What Higher Education can do. Inspiration in Action: A Kenya & Eastern Africa Story

Kenya is not only about safaris, wildlife sightseeing, beach tourism along the Eastern Coast of Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi & Diani Beach. It is much more. It is a country impregnated by political commitment, fighting for independence, civic & political engagement of inspirational people who set the tone for the country to be one of the most flourishing, free, welcoming, multicultural, international & pluralistic in Eastern Africa.

Kenyan National Archives, Nairobi- Kenya

A clear example is Tom Mboya (1930-1969), a Kenyan trade unionist, educationist, Pan Africanist, author, independence activist and one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya. He laid the foundation for Kenya’s capitalist and mixed economy policies at the height of the Cold War and set up several of the country’s key labour institutions.

Mboya gave speeches, debates and interviews across the world in favor of Kenya’s independence from British colonial rule and spoke at several rallies in favor of civil rights movement in the United States.

He also helped build the Trade Union Movement in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and across Africa. In May 1959, Mboya called a conference in Lagos, Nigeria, to form the first All- Africa ICFTU labor organization.

What caught my complete attention was this letter:

Kenyan National Archives, Nairobi- Kenya

The letter is from 1959. It states:

“In his whirlwind tour from coast to coast he dramatized the need for higher education of the many young Kenyans for whose opportunities are non existent under the repressive colonial system. In Kenya today higher education is not available to Africans”. 

In the letter, Tom stressed the importance of Higher Education and the need of scholarships to allow Kenyan students to travel to the top universities in the United States of America, to build and strengthen their education and their knowledge.

Tom was already a visionary for mobility of students, internationalization of universities, Pan-African ideals and the need to establish partnerships with other countries, long-lasting friendships based on cultural and educational exchanges, to form the Leaders of Tomorrow.

This is the list of the 81 students awarded then the scholarships for university studies in the United States. Date: 1959.

Kenyan National Archives, Nairobi- Kenya

He anticipated the times, when the society was not ready. He was gunned down by an assassin on July 5th, 1969, 6 years after the Kenyan independence.

Kenyan National Archives, Nairobi-Kenya

Thanks to the Education African Airlift programme that Tom Mboya implemented, requesting to John F. Kennedy, in 1960, a grant from the Kennedy Foundation for the student airlift, the best and brightest students and political leaders and Nobel Peace Prize winners were born.

Barack Obama Senior was the first African student to study at the University of Hawaii, thanks to the Programme (Read the story of the Obama family, in a great BBC article of 2015, here).

Kenyan National Archives- Nairobi, Kenya

Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) an internationally renowned Kenyan environmental political activist and Nobel laureate, also took part in the Tom Mboya’s educational exchange program in the United States. She founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights.

Kenyan National Archives, Nairobi- Kenya

In 2004 she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

Kenyan National Archives, Nairobi- Kenya

Thanks to this revolutionary education programme, Tom Mboya was the first Kenyan to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine of the United States.

 

Enlightened people who changed the world.

A good reason to follow and/or participate to the next UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa Conference on Higher Education, Policy and Research: Quality and Future Challenges for East Africa and the Indian Ocean, where young students will interact with Ministries of Higher Education and Research in East Africa to discuss about existing reforms to promote science studies at national and regional levels, including pressing issues of climate change, ICT in education and peace and security , for a socio-economic development and political stability in the region.

Stop by Djibouti, next week, from 2 of May to 4 of May 2017, and experience the difference!

Participate, tweet, contribute to the dialogue via Facebook, using the hashtag #HE4EastAfrica and follow the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa Facebook page, with great content, digital and visual content to guide you through the Revolution of Africa through ideals and practical actions on Education and Peace!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty of the clouds

The clouds are normally associated with dreams, the “head in the clouds” means that a person is always thinking about something and perhaps not paying full attention to the current conversation going on between two or more people.

I loved the clouds, and the feelings of possibly touching them one day. For now, I surely enjoy flying, which makes me see them, as often as possible, closer to us human beings.

Yesterday, April 22nd, World Earth Day was celebrated, as a reminder of the students’ movement of the seventies, where an environmental conscience, as well as a positive anger against wars at the time, a replacement of “war” with “love”, a call for solidarity and collective actions in society, a committed and engaged march of street demonstrations for political and cultural demands for change, strong fight for civil rights movement, took place and awakened souls and minds.

Moreover, the 68 revolution all over the world where the importance of the interconnection between human beings and nature is one and must be protected and celebrated each day.

