Saturday, April 11, 2009

KWA MINAJILI YA KUMBUKUMBU TU

Imetoka http://tanzania.usembassy.gov

19 Tanzanian scholars head to America on U.S. Government funded graduate level educational exchange programs

August 21, 2008

U.S. Ambassador Mark Green bade farewell to nineteen bright Tanzanian scholars who are departing for the United States this year on academic grants with travel and living expenses covered by the American people. The grantees depart between July and September 2008 for graduate level educational exchange programs funded by the U.S. Government’s prestigious J. William Fulbright Program. The scholars, who will attend universities throughout the United States, will spend between four months and several years in America for academic and professional work. The programs involved in the educational exchange include the Fulbright Junior Staff Development (JSD), Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) and Hubert H. Humphrey (HHH) Programs.

According to the U.S. Embassy spokesman, the scholars will have the chance to help increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Tanzania while they study throughout the United States at prestigious universities. Through the Fulbright Junior Staff Development Program: Zeyana Hamid, a computer system administrator with the Ministry of Health in Zanzibar will be going to the University of Missouri/Columbia for a Masters in Health Informatics; Nyankomo Marwa, a lecturer from Sokoine University of Agriculture will attend the University of Nebraska/Lincoln, for a PhD in Agricultural Economics; Mlenge Mgendi, a lecturer from Ardhi University will attend Texas A&M University for a PhD in Geography, and Mussa Mgwatu, a lecturer from the University of Dar es Salaam, will conduct research at Lehigh University in Industrial and Systems Engineering. This program is designed to strengthen African universities, ministries and non governmental organizations through higher degree training for junior level staff. It provides funding for a maximum of two years of study toward a masters or doctoral degree at a U.S. university or for participation in a non-degree research or non-academic professional program.

Through the Hubert H. Humphrey program, Zainab Mwatawala, a lecturer with Mzumbe University is attending American University for Law and Human Rights and Jaffar Mjasiri, a reporter with the Daily News, departed in early August for the University of Maryland, College Park, for a program in Journalism. Founded in 1978 in honor of the late Senator and U.S. Vice-president, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program brings to the United States accomplished mid-level professionals for a year of academic and professional training. Beyond classroom work, these qualified candidates will have the chance to gain professional experience in their fields through practical training. Humphrey candidates are chosen based on demonstrated potential for leadership and commitment to public service.

As Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants, the following graduates from the University of Dar es Salaam and Mt. Meru University depart throughout August to take classes and to teach Kiswahili at various universities in the U.S.: Emmanuel Ndulila, Ernest Makulilo, Francis Semwaza, Georges Ngonyani, Happiness Bulugu, Happiness Kashubi, Lugano Sigalla, Regina Fupi, Salma Mrindoko, Wema Munisi, Wilbert Mahenge and Zablon Bwire. The host institutions include Stanford University, New York University, University of Oregon, and Brown University. This program for English teachers aims to strengthen foreign language instruction in the U.S., strengthen the grantees’ ability to teach English upon their return, and promote mutual understanding by establishing a native foreign language speaker expertise on U.S. campuses for one academic year. The program enables the teaching assistants to complete their home country pre-service training by engaging in non-degree studies at accredited post-secondary U.S. educational institutions while teaching one or two Kiswahili courses for an academic year.

A lecturer from the Muslim University of Morogoro, Prof. Juma Mikidadi Omari, will be participating in the Fulbright Visiting Specialist Program in January 2009, lecturing on Islamic Civilizations at Northwest College. This program takes senior scholars from Muslim communities around the world to universities in the United States to increase knowledge about the history and culture of Islamic civilizations on American campuses.

Tanzania has participated in the Fulbright Program since the 1960s and has over 400 Tanzanian alumni throughout the country. Among the alumni of this prestigious program are ministers, vice chancellors, deans, journalists, activists, policy makers, engineers, and artists, with a large percentage being teachers. Each year, U.S. lecturers and researchers come to lecture and do research in Tanzania on the other half of the Fulbright exchange program, where they also learn about Tanzanian culture and education. These programs are administered by the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Public Affairs, and the Program has annual application cycles for each fellowship. The Fulbright Grants are funded by the American people and are part of overall U.S. Government direct and multilateral assistance to Tanzania of more than 750 billion Tanzanian shillings this fiscal year. The U.S. Embassy is always looking for qualified applicants for graduate level Fulbright Grants for study in the United States -- visit http://tanzania.usembassy.gov and check under "Resources" for information on how to apply in the coming academic year.

J. William Fulbright was a prominent and gifted American statesman of the 20th century. His political career of over thirty years in the U.S. Congress was distinguished by his unequaled contribution to international affairs and marked by his tenure as the longest serving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He had profound influence on America’s foreign policy, and his vision for mutual understanding shaped the extraordinary exchange program bearing his name.

With the support of the United States government and through binational partnerships with foreign governments, the Fulbright Scholarship Program sponsors U.S. and foreign participants for exchanges in all areas of endeavor, including the sciences, business, academia, public service, government, and the arts and continues to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

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