They want to help...

The Fulbright program is funding our trip to Namibia this year. As we've noted before, it is a US taxpayer-funded program developed by Senator Fulbright after WWII.

Fulbright is billed as an 'international exchange of scholars' which confuses some folks. There have been people who have asked me, "So, who is coming from Namibia to take your position in Nebraska while you are in Namibia?" Well, it's not that specific--it's an exchange program on a global scale, with faculty and students from the US scattering around the globe, while faculty and students from around the globe can also apply to come to study in the US. But, it's not a pairwise exchange of people, position-for-position.

On Wednesday of this past week, I had an opportunity to help interview Namibians who had applied to come to the US to get a Masters degree. The interviews were held at the American Cultural Center, and I was invited by the State Department's new Director of the ACC in Windhoek. We were also joined by a Namibian who lectures at University of Namibia--an alumni of the program who studied for his PhD in the US through the program.

The 7 interviewees were bright, talented representatives of Namibia. Each person we interviewed made a good case for "why should I be sent to the US to study?" We had a person employed in the banking industry who wanted to study forensic accounting and come back to help the government fight financial corruption. We had a pharmacist who wanted to study medicinal chemistry and come back to help found a pharmaceutical company to develop drugs in Namibia. We had a person involved in after-school education programs who wanted to study educational management so she could come back to change Namibia's education system. We had a math teacher who wanted to get a MS in mathematics education so he could come back and improve mathematics education pedagogy in Namibia. We had a person involved with HIV/AIDS treatment who wanted to study epidemiology and come back to help treatment programs aimed at those most affected by AIDS. A current fisheries manager wanted to study coastal management and come back to help protect Namibia's coastline from development.

Wow.

Decisions...decisions. Who to choose?

Which person has the most potential to effect change in their home country of Namibia? I mean, Namibia needs EVERYTHING these people were selling.

Education. It is a powerful force for change. It is a powerful tool to fight poverty, disease, corruption, and other plagues that keep developing countries from 'making it.'

I think sometimes I have taken education for granted, which may be a little odd for a professor to admit! It was a sobering experience to hear people explain why they were so desperate to learn. It was just as sobering to realize how strongly these applicants felt about the opportunity to improve their country.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." JFK.

Namibia is having elections this November. Past leaders have been, mostly, revolutionary figures who were very good at inspiring people and leading the armed uprising for independence. The country is slowly making a transition from leaders who were, essentially, army generals to politicians who are good at making decisions for the good of the country. It is not clear if this next election will advance the transition much.

But, it is clear to me that a new generation of Namibians is preparing itself for leadership. Namibia's future should be a fun show to watch.