The School of Tourism and Hospitality (STH) recently went in search of candidates fitting the qualifications for the 2021 STH Erasmus+ Fellowship.

STH and Saxion University Hospitality Business School  jointly won a three year Erasmus+ Exchange Programme grant for the exchange of students and lecturers. Saxion University is a leading institution of higher education in the Netherlands, with a rich history and recognized at international levels in tourism and hospitality education.

The Erasmus+ grant will support mobility for students and lecturers from the two institutions to enhance the internationalization of education and international partnerships contributing to the UN SDGs worldwide.

Auma Purity Achieng, a student in her third year in the Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management, now has the funding that will facilitate air travel, local travel, accommodation and daily stipend costs in the Netherlands. Below is her narration of the efforts that have seen her soar high.

“I live in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya with my mother who has raised me singlehandedly. I am a third year student on a partial scholarship. So far, I have managed to maintain an average score of an A in end of semester examinations for the last two academic years. I have been awarded a certificate of academic excellence in recognition of academic excellence during the academic year 2018/2019, Bachelor of Tourism Management year 1.

I am grateful for having been selected for the STH Erasmus+ Fellowship. This is an opportunity to network with people from across the globe which will enlighten me with a global perspective of the tourism industry.

In addition, this is a golden chance to fulfil my dream of working hard to break from the poverty cycle as well as empower my community toward the same. I will also be able to acquire hands-on experience, learn potential practical skills, develop professionalism, interact with the business community, and develop a further understanding of the tourism industry.

Covid-19 impact

I started my own tour venture that focuses on selling experiences to people especially the locals now that domestic tourism is the backbone of tourism industry during these uncertain times and I am hoping to grow it with time. Generally Covid-19 has taken a toll on us; nonetheless, I choose to fight in hope of better days ahead.

I am passionate about environmental sustainability which remains a challenge internationally. I do beadwork, an initiative I took up to contribute to the reduction of unemployment among youth in Kenya especially in informal settlements. My objective is to reduce the impact of challenges faced by youths, through creation of employment in the informal sector as well as to promote environmental sustainability. Currently I am working with a team of five young people. Through our work, we are able to enhance the quality of lives by creation of beaded products ranging from beaded lanyards to promotional accessory giveaways.

I also create these giveaways for organizations and give live demonstrations and presentations during their events. The beaded lanyards play a huge role in eliminating the traditional lanyards with plastic sleeves thereby contributing to the plastic-free campaign by eliminating single-use plastics.

So far I have done promotional accessories giveaways for, among others, the 5^th Sustainable Tourism Africa Summit 2019 and TSENDA.

Giving back to the community

I love giving back to the community. I volunteer as a tutor nurturing talents of children and teenagers through art on a weekly basis during the weekends here in Kibera, through a community based organization Kibera Visionary Women Self Help Group, founded by Millicent Auma Otieno, who is my role model. This is a task I started while in high school and after I completed school, I attend to it gracefully on a weekly basis.

In 2017, I offered my services in a government school as an assistant teacher working in Joseph Kang’ethe Primary School, through Pace International, teaching class four students English and Mathematics. I was awarded a certificate of excellence for superior excellence as a Pacemaker international volunteer.

In 2020 I participated in Millennium Campus Network (MCN) as a Member, which provided me with concrete tools and skills that I have leveraged as l continue working on my social impact projects and advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I am currently a volunteer at Kenya Red Cross Society.”

 

We wish her all the best as she embarks in this next phase of her education.

 

This article was written by Auma Purity Achieng.

 

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