Fulbright Specialist to Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
This project was carried out in two parts:
- January 26 – February 14, 2014
- March 22 -- April 12, 2014
Purpose of Residency
A) Assist in the development of short videos which promote research, innovation, community outreach, and service to humanity by showing how KU is touching individuals in these areas.
Objectives:
- Engage the viewer – as a funder, a supporter, a student, a partner, a collaborator.
- Demonstrate that the objective is not simply an educated student, but an educated student transforming her/his village and the world.
- Demonstrate that research is not divorced from the needs of the community but reflects and responds to those communities and their priorities.
Purpose of short videos:
- Promote research, innovation, community outreach and service to humanity by showing how Kenyatta University is impacting individuals and groups in these areas.
- Increase visibility of Kenyatta University as a hub for knowledge, research, and social responsibility.
B) Connect Kenyatta University administration, faculty and students with organizations and individuals in Kenya, the African region, and the US and UK which could appreciate and be helpful as partners in KU’s mission. An example of the series produced by Julia Royall with videography by Anthony Ngunjiri can be seen in the video below. For further information, contact Office of the Vice Chancellor, Kenyatta University
Video from the Series "Snapshots of Change"
From the report
Focus on Vice Chancellor's priority programs:
- Orphaned and Vulnerable Students
- Students with Disabilities
- Innovation Center
- Medical Hub
- Diaspora and international exchange
- Alumni and Kenyatta University Foundation
Some examples of the interviewees: Fridah, a deer-in-the-headlights young woman who speaks of the delight she experienced when her poem was read at KU’s Culture Week. William, a street boy from age 7, riding under buses from Kisumu to Nairobi, sniffing glue, now graduating in finance. AnnMercy who was injured in an accident but is now student government representative for disabled students and plays tennis from a wheelchair, when not studying pharmacy. Anthony, a young entrepreneur who wants to address the energy problem in Africa through manufacturing briquettes from natural compost. And then there is the physicist whose student was part of the Higgs boson team. These uplifting stories compose an important challenge to the predominant paradigm of Africa as all death, disease, poverty, and conflict.