May 2024
I travelled to Juja, Kenya to teach a three-week business program at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. We ran two cohorts of lectures, office hours, and workshops for over 150 students.
My favourite moments took place outside the classroom: gathering at a student's home to cook chapati and beef stew together, or hanging out at the JKUAT Botanical Gardens, picking fresh guava fruit and playing Ninja.
But one thing I'll never forget was visiting Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa. We knew somebody who knew somebody who had a connection with Yakub Jaffar, an ex-gang-leader-turned-activist who founded Kibera's Watu Moja Lee Academy. Yakub guided us on bike through the markets to get to the Academy and meet the schoolchildren. The community does not often get visitors, so when people heard we were there, hundreds of locals came out. We gave an impromptu speech and the locals took us dancing and parading through the streets. The raw energy, grit, and community bond I felt here made this a truly eye-opening and special time.
Following this trip, I also wrote a case study about M-Pesa, Kenya's top mobile money service.