Meet Josephine Odiambo, English language and literature teacher
Teacher Professional Development
Promoting excellence in teaching, both on campus and more broadly, is a fundamental goal of the Aga Khan Academies. Each Academy has a Professional Development Centre (PDC), which strengthens the profession of teaching in the region by investing substantially in teachers’ professional development.
Developing strength in teaching
We identify and develop teachers of the highest quality who are committed both to the all-round development of young people and to their own professional growth as excellent teachers.
Our PDC supports excellence in teaching by promoting best practices in teaching and learning. We provide ongoing, collaborative training for Academy faculty as well as outreach programmes for teachers and head teachers from neighbouring government, private and not-for-profit schools.
Our faculty members also have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across the globe and to teach abroad within the Aga Khan Academies network.
Strengthening curriculum and community
Through our professional development provision, we help create a professional community of competent, well-resourced teachers.
These teachers will continue to support and collaborate with one another on materials development, by sharing best practices, and in establishing diverse academic, cultural and social projects.
Community Service
Community service is a major part of the student experience at the Academy. Both the curriculum and student life incorporate aspects of community service.
Service opportunities extend the educational experience beyond the classroom and help our students learn about the real-world implications of their studies.
Through community projects with local organisations and groups, our students gain a sense of the connections between their education and the world around them. Students can participate in a variety of structured community initiatives and internships to learn about their place in the world.
By partnering with local agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network, students learn first-hand about the operations of an organisation, and work toward making tangible contributions to the agencies.
In addition, community engagement gives our students an understanding of broad concepts such as human rights, dignity and autonomy, while emphasising the ethos of leaving the world a better place.
To learn more about the Academy's programme, please visit the Academic Programme page.
Ham Serunjogi: Blazing a path across three continents
Look below for a video of Ham talking about his experience at the Academy.
Swimming from Uganda
Ham Serunjogi, age 23, grew up in Uganda and started swimming competitively at age 6. His parents encouraged his academics and his athletics, and Ham excelled in both. In 2010 he enrolled at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya.
On his way to Kenya, he competed in the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010. At AKA Mombasa, he trained and studied hard, learning leadership and teamwork. He became president of the AKA Student Representative Council. At the Academy he became fascinated by digital communication. In 2011 he conducted a school project back home in Uganda, where he interviewed the IT manager at Cineplex Uganda.
To America
Ham’s drive got the attention of educators. After graduating from the Aga Khan Academy he received a scholarship to study in the United States. He pursued a bachelor’s degree at Grinnell College, where he majored in Economics.
With a fellow Grinnell student, Ham developed an app that allowed users to send short, encrypted voice recordings that would self-destruct after they were played. It was a smart solution that anticipated the rise of privacy concerns in technology. The app could work in places where voicemail systems weren’t common, like Ghana, where his app partner grew up.
The habits cultivated at AKA continued to bear fruit, he says. “The education I gained at the Academy had an emphasis on critical thinking,” Ham explains. That critical ability for problem solving fueled his achievement at Grinnell, along with a conviction that he had something to contribute.
Taking New Ideas to Facebook in Europe
As he prepared to graduate from Grinnell, Ham let himself dream big. He set his sights on the biggest social media giant he could find. “I took an unorthodox approach,” Ham said of his strategy for getting a job. “Instead of applying online, I sent an email directly to Sheryl Sandberg.”
He received responses to his email within hours, urging him to apply online. Soon recruiters were calling to set up interviews. The interviews led to an internship on Facebook’s Global Accounts Team in New York during the summer of 2015, before his final year of study at Grinnell College. There he enjoyed a surprising degree of autonomy to tackle issues that he cared about. In his first weekly one-on-one with his supervisor, she asked him, “What are you most passionate about?” He took that as encouragement and created a new initiative.
Ham is amazed by where life has taken him.
Keeping up Connections and Giving Back
Again and again, Ham has drawn on his experiences from AKA Mombasa, and the bonds among his Academy friends remain strong. Before starting his new job in Ireland, he visited friends and family in Uganda. He still connects often with his AKA Mombasa roommate, Aleem Mawji, now a student at the University of British Columbia. Ham’s friend from the AKA swim team, fellow Ugandan Joshua Tibatemwa, followed his path as a AKA swim team star and student president. Joshua also followed Ham’s example to Grinnell, where he’s now a student. Joshua competed for Uganda at the Rio Olympics last summer.
Ham took time away from settling into Dublin life to watch the Olympics on television, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend.
Ham has launched into a life of active engagement, creating networks that make people’s lives better. He has seen how such networks make a difference. He shows dedication to paying it forward.
This spotlight is republished courtesy of AKF USA.
