Below is the recording of a talk I gave at the TU Kenya Big Data 2021 Hackathon organised by DARA Big Data, in partnership with the IAU OAD and IDIA (my workplace). Many of us in academia do the best we can to prepare our students for the workplace, but sometime experience is lacking among … Read more
The world over, there are disasters, man-made or not, that shake our communities to the deepest levels. Many are hurt, some tragically lose their lives, many suffer from post-traumatic stress, yet, over and over, we see something happen, an embodiment of hope. In the face of disaster, survivors get together, make time and help one … Read more
Here’s a little intro to a few explorations I hope to record. I don’t think I can commit to podcasting because it would take a lot of time that I don’t have, but sometimes, it’s nice to tell a story instead of writing it. Plus, I got a really cool microphone for my birthday so….
On 30 June each year, the African Union celebrates the day of Africa’s Science Renaissance, and it is worth celebrating. African science is among the oldest known to man. The university at Timbuktu, founded around 1 800 years ago, served as an intellectual hub of knowledge for the continent until the late 16th century. There are older records … Read more
I am a scientist. Specifically, I am a physicist, even more specifically a cosmologist. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have studied science, because I go through life understanding most of what is around me and I wouldn’t want to understand less. When I don’t understand something, I immediately feel the need to learn. And … Read more
I usually wake up in the morning and I switch on the kettle to make myself a cup of tea. That’s when I start pondering the world around me. Before I get out of being sleepy, sometimes still feeling in an interrupted dream. As I watch the kettle fill up and admire the turbulence in … Read more
I am very excited to be part of a resilience and systems thinking programme intended to give participants experience and tools of systems and complexity thinking to address the very complex multidimensional socio-ecological problems we grapple with in our work. This blog post is just a reflection. In the first session, we were given two … Read more
I am vulnerable. I am on chemotherapy. I am hiding from covid-19. The few strands of hair on my pale scalp shiver at the slightest draft. So do I. A small breath of wind from the world outside and a special kind of cold runs down my spine. A threat that I cannot see lurks. … Read more
“O jewa ke eng?” Africa is known for its challenges- so how come we’re (mostly) keeping it together? Empathy and kindness. “O jewa ke eng?” Was a simple tweet posted in January 2019 by an 18-year old student. The phrase, in Sotho, means “What’s eating you up?”, or “What’s bothering you? “ the response was overwhelming. … Read more