written by Florian Becker, Aiducator team Zurich; edited by Kerstin Hockmann, Aiducation Communications.

On the 26th of October guests of our third annual Aiducation Impact Dinner in Zurich came together at the ETH Dozentenfoyer. Scholars, donors, partners and the Swiss Aiducation team met to enjoy an inspiring and relaxing evening at a great location to celebrate another successful year of the Aiducation storyline.

When I joined the dinner around 6:15 pm, the spacious room was already full of people; all of them dressed to the nines and lively talking with each other. After a quick welcoming marathon, I hustled out to the terrace; it is not every day that you can enjoy the sunset from such a magnificent viewpoint! Only a few enjoyable deep breaths later, the program started.
Introduced by our splendid moderator and former Aiducator Amelia Meier, Dr. Bjørn Johansson (CEO of a leading executive search company) started the evening with his speech about “Tomorrow’s talents for impact”. All our 120 guests concentrated on his thoughts and conclusions about the future-leading generation.

His words were followed by the impressions of three Synpulse consulting associates and CEO Christoph Nützenadel during their Project Management Academy which they had co-organized with Aiducation in December 2015 in Manila (Philippines). Once more, they emphasized the unexpected mutual learning experience: The Philippine pupils learned a lot from them , but the learning experience had just been as significant on the mentors’ side. It was more than obvious that the academy was an absolutely fulfilling experience for everyone.

Written by Peter Lorenz, project manager at Cotravel. and Aiducation Volunteer. Cotravel is organizing a trip to Kenya – including a visit of the Aiducation headquarters in Nairobi.

“I wanted to become a doctor because my big Philippine family gets older and doesn’t have access to a good health system”, and “I decided to study medicine, because I want to improve the health system in the remoted region of Kenia where I grew up”. These two statements of 24-year old Gene from Manila and 22-year old Sora from Kenia had a big impact on the 50 guests at the Aiducation impact dinner on 25th October 2016 in the Gasthof Goldener Sternen in Basel.

Besides enjoying an evening among friends, listening to live music, and tasting delicious food, everyone became aware of the importance of education in life. Education in less-developed countries such as the Philippines or Kenya is not granted for everyone. Thanks to Aiducation scholarships awarded to Gene and Sora some years ago, the guests learnt how Aiducation did not only change the lives of these two young talents, but also impacted the entire families and communities they live in. Beyond Sora’s and Gene’s personal impact stories, John Atkin, former Chief Operating Officer of Syngenta, revealed in an inspiring speech Syngenta’s experiences with projects in Africa. It was a truly successful evening for all participants full of mutual learning and networking possibilities.

By Kerstin Hockmann, Aiducation International.

Aiducation is currently enjoying the longest visit by an AiduAlumni we ever had: 22-year old Sora from Kenya took the opportunity to spend exactly four weeks in Switzerland – a time full of visits, two impact dinners, mountain hikes and a five-day internship at Gesundsheitszentrum Fricktal. Last week, Sora was invited for a lunch by Swiss Re – an excellent opportunity to share in a video interview his experiences at the Swiss Re Start-up Academy last year in Kenya.

Aiducation is starting a new blog “experiment”: Once a month Aidualumni Bryna and Lynda sit down with Ben (Aiducation International) to discuss their year living and working London. Both of them are currently doing a year-long internship at Swiss Re in various different departments. However, not content to only be quizzed themselves, Bryna and Lynda also ask Ben about his life working for Aiducation while studying in London. Follow our blog in the next 12 months!

Bryna Teli

• Nationality: Kenyan
• High School: Moi Girls’ Secondary School
• University: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
• Major: Agribusiness Economics and Food Industry Management
• Reason for being in London: 1-year internship with Swiss Re, currently in the tax department

Lynda Kalu

• Nationality: Kenyan
• High School: The Aga Khan High
• University: The University of Nairobi
• Major: Law
• Reason for being in London: 1-year internship with Swiss Re, currently in the legal department

Ben Burckhardt

• Nationality: Swiss
• High School: The Taft School
• University: London School of Economics and Political Science
• Major: Finance
• Reason for being in London: 1-year master programme

written by Franka Böhme, Cotravel. Cotravel is organizing a trip to Kenya
– including a visit of the Aiducation headquarters in Nairobi.

Water fountains – Basel has more than 200, located all over the city. Clean water runs through them – tourists, locals and animals enjoy them alike. Sometimes I marvel at these fountains and their beauty. But I never really appreciated them for their original purpose – to supply the population with fresh potable water.

This changed when Sora came to visit. Sure, we all know about the problems of African countries, their famines and draughts. But what it is like to be a Nomad, travelling since centuries through desert like landscapes, always in the search for areas that supply enough food and water for the livestock. Livestock is the currency in these communities, their lives depend on it. Not enough water means no survival – this is already a major concern during the rainy season not even to mention summer time.

Sora grew up in the northern part of Kenya, migrating with his family throughout the year to different locations They have small “houses“ that can easily be set up and dismantled, that way they can stay flexible and movable. Families are large and sharing one house, until the children get married and therefore have the possibility to set up their own house and found a family. Typically only one child per family is allowed to go to school. To send more is for most of the people not affordable. And too bad in case you are the first born – no chance that your family would let go of you.