Columbia Global Centers | Nairobi African Book Talk Series (ABTS) is a virtual program that primarily features African authors and African Literature. With this series, CGC | Nairobi provides a platform where African writers and authors documenting African content can engage a global audience. The authors discuss their work and exciting perspectives on how personal, political, and cultural experiences drive their storytelling.

The episode featured "Into Africa, Out of Academia: A Doctor's Memoir," by Kwan Kew Lai. In 2006, Dr. Lai left her full-time position as a professor in the United States to provide medical-humanitarian aid to the remote villages and war-torn areas of Africa. Into Africa, Out of Academia is a memoir that follows her experiences from 2006 to 2013 as she provided care during the HIV/AIDs epidemics, after natural disasters, and as a relief doctor in refugee camps in Kenya, Libya, Uganda and South Sudan, where civil war virtually wiped out all existing healthcare facilities.

On Septembet 22nd, 2022 we delved deeper into this discussion, in a session moderated by Wendy Njoroge, a bookish curator. Enjoy the Video!