the coordinators of this exchange programme: Dr. Sam Owuor (UoN), Tiina Savela and Prof. Laura Stark (JyU) and all those who made this experience a success!”