WINDHOEK-The United Kingdom (UK) prestigious Chevening Scholarships (CS) Programme is fast becoming one of the best international scholarship schemes.
Now in its 30 years of existing this year, some students who benefited from the scheme, wanted to share their experience on their journey. CS is a UK government’s global scholarship programme, which operates in 118 countries worldwide, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
One of these students is Namibian’s own, Jennifer Kandjii, from Osire Refugee Settlement in the Otjozondjupa Region, who just finished her time in the UK under the CS and obtained her master’s degree in Refugee Studies at the University of East London.
Her experience:
The beauty of studying in a foreign place, and especially in a cosmopolitan and diverse city such as London, is manifold: enhancing your cultural life and worldview; building meaningful friendships across ethnic, cultural, continental and many other divides – making you realise, that despite the superficial differences, we are more similar than we are made to believe. Plus encountering fluctuating weather that has more mood swings than you will ever imagine are some of the nuances you will likely experience in London.
After the initial transition jitters of adapting to the weather as well as gelling with another type of culture and society, living in London proofed exciting, adventurous and definitely worthwhile. The city was pregnant with avenues to discover, places to see, academic conferences and networking opportunities to engage in. The trouble with that for an adventure junkie like myself is that – it was like candy to a child.
From a socio-cultural-historic perspective, London is ripe with fantastic attractions from historic buildings and monuments to top museums, parks and art galleries. That unfortunately could not all be fitted and visited within the budget and time constraints of a student – as you would imagine I deliberately choose those that had no cost attached. However, of the few that I managed to visit, they made a lasting impact on my worldview and they formed part of my wonderful UK experience. Among them the British Museum, Cutty Sack at Greenwich, the Greenwich Maritime Park and Big Ben at Westminster formed part of that experience.
When you find yourself in a city and country where academia is part of the fabric of the society, conferences of various disciplines happens to be an everyday occurrence. Being a scholar it was imperative that one takes of these opportunities to learn as much as possible, but also to share you experience and build networks with experts and other scholars within your field. At other times general events that are opportune to those based in cities such as London also occurs. From the many conferences I was part off, I was jubilant to attend the Spectator Event ‘Kofi Annan in conversation with William Shawcross’. It is not every day that one finds themselves in the same room with great African leaders.
Other daily experiences cannot be overlooked, as they were instrumental in making this a worthwhile adventure. For example getting into the Woolwich ferry from one end of the River Thames to the other; waking up to the noise of aeroplanes taking off or landing at the London City Airport; or walking in the underground tunnel in Greenwich, an event others in Europe might consider mundane such as being a crowd of those running from one tube to the next.
Outside London, I journeyed to other parts of England. This included visits to Manchester, Cheltenham and Nottingham while transiting Birmingham, Oxford and other cities. I am yet to journey to Aberdeen, Scotland as part of the broader UK experience. As a student with interest in refugee issues, I was excited to learn that East London has been the point-of-entry and initial residence of many refugees who sought refuge in the UK.
The University gave me the opportunity to be taught and supervised by researchers at the leading edge of their discipline, and as such published widely. Creating an environment where I was intellectually challenged and encouraged to develop skills in research and the ability to learn and work independently. In this period when I am having the daunting and exciting task of researching and writing my thesis, I look back with gratitude to the skills learned and knowledge impacted during the teaching period of the programme.
I am excited to put to the test the knowledge acquired during this fruitful journey. With a year experiencing the considerable rigours of postgraduate study at a prestigious internationally inclusive university, amongst colleagues from around the globe, even countries in which United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have operations, I am looking forward to bringing back fresh impetus and renewed vigour to my work with UNHCR, always ensuring that refugees are centrally located and involved throughout the protection, solution and solution finding process. I am confident that my skill set is more diverse and enhanced than it was 12 months ago and I believe am better qualified to undertake more challenging responsibilities.
Furthermore with the confidence I have gained through this experience, I am even more determined to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme.
My sincere gratitude is extended to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the Chevening Secretariat and the British High Commission in Namibia for granting me such a wonderful opportunity, especially in an a year when the CS is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Wishing the scholarship many more years of fruitful existence and building leaders across the world.
Scholarship application now opens:
The CS applications for Namibia is now open and if you would like to be the one to share your story next year enter now. Guidance for applicants and a link to Chevening will be available on www.chevening.org and closing date is November 15.
By Selma Neshiko