Alumni Update

Géraud Bablon '04, is in Cameroon for a two-month internship with a London/NY-based NGO called ARCHIVE Global, Architecture for Health in Vulnerable Environments. They have launched a campaign asking students and professionals to participate in an architecture competition in an attempt to generate creative thinking on how architecture can limit the transmission of malaria. The winning designs will be implemented in the rehabilitation first of 24 and then about 300 houses outside of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon; then the idea is to spread the knowledge so that it becomes common knowledge in terms of malaria prevention around the world. Géraud is currently working to generate interest in the competition, and he is giving presentations to groups of students at various universities as well as professionals in NGOs and the private sector around Yaounde in the hopes of motivating people to participate.

After leaving St. Thomas School, Géraud became interested in architecture, but chose to study liberal arts instead and see how he could reconcile architecture with development. A studio course last semester at the Rhode Island School of Design inspired him, and he plans to return to Brown University this fall for his junior year, where he is concentrating in Development Studies and specifically studying slum rehabilitation in Mumbai. In a recent email, Géraud writes, "St. Thomas School nurtured in me a certain open-mindedness and intellectual curiosity. I realize now how lucky I was to be able to attend such a school."