EMA-Kenya Network 2nd Meeting in Nairobi, August 6th, 2011
The second Kenya networking event was well attended by Erasmus Mundus alumni from different EM master courses. The current country representatives Charles Omboto and Apiyo Okwiri with the help of Margaret Awuor Owuor steered the meeting.
This year the event also contained elements a pre-departure orientation, since it was attended by new beneficiaries of Erasmus Mundus scholarship who will start their courses in September 2011. Reports from the 2010/2011 promotion and collaboration activities have shown that the alumni have been actively involved in EM promotion at University of Nairobi (UoN), Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology (JKUAT), Strathmore University, United States International University (USIU), Kenyatta University, Egerton University, and Maseno University. Ten alumni also presented the Study in Europe stand at the Nairobi International Education Fair in March 2011. In addition, there have been several collaborations among the alumni, with one group having received a Rufford grant on conservation and another having registered a consultancy agency. Some members of the network are also participating in the projectEurope-Africa Quality Connect: Building Institutional Capacity through Partnership, which aims to address the need for assessing and enhancing institutional capacity for change, as well as contribute to the international dialogue and cooperation on institutional development and quality assurance, as core elements for partnerships between universities in Europe and Africa.
At the end of the session the following proposals were made:
- increase the frequency of the Network meeting to twice per year;
- promote EM in parastatal firms,
- organize a promotion event in September 2011 at Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE),
- participate in the Kenyatta University Culture week in October 2011;
- continue presence at the Study in Europe stand at the International Education Fair in 2012;
- be a partner in the International Conference on Tropical Biology scheduled for 2012 and host the inaugural EM Special Education class re-union in 2013.
Kenya has been very active in EMA: there are two Kenian members in the African Chapter board of directive election, which was held in August 2011: Apiyo Okwiri - EMA-African Chapter President and Cornelius Brian Okello –Regional Coordinator Eastern Africa.
