Scaling Inclusion with Basic Needs Basic Rights (2026W)

This program is part of the Global Experiential Education Program (GEEP) and is informed by ORICE values. GEEP aims to strengthen the bridge between classroom learning (theory) and application (practice) to address pressing global issues, in this community-based praxis initiative. Students who participate in GEEP can participate in experiential education projects designed and led by global community partners.

Details at a Glance

First Round Application Deadline: September 13th, 2026 (11:59PM)

• Program Type: Co-curricular (Not-for-credit)
• Engagement Type: Community-Engaged Research Project in collaboration with Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya (BNBR)
• Engagement Location: 2026W In-person, UBC-Based
• Duration: 7 months starting October 2026
• Eligibility: Open to UBC-V Undergraduate (60+ credits) & Graduate students (more details below)

Program Description

Background

BNBR’s five-year strategic plan identifies strengthening organizational research capacity and evidence-based programming as an important priority. Since Summer 2024, BNBR and ORICE have worked with successive teams of UBC students on a connected series of projects supporting this goal.

The initial student team worked with BNBR to identify organizational research priorities and develop a preliminary research agenda. During the 2024/25 academic year, students examined how social inclusion is understood within BNBR’s work and developed a database of Kenyan policies and implementation mechanisms related to social inclusion.

In Summer 2025, a small group of students travelled to Kenya to deepen their understanding of BNBR’s organizational and community context and contribute to planning the next phase of the work. In the 2025/26 academic year, an engagementship team supported the development of educational and research tools intended to explore how social inclusion is understood and practiced within BNBR and across the local mental health system.

During a seven-week immersive placement in Summer 2026, students completed staff interviews, analyzed them thematically, explored patterns across the data, and prepared a report documenting how social inclusion is conceptualized and put into practice across BNBR’s organizational, community, and systems-level work. The findings were intended to support BNBR’s continued organizational development, inform the potential articulation of a BNBR social inclusion model, and identify directions for future research.

Together, these successive projects have moved the collaboration from identifying organizational research priorities and examining the meaning of social inclusion toward the development of a broader research initiative. The next phase will extend the inquiry beyond BNBR staff to examine how social inclusion is understood, experienced, and practiced by people and organizations across a local community mental health system.

Organization Details

Basic Needs, Basic Rights (BNBR) is a vibrant registered national non-governmental organization located across seven counties in Kenya. One of BNBR’s core programmatic areas is to support people with mental health conditions, those at risk, and their caregivers to live and work successfully in their communities. BNBR strives to ensure that those with mental health concerns can access basic rights by empowering their communities to provide care and social support.

Current Project

BNBR is now developing a research project in Kilifi County focused on its community-based social inclusion approach and its relationship to local health-system strengthening. Building on the prior social inclusion project work, this next phase will consider the perspectives and experiences of people with lived experience of mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities, community-based intermediaries, health care providers, and health-system administrators.

The project will explore how social inclusion is understood, experienced, and practiced across different parts of the community mental health system. It will also consider how BNBR-supported activities—such as training, awareness raising, referral and linkage processes, resource support, group strengthening, and engagement with county health systems—may shape attitudes, relationships, decisions, and practices related to social inclusion.

From October 2026–April 2027, a team of students will work remotely with BNBR, ORICE, and collaborating Kenyan researchers to support the project at different stages of the research process. Depending on the project timeline and priorities identified by the research team, student activities may include:

• Conducting literature reviews, document reviews, and environmental or policy scans;
• Reviewing research frameworks, methodologies, and measures related to social inclusion and health-system strengthening;
• Supporting the development and refinement of qualitative and quantitative research tools;
• Preparing background materials and documentation for research ethics applications;
• Supporting data organization, cleaning, and management;
• Assisting with qualitative and quantitative data analysis;
• Synthesizing findings and contributing to research reports;
• Developing presentations, educational resources, or other knowledge-sharing materials; and
• Contributing to additional research activities identified collaboratively with BNBR and the research team.

The particular responsibilities of the student team will depend on the stage the research has reached during the engagementship. Students should therefore be prepared to be flexible within an evolving community-based research process and to contribute to different phases of the project as needs emerge.

Learn more about previous students’ experiences working with BNBR on pages 21-22 of ORICE’s 2025/2026 Annual Report.

Project Timeline

From October 2026 to April 2027,  the selected team of students will spend 3-5 hours weekly working collaboratively to complete the project. Students will be asked to participate in weekly scheduled in-person meetings (on the UBC Vancouver Campus) to ensure collaboration and accountability goals are defined and met. However, the remainder of the allotted time will be self-directed or in small work teams as per agreements with teammates.

More Information