Support Benjamin Burns' Journalism Journey in Kenya

Hello, my name is Benjamin Burns! If you don't know me or know me well, I am student at Indiana University studying Journalism. I am from the South Bend area of Indiana and I am 20 years old.

This summer, I am pursuing the opportunity to study abroad to the country of Kenya. The Media School, the department I am apart of at IU, is provided this opportunity for all students. I decided to sign-up and have officially been approved along with around 7 other students.

On this trip I will be collaborating with Kenyan university students to tell the story of AMPATH — Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare — an academic health partnership led by the IU School of Medicine and the Moi University School of Medicine that is one of Africa's largest and most effective responses to HIV/AIDS.

However, I am looking for some support to go this trip. Because this trip will be taking around 8 weeks out of my summer, I will not be able to work as often as I would be to save for the following academic school year. As of right now I am working as a Domino's delivery driver, working 15-25 hours every weekend, on top of being a full time student to save money for the trip. That being said, any donations made here will help fund the trip as well as help set me up for the following academic school year. This includes paying tuition as well as paying rent for the apartment lease I signed.

To give you some details on the trips cost, the total cost is about 3,700 dollars. However, since I am a Media School student, around 1,700 dollars has been given to me as a grant/scholarship. This 1,700 covers school tuition because I am enrolling for a summer course which means I have to pay. That leaves us with 2,000 remaining. This 2,000 will cover my place to stay in Kenya, weekday meals, travel to and from, and the safari trip that we will go on during our visit.

Finally, I want to elaborate why I want to go on this trip and why it so important to me. Some of you may know but I have been to Honduras twice as a missionary to serve the people of Honduras by providing clothing, hygiene items, and more. Those trips were really eye opening and made me realize that if I didn't know what is going on this country, millions of others don't as well. So one day I want to report on these stories that don't get told in countries that some may have never known about. This is also important because of the connections I will make on the trip. In journalism, connections are really important and not only will I be connecting with the people who will be attending the trip, but also the Kenyan university students who are also working in the journalism field. Finally, this will be a great resume item as I will be graduating from IU after the next academic school year. I feel as this trip would be an amazing experience to put on my resume along with all the work I do while I am there.

Thank You!