When an opportunity in life strikes, then it must be used to change the surroundings. Most Kenyans or Africans so to say who gets a chance to go abroad for studies, or work end up looking for jobs to get rich and come back home to enjoy their lives.
Some end up becoming permanent citizens of the countries they work in, abandoning their homes for the developed nations fearing that returning home would be a challenge due to the high poverty levels.
However, a Kenyan Economist who has lived most of his youthful life abroad thanks to his being brought up by a father who was working as an ambassador chose a different path out of his many travels abroad.
Dr. James Mulli who hails from Misiani village, Kangundo in Machakos County studied and worked in prestigious schools and successful companies but opted to develop his own University abroad in Luxembourg, one of the world’s richest nations.
He established the European Business University of Luxembourg (EBU) which today offers opportunities for students to study online from many parts of the world with many beneficiaries hailing from his home country.
Using technology, lectures and examinations are conducted online and the University has proved to be offering a world-class education that is slowly transforming the lives of some people who had lost hope of accessing higher education due to poverty.
Recently we met Dr. Mulli who was on a working holiday in Malindi where he owns a luxurious villa during a meeting with students who had benefited from free scholarships offered by the University at Sandies Tropical Village hotel and looked so humble and human despite all the achievements in his life.
“My father was Henry Muli and I was one of those very lucky Kenyans, I was fortunate because when young we were always told how to speak our language, we were taught Kamba, Kiswahili, but you know where we were taught? We were taught in Egypt because I lived in Egypt, we were taught in Somali because we were still speaking in Kamba with our house help in Somalia, and we were taught to speak in Kamba in Germany so I was learning and still speaking in my language when I was there,” he said.
Muli said his father was an Ambassador and they were traveling everywhere which gave him an opportunity to travel in many countries abroad and managed to pick up the languages.
Currently, Mulli who is the Dean of Faculty and Program Director at EBU speaks six languages among them Chinese since his father was the first Kenyan Ambassador to China in 1964
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“I started learning more about where I was, who I was with the environment I was in and at some point, I realised that this power of education is what will change everything,” he said.
Mulli did studies on Economic development after which he went to live in the US before getting into education.
Initially, he got a job opportunity in South Africa and China when he was living in Germany and upon consulting he was advised to go to China where he realised the Chinese were taking education very seriously was second to none.
“We think that we have standards of Education but part of the reasons you see where the Chinese are today is because of what they have done with education,” he said
Mulli said after moving from the US he worked with a financial organisation called Soros Industrial partners and then decided to start go into education.
To achieve that he moved to Europe he decided to quit his job in the European universities after realising that his efforts were not being felt.
“I created a program that was elected the number one global MBA program four years in a row and they did not even mention it was a Kenyan who was running it who was the program director so I said no forget about this I am going to do this on my own since I had started that program from point zero to more than 300 students,” he said.
This is when he created and established the European Business university in Luxembourg which now has over 9000 students 4500 of which are from Kenya.
He said they have more than 55 partners with the latest being the Botswana office of the President after the Ministry asked them to start the scholarship program in the country.
“To me, I am just humbled all I can say is Wow! It’s been an incredible journey. We want to make sure that our partners such as PWAM (Progress Welfare Association of Malindi) who are naturally fit like you mentioned these Sustainable development goals number 4 of Education this is where we are focussed on,” he said.
To him, education is the mantle of everything and one cannot do without education.
Further, he believes that business education is what is key because it entails more of human exchange adding that empowering somebody with human exchange then it is the gateway to transforming their life.
“If you can empower somebody with that entrepreneurial mindset then the sky is the limit, you can learn everything else,” he said.
Mulli said their mission is to push more courses that are going to empower the girl child to ensure they expand on that which is their focus currently.
The University he said intends to make university education free of charge in Africa.
Mulli said by the year 2050 Kenya would be having 85 million people and without such programs, it would be difficult for them to access tertiary education.
“So we are offering tuition-free university courses as of September this year and this is something that does not exist, there is no single country in Africa that offers free university-level education forget about politicians whatever they say we are offering it already,” he said.
His hope is that other organisations and universities embrace what they are doing as even his university is not doing it alone but with other partners.
The European Business University he said is a non-profit organisation whose job is impacting people and want other universities to adopt the same mindset as they cannot do it alone.
During the Meeting Sandies tropical Village General manager Alexander Zissimatos said it was really impressive to see his staff developing new ways of studying courses that have nothing to do with their work.
To him, it was very nice that everybody wanted to grow in their lives and develop their lives further instead of just getting stuck in their jobs.
“I stand here before you not just as a host but as a proud member of the Malindi Society and PWAM as well revealing these great strides in the partnerships represented in this meeting we have to ensure that the society grows and its members,” he said.
