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KENYA&JAPAN
Setting an Example
for International Cooperation
N
AIROBI ,
Kenya -
"Give a man a fish,
and you've fed h im
fo r a day," reads the
old proverb, "but
teach
a man
how to
catch
fish, and you've
fed him for a lifetime."
How often is this proverb the
policy in the foreign aid of
major nations?
But 40 kilometers north of the
capital city here stands a remark–
able example of positive interna–
tional caoperation: the Jomo Ken–
yatta College of Agriculture and
Technology.
nearly two thirds of Kenya is arid
desert.
A land of geological contrast,
Kenya holds 17 million people in
224,960 square miles- with moun–
tains topping 17,000 feet, glaciers,
desert and grasslands-a formida–
ble piece of geography that would
challenge any developer!
Yet, through the dynamic lead–
ership of the late President Jomo
Kenyatta and his successors, Kenya
has blazed a remarkable path of
economic development. President
Kenyatta instituted an unusual
national policy:
harambee
(in Swa–
hili), or, in English , "working
together."
Kenya has continued to enjoy
Building a Fo undation
salid leadership under President
The college, first opened to stu- Daniel Arap Moi , who succeeded
dents in M ay 1981, embodies the President Kenyatta after the lat–
vision and drive of Kenya's leader- ter's death in 1978.
ship and people. It is a unique suc-
As the late president's policy was
cess story.
. based on
harambee,
President
Befare examining the story of Moi's policy embodies
nyayo,
or, in
this unusual institution, however, English, "following in his faot–
consider first recent Kenya his- steps." Other reasans for growth
tory.
include the government's and
Virtually alane as a beacon of peaple's willingness to work toward
prosperity amidst economic conti- economic growth and stability and
nental turmail, Kenya has steadily the proper use of economic assis–
built up its natianal economy and tance from without Kenya's nation–
general public welfare since gain- al borders.
ing independence nearly 20 years
Tbis outside positive assistance
ago.
accounts for the remarkable story
No mean feat, considering that af the Jomo Kenyatta College.
May 1983
Vi s ion
l n an industrialized wor ld, every
country must have technalogical
knaw-how. F u rther; agriculture
must be adequately developed
first to properly feed the people.
The late President Kenyatta
understood this.
He also understood that his
people must be properly educated
in arder ta develop bis country. So
his vision included a school that
would ground Kenyans in the ele–
ments needed to develop this Afri–
can nation.
T he late president first spoke of
his country's plans in a 1975 meet–
ing with
Plain Truth
editor in chief
Herbert
W.
Armstrong in Nairo–
bi.
President Kenyatta first envi–
sioned a "self-help" school that
would offer seminars to Kenya's
farmers and technicians. Mr. Arm–
strong, himself president of Am–
bassador College with its two cam–
puses, grasped the idea af this
pump-priming philosaphy, and
committed sorne assistance through
the Ambassador Foundatian-an
international humanitarian argani–
zation affiliated with
The Plain
Truth.
Kenya needed a full academic
program ta campletely train its
people in agriculture and technolo-
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