For 13 high school students from Cameroon, university stopped being an idea in a brochure the moment they walked through the gates of Strathmore University.

I know that feeling because, not too long ago, I was where they are now. I was a student in Cameroon, wondering what studying abroad might look like. What would it feel like to walk into a university classroom in another country? Would I fit in? How different would life be? And, perhaps most importantly, could I actually see myself there?

Today, I am a third-year Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Data Science student at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. So, when 13 students from Enko Bonanjo International School in Douala arrived at Strathmore, I found myself standing on the other side of a journey I had once made myself.

This time, I was the one saying, “Welcome to Kenya. Welcome to Strathmore.”

From August 17 to 21, 2026, the students took part in the Enko Africa University Leadership and Career Immersion Programme at Strathmore University. Built around the theme RISE (Rooted in Values, Inspired to Lead, Set for Excellence), the five-day programme combined academic immersion, leadership development, community service, cultural exposure and career exploration.

But for me, there was the story of young Africans crossing borders to discover the possibilities that exist within their own continent.

Beyond the University Brochure

There is only so much a website or university prospectus can tell you. That is why this programme was designed to take the students beyond the conventional campus tour. They attended university lectures alongside undergraduate students, explored different academic disciplines and interacted with members of the Strathmore community.

And then came the questions. What is it really like to study in Kenya? How different is university life here? How do you adjust to another country? What opportunities can studying in another African country open up?

Those conversations became some of the most meaningful moments of the week for me. I was no longer simply a student facilitator showing visitors around campus. I was a fellow Cameroonian who had already made the transition they were contemplating. I could understand their questions because, a few years ago, they had been my questions too.

Sometimes, prospective students do not need another marketing brochure to understand the spirit of a university. They need someone who has walked the path before them. Someone who can tell them what the journey actually feels like. For these students, I could be that person.

Building Bridges Across Africa

The programme also represented another step in Strathmore University’s efforts to deepen its engagement with secondary schools and prospective students across Africa.

The initiative was spearheaded by John Robert Ouko, International Business Development Manager at Strathmore University, whose international outreach focuses on developing institutional relationships and attracting students from across the continent.

His role in this particular programme is personal to me. His outreach helped bring me to Strathmore on a scholarship. Seeing him now help create an opportunity for other young Cameroonians to experience Strathmore brought my own journey full circle.

Mr. John Ouko with Mr. Tita, Enko School Counsellor

Strathmore hopes to make experiential learning visits a more regular offering for international secondary schools across Africa, giving students an opportunity to experience university education before making one of the biggest academic decisions of their lives.

Instead of asking young people to imagine university from thousands of kilometres away, why not allow them to experience it?

Five Days, Many Classrooms

Over five days, I watched the students move between classrooms, conversations, challenges and completely new experiences.

On the first day, they toured Strathmore, attended university lectures and began exploring questions around personal identity and values. Their introduction to Nairobi later took them to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre and the National Assembly.

The second day turned towards leadership. After another faculty rotation, the students participated in a workshop on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, facilitated by John Ouko, before taking their lessons outdoors through team-building activities at Karura Forest.

By Day Three, the focus had shifted towards purpose and service. Following team-building exercises on campus, we visited Kwetu Home of Peace, where the students spent time with the children and presented a Kshs. 13,050 donation towards their welfare.

They also discovered more of Nairobi through visits to the Nairobi National Museum, Snake Park and Giraffe Centre.

On Day Four came one of the week’s memorable moments. The Cap-and-Sash Mini-Graduation Ceremony. One by one, all 13 students were called forward to receive their Strathmore University–Enko Bonanjo Certificates of Recognition.

Of course, it was not a university graduation, not yet. But perhaps that was the point. For a few moments, they were being invited to imagine what that future could feel like.

The final day took us beyond Strathmore with a visit to Kitengela International Schools before we came together for a farewell dinner. And that was when the experience became especially personal for me.

When Cameroon Met Kenya

Throughout the week, I was joined by fellow students Njoh Sandie, Mouto Maela, Paroline Tchouga, Riva Dione, Jude-Elie Meka and Issa Moubarak in hosting our visitors, guiding them around campus and sharing our experiences of studying in Kenya.

There was something comforting about hearing familiar accents and sharing jokes from home thousands of kilometres away. For a moment, Cameroon and Kenya did not feel quite so far apart. But there was a bigger lesson in those interactions. Studying internationally as an African student does not necessarily have to mean leaving Africa.

Enko Bonanjo International School is part of Enko Education, a network of international schools operating across Africa and offering International Baccalaureate and Cambridge pathways. Bringing its students to Strathmore connected a secondary school community in Central Africa with a university community in East Africa.

These students had now sat in university lecture halls. They had spoken to university students and faculty. They had encountered another culture, navigated another African city and begun asking different questions about what their futures might hold.

The Experience I Wish I Had at 16

It was during the farewell dinner that the significance of the week truly struck me. As I looked around at the students, I found myself thinking about my own final years of secondary school in Douala.

What if I had experienced something like this at 16? What if I had been able to board a plane, travel to another African country and sit inside a real university lecture before deciding where I wanted to study? What if I had been able to ask a professor a real question? What if I had met Cameroonian students already studying there and asked them everything I was afraid or curious about?

How differently might I have imagined my future? These 13 students had been given that opportunity. And that, to me, is the real value of experiential learning. It is about making possibility tangible.

For five days in Nairobi, the university became a classroom they could enter, a community they could experience and, perhaps, a future in which they could begin to see themselves. Cameroon is where my story began. Kenya is where another chapter of that story is being written. During those five days at Strathmore, I had the privilege of watching those two worlds meet.

And perhaps, somewhere among those 13 students, another story was just beginning.

Article written by Ayden Demanou, 3rd Year BSc. Statistics and Data Science (SIMS), Vice President, Strathmore International Students Association (SISA) 2025/2026, Proud Cameroonian.