Thought-provoking and counter-culture posters from a Gallery of visually Arresting Posters from the May 1968 Paris Uprising

While living in Nairobi, capital of Kenya- East Africa, I very much enjoy the nature around me, the very many trees and forests, and I believe a bigger effort should be made, by everyone of us, to preserve and protect the marvelous work of mother earth and do not pollute with our industrial and capitalistic presence on planet earth.

Being aware of the human footprint and industrial business outputs on the nature is the first step to care more about the human and living species on Earth.

 

 

 

 

Earth Day 2017, celebrated on April 22, by Earth Day Networ

 

1970 US stamp

 

Thought-provoking and counter-culture posters from a Gallery of visually arresting posters from the May 1968 Paris Uprising

Today, April 23, the international community celebrates World Book and Copyright Day, highlighting the importance of books as instruments to acquire knowledge and use it wisely to make a positive change in society, in terms of cultural  enrichment, socio-political thoughts, economic adjustments, business ideas and plans of actions to make the society as a whole thrive.

Well-known slogan of the end of sixties.

 

 

 

 

Some further readings:

Insightful paper the ideas of a thinker whose ideas were a major influence upon the student radicals of 1968 unpublished, article from September 2008, Be realistic, demand the impossible. Click here to read.

Another paper on the Civil Rights Movements of the 60’s and 70’s: Successes and Failures 

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I wish to leave you tonight with some thoughts on the 68 uprising in the US and in Europe, and to reflect on this current European situation, on the power of media and how to use it wisely, on presidential elections in Europe ( now in France) in Kenya in August, on terrorist attacks, on fear, on borders and frontiers, on technology and speed of information, to understand what went wrong, and how we got lost in translation. To recover a sense of reality and, on the importance of human beings ( of nature surrounding, which is part of us and we are part of it) and to speak up and call for action ( not only sitting down in our offices doing our daily tasks and assignments).

There was no formal organisation behind this uprising. It was everyday people who had been pushed too far, showing a solidarity that jumped the shackles of class, age and education. The kind of revolution of everyday life leading to a societal dialogue where people truly functioned as a collective brain, pulse and heart. There seems to be evidence here of the making of an ultra-potent antidote to the extremely scary fragmented, cubicled and computer-screened hyper-individualism of today. Your blog won’t change anything. Your Facebook potentially could, but only if you add to it by meeting and communicating face-to-face with people from walks of life very different to yours.

El avellano y los elefantes Africanos

Esta noche he estado con un amigo contandole las ultimas noticias de la rara y extraordinaria historia de mi vida. Compartiendo chocolate con avellanas y poleo verde en el maravilloso Circulo de Bellas Artes de Madrid- un edificio arquitectonico que nació en1919- y que huespeda un ciclo interminable de increibles exposiciones, un circulo de jazz, un cinema, una libreria ( Libreria Antonio Machado que aconsejo para hacer compras- buena manera de utilizar el dinero que tenemos), fiestas literarias y espectáculos teatrales- empezamos a imaginar la nueva vida en Africa, acordandonos de la pelicula con Robert Redford Out of Africa.

Empezé a soñar con mis elefantes, y analizamos el collar que siempre tengo en mi cuello: un elefante- con las orejas grandes- africano entonces! ( el elefante asiatico tiene las orejas pequeñas, nuevo aprendizaje) que me ha estado acompañando durante algunos años que mi tio me regalió cuando era una bambina. 

Luego nuestras conversaciones giraron entorno a la naturaleza, a los animales, y vi brillar sus ojos, la libertad, el contacto entre los humanos y el clima, el ambiente que nos rodea. Me encantó el ver como nosotros, personas humanas, nos emocionamos y brillamos, estamos bien cuando estamos cerca de la naturelza, del mar, de los animales, de los arboles, del verde, de parques, de areas verdes, de montañas…..

Y cerca de avellanas y de los arboles avellanos, que producen frutos con los que se pueden saborear ricas chocolates…

Algunas canciones en la lectura 🙂

Four to the Floor– Stairsailor

Reality– Lost frequencies

Maybe tomorrow– Stereophonics

Say it once- Ultra

Mike Stern Band

Hello-Adele

One two three– Hooverphonic

MAP – Mezquida / Aurignac / Prats 

Cuatro elementos– Musicalité

What you know– Two Door Cinema Club

Me acordé de ti– Fito & Fitipaldis

Adore- Jasmine Thompson

Chemicals– Tiësto & Don Diablo 

Ciao de vuestra viajera y nuevas historias llegaran con el Diario de bordo de Africa!