Learn more about our Research Masters students!

Njeri Mwaura (28) from Kenya/USA and Affoh Guenneguez (23) from Côte d’Ivoire are two of our current Research Masters students. Curious about their background, education so far and (career) expectations for the future? Read their personal stories to get to know them better!

Njeri Mwaura
‘I was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and moved to the USA when I was nine to join my parents who had already immigrated there. I completed a BA at the University of Virginia where I majored in Biology and in African American Studies. Because I was determined to understand more about the history of my birth continent, I chose to add the African-American studies major. This was the only way at this university to receive a degree which focused specifically on African history. After my degree, I worked for a development organization that focused on the public health sector and carried out projects that dealt with maternal child health, health system strengthening, cancer, HIV/AIDS etc. I worked on and traveled to projects based in Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Rwanda, and Kenya and lived and worked in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Seeking deeper knowledge and understanding of the contexts within which I worked, I applied for the Research Masters in Leiden. I see this program as an opportunity to bring myself one step closer to my goal of contributing to progress within the African continent. I believe I can best be effective in fulfilling this goal by having a foundation built solidly on an understanding of some of the history and cultures of the continent in which I am sure I will be working for the rest of my life. This foundation is something I felt was lacking in the environment in which I previously worked. I am unsure where this journey at the African Studies Center will lead me professionally, but the one thing I learned in the last ten years, is that life will lead you where you need to be.’
 

Affoh Guenneguez
‘In Côte d’Ivoire, I attended a French International school where I learned all about France! Nothing about  Côte d’Ivoire. So when I went to Montreal (Canada) for my studies, I chose Economics and Politics, of which African Politics was a major subject.
After my BA I went back to Côte d’Ivoire to do an internship at the Institut de l’Enfant de Côte d’Ivoire (Child Institute). It’s a platform for action and reference projects related to education, training and supervision of children and young people from Cote d’Ivoire through its three specialized centres. I worked in one of those centres: the communication media centre, where I had the opportunity to participate actively in the realization of a series of broadcastings meant for children, about Côte d’Ivoire’s cultural treasures. I was able to host the first part of the show on Côte d’Ivoire national television. After six months I went back to Canada, where I moved to Toronto to learn English, and then I came to the African Studies Centre in Leiden.
I am interested in cultural affairs, particularly in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. What happens to a site when it is added on the List? The city of Grand-Bassam, the first capital of Côte d’Ivoire, was put on the List last year. It will be interesting to see if and how this will have an effect on the city.
After this Research Masters, I want to become a teacher at a university in Côte d’Ivoire, hopefully teaching about cultural affairs. I am passionate about literature, I write poetry and started blogging last year!’

Read Affoh’s personal blog: http://culturebony.blogspot.nl/