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Category: Diaspora News

Written by Anne Nzuki

On March, a symposium that brought together African students and young professionals from Africa, China, Europe, and North America, was held on the campuses of Harvard and Tufts University respectively. Events also extended to the beautiful Mount Washington Resort Hotel on the rolling mountains of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The students and professionals in attendance demonstrated a great passion for the continent and a steadfast courage to engage with Africa through various projects that push towards community health and development. This symposium is aptly named the Harambe Bretton Woods Symposium (HBWS) and is the effort of Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance (HEA), an action network of African students and African professionals. The main tenets of HEA are to capture, inform and engage the next generation of African Professionals in the development of Africa.

The symposium consisted of presentations on various themes by the students/professionals chosen to attend. There were presentations from graduate school admissions officers, and speeches from the president of HEA, former participants, and the former United States Ambassador to Denmark, Richard N. Swett. Students presented on projects ranging from Waste Management in Ghana, to “Libraries Across Africa”, to student run summer community development projects in various African countries.

The list is endless; needless to say, those in attendance were very determined as exemplified by their projects. Some students also received grants from Intel and GlaxoSmithKline to carry out their projects. Interested members of the HBWS IV, the fourth class, were also afforded the opportunity for summer internships to work at office of the Presidents of Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone through the Tony Blair Foundation. This is just a short synopsis of some of the opportunities that come along with being a Harambe Associate. While the long and arduous application process to become a Harambe Associate may seem daunting, it is a worthwhile task. All those in attendance had projects that were action-oriented and were adamant in making strides to achieve the change in Africa that most of us talk about, yet do little or nothing to achieve.

If you are a student, African professional, or anyone with a zeal for progress in Africa, Harambe is a suitable and valuable organization to be a part of. In the words of the Harambe Bretton Woods Declaration, “Yet in the end, the Africa our generation desires can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is ours.”

For more information on the history of HEA and how to get involved visit www.healliance.org

Be inspired and “Be the change you wish to see.” - Mahatma Ghandi

Keep it locked on Kenyan Empowerment Newspaper for all your “Africa in Progress” information!

By Anne Nzuki