Zissimatos said Education is a basic human right adding that its value is essential for the exercise of all human rights and provides freedom and empowerment for individuals.
He said education is the most powerful tool by which adults and children can lift themselves up from poverty.
The GM said his hotel has partnered with EBU through PWAm to give a chance to some of its staff to access high-quality education.
He said Sandies Tropical Village shall continue to offer our potential support to their staff to get a proper education.
“Education is the most important tool we have so make the most out of it to support others by enlightening them, showing a difference between right and wrong and installing moral values. If you are fortunate enough to do so an educated society is a prosperous society,” he said.
The University’s partnership began with the Progress Welfare Association of Malindi which is an organisation dealing with environmental issues, cleaning the resort town and sustainability development and growth of the society.
The Chairperson of the Association Kate Mwikali said Community in Malindi has been empowered through the scholarship offered by EBU.
She said all the courses are aligned to Sustainable Development Goals from 1 to 17 including no poverty, life below water, and life on land.
“One of the courses is Business Ethics, one of the courses is on sustainability the other courses are on using your technology, from block chain you are able to tag, able to map,” she said.
Mwikali said EBU’s courses are in line with the objective of PWAm which is fostering active citizenship.
She said most of the beneficiary students have been participating in the Malindi monthly clean-ups, and others have been making products from recycled materials and solid wastes.
The Chairperson said Police, judges and the provincial administration have been active in the clean-ups and it is through those activities that a few opportunities have been born.
Testimonies from some of the students who benefitted from the scholarships revealed the chance of accessing higher education was a game changer to their lives.
Hosea Baraka, a pool attendant at Sandies tropical village who also doubles up as a farmer and a charcoal trader is using the knowledge he studied to manage his businesses.
Baraka initially started by selling one sack of charcoal and today thanks to the education from EBU his business is thriving.
“There was a time that I wanted to give up because I was doing a business that was not sustaining me personally and then I was also not sustaining the market,” he said.
He was about to quit when EBU came in and offered him a scholarship through PWAM to study business management.
Through the course, Baraka was enlightened on how to manage his business with the little capital he had even after the challenges he went through.
“I thank God because not only am I doing good in my farming, at least people are copying my ways of farming, meaning that I am also introducing education to the people indirectly,” he said.
Baraka called on the University and PWAM to come up with ways of supporting those people who need the scholarships but have no access to the internet and even the 20 Euros required to get the scholarships.
“I am an ambassador and I have reached so many people, they love to enrol in education but they do not have a smartphone, others would love to join but do not speak English,” he said.
Nassib Yusuf, a dancer and an Environmentalist, dropped out of school after completing secondary education due to a lack of fees to proceed with further education.
His dreams of furthering his studies were narrow and were forced to begin a career in dancing so as to try his luck in the entertainment industry.
While doing so his aspirations pushed him to conservation which to date is working both as an entertainer and conservationist in Malindi.
“I remember that time there were some difficulties back home, I was told that I couldn’t go to college or anything further,” he said.
Yusuf’s love for dancing was perceived differently by people who were assuming that he had no interest in education.
He developed a character which to him was a sort of defence mechanism to act as if he did not want to go to school.
The entertainer stuck to art deeply but still had a lot of unanswered questions as he realised there were other artists who were making a lot of money from the industry unlike him who was languishing in poverty.
“Each time I tried to find out how they made it I found that they had big management and that behind everything they were doing there was knowledge to monetize their talents,” he said.
It is then that he started looking at different ways of how he could access education so as to be able to transform his life.
He said Music or entertainment in his area is regarded as a hobby, something which cannot change one’s life, something which is not right.
His love for conservation led him to join the Monthly clean-ups organised by PWAM which made him build networks with other stakeholders including KWS who were also part of the activities.
During that time Yusuf met Mwikali who later introduced him to EBU and managed to get a scholarship.
He joined the university and studied the fundamentals of blockchain since he believes in being in line with global changes.
“I would say thank you for that course because right now I am in the University and it feels like it’s not real but its real,” he said.
Yusuf confessed that he never thought he would one day join an institution of higher learning but he was now among the thousands of EBU beneficiaries of the scholarships in the world.
Charity Beduly, a conservationist in Malindi chose to study women and leadership courses at EBU and cases in gender inequality.
She said her gratitude also goes to Kate, the chairperson of PWAM for giving her the opportunity to study.
Had she not met Kate or known anything about PWAM she wouldn’t have done any of the courses that she did for free.
“From My history, I never went to college and this was the best opportunity because I really loved going to school,” she said.
Her biggest concern however is whether the university would offer advanced courses after the certificate courses.
The testimonies are many and are similarly based on the fact that the majority had no hope of accessing higher education but through PWAM and the University, they have been able to get a chance to further their education.
