The ETH World Food System Summer School is a two-week intensive program that brings together aound 20 university students who are committed to building sustainable food systems. Participants are selected in a highly competitive admissions process from a wide range of disciplines and nationalities. AiduAlumna Bryna was one of the lucky ones who had the opportunity to join the summer school in August. Read about her experiences during her time in Switzerland and what Bryna thinks about our night life in Switzerland and Swiss politics.

by Bryna Teli, AiduAlumna and student of Agribusiness at University of Nairobi.

“Do you have blackouts? Inside joke…..

You have a dream, to be the president of your nation maybe, to be that scientist you think of just before bed time, to travel through the world, yes to travel through the world, I guess I read your mind, hey hold your pieces am not a psychic, we just seem to have almost similar dreams. The difference is mine is not just a dream, it’s a reality, did I say reality? Yes, I travelled. I know you might say it’s just but one country, so how about I cycled to Germany? Now that makes a difference, no, “the difference” kindly notice the correction on difference.

The excitement could not be tamed, at last the visa came, my dear the Swiss dream is unfolding, pretty fast I must say. This excitement cannot stop but brew deep inside, where do you want to do your first oversea travel, where if not Switzerland? Well I know it’s a bit difficult to fit in my shoe but this is real.

AiduAlumna Bryna is a student of Agribusiness at University of Nairobi.

I know by now the big question is what was I doing in Switzerland? I was on holiday… well that’s not true, but hey a young lady can dream. I went for a summer school, organized by ETH University, the intensive but a great learning experience did not only focus on the theory of world food systems, a lot of exposure on major players in this field and very important the entrepreneurship aspect. Who doesn’t want to interact with seventeen nationalities on a personal level, to experience and appreciate the difference and similarities, to learn how they do things and most important to build this long lasting networks.

You can be sure my learning experience was amazing, you know how group work does not become a burden and facilitates learning, how art is not just entertainment but a tool to enhance and emphasize on learnt concepts and how apps can be used to map things you have learned just to enhance more understanding, trigger intellectual questions, yes this was my class experience.

It’s fascinating how the sun would set at weird hours, you see am used to the sun setting at 6:30pm but when it sets at 9:00pm this is a whole new thing. So you realize why I had problems sleeping. Night life in Switzerland, at least the places I visited is quite boring this is entirely my opinion I mean the energy is only felt by them I would need a lot of time to entirely blend in the night life. But hey this does not mean they don’t have fun, in their own way they do.
Swiss policies are interesting and I would say the developments are immense, you see I would want a transport system that’s reliable, convenient and all those things we consider, a bus leaving exactly at 7:07 despite having one passenger, interesting, right? With the rate of unemployment at 3% the economy is stable, it is expected. You see this three percent is paid for being unemployed you see they just need to do a document submission of looking for a job in vain. The politics of this land are interesting, the people make decision that affect them and politicians will only pass this policies if it is okay by the majority. Politicians do not earn from politics they have their positions as a part time job this means that you cannot survive on politics money. Who doesn’t want that?

This land is a beautiful land, pollution is not a thing you would see in this land, and its green, fresh air is no big deal in the major towns, I must say I was amazed by the beautiful lake in the middle of the city in Zurich, beautiful scenery, ahah and the alpine experience was just amazing.
Before I become too much, Swiss is a beautiful place, it’s almost perfect, it’s the place you would want to stick around, but I choose to get back to my beloved country, be a proprietor of a better Kenya, and just maybe one day, this one Day we will probably be at per with Switzerland.

Help me achieve this dream, help a thousand other AiduAlumni and AiduFellows achieve this, join in the records of Aiducation International and Swiss Re and other partners in helping us achieve this, give a scholarship, make a difference.

Written by Bryna Teli, AiduAlumna and student of Agribusiness at University of Nairobi.