View Annual Review - IAESTE

Welcome to IAESTE:
Panama and Kenya
Juana Aparicio : Technological University of Panama
The participation of the Technological
University of Panama in IAESTE, during its
57th General Conference celebrated in
Cartagena de Indias last January, seals also the
admission of Panama as the first Central
American country to be part of such an
important internationally known organisation
working as a great family world wide.
As the Panamanian Representative delegated to
the General Conference, I was able to
experience the true spirit of IAESTE. I
concluded that it is, without doubt, the
scenario of a multinational paradise where
many cultures bring their best values and
mutual respect is always present.
In its first year of participation, Panama
(Technological University of Panama and
Panama Ports, S.A.) offered a total
of six placements which were
exchanged with Brazil, Mexico,
Germany, Switzerland, Austria and
Spain. We are highly pleased to be
part of the IAESTE family and for
the enriching experience that these
exchanges will bring to our
students, the University and our
country.
I would like to thank everyone
that helped me in one way or another, but
specially my friends from Brazil, because they
became my mentors. Thank you IAESTE family
and thank you Cartagena de Indias for your
hospitality and good will.
Juana Aparicio from UTP-
Panama during the exchange
sessions in Cartagena de Indias
P. Ndirangu Kioni : Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and
Technology (JKUAT), Nairobi, Kenya, was
admitted into the membership of IAESTE as a
Co-operating Institution at the 2004 General
Conference. This was very important to us
since there is great emphasis on practical
experience in the University’s technical degree
curricula. In fact, in technical disciplines, every
student is required to obtain relevant practical
experience in order to qualify for the award of a
degree. Thus, participating in IAESTE is
expected to enrich our curriculum and to
introduce an international experience to both
the students and the employers who participate
in the exchange.
The hosting of an IAESTE student in Kenya and
the experience obtained abroad by JKUAT’s
student last year, our first year of exchange,
provided me with invaluable experience on
how IAESTE works. My understanding of
IAESTE was further augmented by the visit to
Kenya of Mr. Günter Müller Graetschel, a
member of the Advisory Committee, in
September last year. With him, we visited some
of the Companies that will be participating in
the exchange, and also had extensive
discussions on IAESTE. This experience has
been invaluable to me in my efforts to establish
IAESTE at my University and in Kenya.
When IAESTE is fully established here, it will
primarily be a students’ organisation but
receiving strong support from the University.
To this end, its secretariat shall operate within
the University’s International Affairs office,
which is to be set-up this year. It is this office
that will serve as the contact point and provide
the supervision and continuity from one year
to the next. IAESTE-JKUAT has already been
established as a students’ organisation.
My first participation in the IAESTE General
Conference (GC) was in Cartagena, Colombia
in January this year. It was only at the
Conference that I fully got to appreciate
IAESTE’s values and how it works to realise its
objectives as an organisation. The depth of
friendships and strength of bonds built over
the years between colleagues of different
countries impressed me. The seminars helped
to clarify a number of issues on IAESTE’s
operations particularly the exchange rules and
procedures, and use of the Web. I immensely
enjoyed the social programme both at the
meeting venue, and the trips to the Cartagena
Old Town, including the historical sites. I
concluded that one has to be at the GC to
know the essence of IAESTE.
It is my wish to see IAESTE’s activities become
successful in Kenya. I would like to thank the
GS, Ms Pauline Ferguson, and Mr. Günter
Müller Graetschel, Ms. Christina Vakomies, and
Mr. Jim Reid for their advice and support, Prof.
H. Thairu, JKUAT, and Mr. C. Etzold, DAAD for
their support of IAESTE’s establishment in
Kenya.
P. Ndirangu Kioni,
IAESTE in JKUAT
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