By Duncan Thumbi

USIU-Africa was selected by the Kenya National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) to participate in a national study to establish the status of drugs and substance use among university students in Kenya. This survey is focused on undergraduate students and has employed a systematic random sampling approach to select participants.

The main objective of the study is to gather information that will be used to design preventive, supportive, and management programs for alcohol and drug abuse in Kenyan universities and USIU-Africa is among the 17 universities, both public and private, selected for the countrywide study. The Institutional Research Office, together with the Counseling Center will work hand in hand with research assistants from the club to engage all the 800+ selected undergraduate students to participate in the survey.

The club will be working with 10 Research Assistants (RAs) who will be trained on data collection, research ethics, data entry and analysis by the Institutional Research Office. Led by the chairperson of the research club, Duncan Thumbi, the team of RAs include Stella Kamar, Mildred Akinyi Owiti, Kennedy Gitau Kariuki, Linet Wanjiku Mwangi, Benard Okoth Otieno, Priscillah Zoe Mung’au, Anita Mueni Ndolo, Wilkistar Ademo Vuyiya and Daniella Chege. The club appreciates the Institutional Research Office, Counseling Center, Research Club members, and students for working together towards the success of this national survey.