The Continuum of Decolonization
EDUC International Education scholars are subverting power dynamics in Kenyan education.
In the field of international development, nothing exists in a vacuum. Communities cannot prioritize education, for example, if they are besieged by food scarcity and poverty. Consequently, the United Nations highlights education as 1 of 17 interlocking “sustainable development goals” (SDGs) in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. According to the UN, developing countries in the Global South must address all 17 SDGs in tandem to achieve a peaceful, prosperous future. Member nations in the Global North contribute to this process in manifold ways, including through humanitarian aid efforts.
In Machakos, Kenya, several College of Education scholars are contributing to international development work that positions education in this multifaceted context. Their paths all cross at Jitegemee Children’s Program, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting economically marginalized children and adult learners.
Verity Norman-Tichawangana, a doctoral student in International Education (IE), has served as Jitegemee’s executive director since 2016, leading fundraising efforts, consulting with educators and staff, and interfacing with both the U.S. and Kenyan boards. Nyaradzai Changamire (’21PhD) is an alumna of the IE program and serves on the organization’s U.S. board of directors. Professor Jacqueline Mosselson also serves on the United States board, and Senior Lecturer and Director of Educator Preparation Beverley Bell worked with Jitegemee staff and educators on a Fulbright project.
The nucleus of College of Education scholar-practitioners at Jitegemee also includes Martina Amoth, a doctoral student in International Education, and Professor Jacqueline Mosselson, who serve as board members in Kenya and the USA respectively.
Sustainability and Education
The word “jitegemee” means “to sustain yourself ” in Kiswahili. Sustainability, then, is the key concept for understanding Jitegemee’s vision for holistic education.
“In the development sector, education is positioned as this silver bullet that will take you out of poverty, give you upward mobility and a better life,” said Norman-Tichawangana.
“Although there are many obvious benefits to education, many of our young people who grew up impoverished and have pursued formal schooling find themselves unable to reap the rewards they were promised,” she added. “After many years of schooling, trying to enter a job market with such high levels of youth unemployment makes it almost impossible for many of our graduates to secure formal employment.”
As such, Jitegemee doesn’t focus solely on academics for its 200+ students. Instead, its staff adopt a broader perspective of their students’ lived realities. Jitegemee provides psychosocial support, reproductive health resources, vocational training, and economic programs—not just to students, but to adults and caregivers, too.
Affirming Indigenous Knowledge
Changamire serves as a member of the U.S. board of directors for Jitegemee. Prior to assuming this leadership role, however, she spent time in Machakos to conduct research for her dissertation. Her research examined young women’s sexual and reproductive health. Jitegemee was the primary site of her study.
“Even though I went into the space with a research topic, I sat together with staff to come up with questions,” said Changamire, who grew up in Zimbabwe, and has spent most of her career working in the humanitarian development sector.
“I had suggestions where they said to me, ‘that doesn’t really work, maybe we should ask this instead.’ That was really important,” she said.
In the early stages of her research, Changamire went to great lengths to involve Jitegemee staff and students in the process. She hired two research assistants, both of whom grew up in Machakos and attended Jitegemee. She organized walks through town with groups of students to learn about where exactly young men and women located resources for sexual health. She also searched for a formal sexual reproductive health (SRH) curriculum that could be implemented on campus. Importantly, the SRH plan needed to be cognizant of indigenous values and cultures, which meant it needed to be African, rather than Western, in origin.
All of this amounted to an ethics-based approach to research in a developing country, an approach that resists colonial power dynamics of the Global North and seeks to value Global South perspectives. After implementing a progressive SRH curriculum used by an organization in Nairobi, Jitegemee staff began communicating with parents to explain, for example, why having contraception on campus was a decision backed by public health science. “The Jitegemee staff go door to door, talking with parents and guardians. Likewise, together with the research assistants, I also took the opportunity to visit the community, meet and talk with some of the parents’ ” said Changamire. “It was more bringing in the scientific evidence to influence change. But we were mindful of how you actually do that with the community itself.”
Broaching such a politicized topic in a religiously conservative town proved to be a delicate process, but ultimately, a successful one.
“For our staff, really being in dialogue with parents and caregivers, respecting them and their beliefs, was such a key part of the process of shifting our SRH program framework from a moralistic one to one centered on public health,” said Norman- Tichawangana. “Doing that in collaboration was a real extension of how Nyari conducted her research.”
Valuing Indigenous Knowledge
Beverley Bell '08EdD, a senior lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, visited Jitegemee in the spring of 2018 with the support of a Fulbright Specialist Award. Her aim was to formalize the curriculum at Jitegemee in consultation with teachers and staff, the Kenya Ministry of Education, and a local teacher’s college. “At the heart of this work was the teachers bringing their knowledge of their subject, the children, the community and the broader goals and mission for the youth of Kenya,” says Bell. “The incredible power of this program is the community support for these young adults to develop their skills through internships within the town and community, simultaneously to completing their academic program.”
What made this experience unique, Bell notes, is that alumni of Jitegemee invest time and energy toward supporting current students.
“Many of the community entrepreneurs who provide these internship placements are alumni of the program, and thus not only are they invested in the success of the student, but also in developing the skills and economic viability of the program.”
Decentering Whiteness
Like Changamire, Norman-Tichawangana is invested in anti-colonial approaches to international development. Under the guidance of a Kenyan educational consultant and in partnership with Kenyan-based colleagues, Norman-Tichawangana has begun facilitating a major shift in power and responsibilities from the United States to the Kenyan board of directors and staff, a move that will concentrate decision-making power in the hands of Kenyans.
“This is part of confronting colonization,” said Changamire. “It’s one of those important things to do, if you really want to change the colonizing ways of education and development.”
“The NGO sector, I’d like to think that it is changing, but perhaps time will tell,” said Norman-Tichawangana. “The disparities and power dynamics between the Global North and South have been so problematic for so long, sometimes it feels like you’re pushing against a mountain. At Jitegemee, it feels like we have the space to try to make a small shift in what we believe is the right direction.”
This process might also be described as “decentering whiteness.” Norman- Tichawangana is chronicling her experience at Jitegemee in the form of an auto-ethnographic study, which will
form the basis of her dissertation. The experience has been illuminating in many ways, she said.
“I’ve come to believe that the process will never be finished," said Norman-Tichawangana. "This type of interrogation has been so eye opening to me, it has opened space for critical conversation and changes.”
“We’re excited about this connection, this research-praxis loop, with UMass Amherst and Jitegemee,” she said.
In the spotlight
“At the heart of this work was the teachers bringing their knowledge of their subject, the children, the community and the broader goals and mission for the youth of Kenya. The incredible power of this program is the community support for these young adults to develop their skills through internships within the town and community..."