Kenya: Urbanization, Health, and Human Rights

Faculty and Staff

Athman Lali Omar, MA, Academic Director
Athman Lali Omar completed his undergraduate work at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He received his MA in anthropology and African studies from Yale University and is currently completing his PhD in archaeology, researching "Settlement Abandonment on the Kenya Coast" at the University of Florida. He has served as a Kiswahili instructor at both Yale University and the University of Florida.

After completing his master's program in 1990, Athman Lali Omar worked as a research scientist at the Fort Jesus Museum in Mombasa and as the curator of the Lamu Museum, on the island of Lamu. Until 2005, he served as the head of coastal archaeology at the National Museums of Kenya.

Athman has worked with SIT in Kenya since 1990, including serving as academic director from 1990–1991, and again since 1998. He currently serves on the boards of several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Kenya, including the Coast Provincial Educational Board. He is also a member of the organizing committee of Pwani University, the first university to be developed within Kenya's Coast Province.

Lecturers for this program typically include:

Professor Patrick Alila, PhD
Dr. Alila is a research professor at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Nairobi. He holds a PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington; an MA from Indiana University, Bloomington; and a BA (Hons) from the University of East Africa. Professor Alila is an expert in rural development, political science, and public administration. He has conducted extensive research in the areas of local development systems, cooperatives development, micro and small enterprises, child labor, and Kenya’s electoral process. He has been a lecturer with the SIT Nairobi program since 1985.

Jamal Omar Awadh, MA
Jamal Omar Awadh is a Kenyan national who received his Bachelor of Education from the University of Nairobi and his MA in museology from Reinwardt Academy in Amsterdam. He taught in Mombasa for six years before joining the National Museums of Kenya as an education and conservation officer. Currently studying human resource management, he has been working with SIT since 2001 as a homestay coordinator, ISP advisor, and lecturer. Jamal served as academic director for SIT in the fall of 2002 and again from 2005–2013.

Professor Mohamud Jama, PhD
Professor Mohamud Jama is associate research professor and director of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Nairobi. He has a PhD and an MA in agricultural economics from Washington State University and a BComm (Hons) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. His has 25 years of teaching experience in the areas of agricultural economics, environmental and natural resource management, and development. He has lectured SIT students on development, environment, wildlife conservation, and tourism development. Professor Jama has published extensively on natural resource and development issues. He serves as academic coordinator for the program’s community development module and has been a lecturer with the SIT program in Nairobi since 1987.

Professor Mohamed Karama, PhD
Professor Karama is principal research officer with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and is a part-time lecturer at Kenyatta University in Kenya. He holds a PhD in public health and epidemiology from Kenyatta University and has pursued various training courses in Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Japan. Currently he teaches and supervises students at the master’s and PhD levels at Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and Nagasaki University in Japan. He was appointed associate professor by the Graduate School of International Health and Development at Nagasaki University. During his earlier professional career, he worked with the Kenya Ministry of Health in the areas of disease control and epidemics in Kenya. He is a member of a faith-based health committee in Kenya. Dr. Karama has been conducting lectures for the SIT Nairobi program for the last two years and serves as academic coordinator for the SIT Nairobi health module.

Odoch Pido, PhD
Originally from Uganda, Dr. Pido has lived and worked in Kenya for over forty years, informing his dual perspective on life in both countries. He is a graduate of the School of Industrial Design in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and earned both an MA and a PhD from the University of Nairobi, where he conducted research on the articulations of culture, design, and development. Dr. Pido is a faculty member of the School of the Arts and Design at the University of Nairobi and served as chair of the department from 1999–2003. He is a frequent conference presenter and has published numerous papers, book chapters, and journal articles analyzing culture in relation to design, health, and development. He has consulted on alternative communication techniques for controlling HIV/AIDS, especially in relation to orphans and vulnerable children in rural Kenyan communities, and for jua kali (informal, small-scale) businesses throughout Kenya. Dr. Pido has been a lecturer and advisor with SIT since 1987 and served as academic director with SIT from 2005–2013.

Donna Pido, PhD
Donna Pido is an anthropologist whose professional interests lie in the interaction of design and aesthetic systems across and within cultures. She has a PhD in applied anthropology; an MPhil in education from Columbia University; and a BA in anthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington. As a contract researcher, her work has focused on the aesthetic factors that influence high-risk behavior in relation to AIDS and STIs. She has published in the areas of East African aesthetics, social change, and the effective development of information education and communication material for health. She has lived in Kenya for 33 of the last 43 years. Her field research and professional work have also included internally generated change in art and development within the Maasai, Kisii, Sudanese, and other communities.