It was a beehive of activities at the Outreach and International Student’s Centre on 4th March, 2024 when International Students from different regions of Africa came together to showcase the different types of foods from their home countries. This is an annual event organized by the Centre where the students get a chance to showcase cuisines from their countries. The colorful event brought together international students from both Main and Town Campus. It is one of the social events whose main aim is to generate a good rapport amongst the students besides making them feel at ‘home away from home’ while at the University. The event is solely organized and managed by the students with facilitation from the University.

This year’s event was the second of its kind and it attracted students from South Sudan, Namibia, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania. In the spirit of comradeship, the ISA students also invited their Kenyan colleagues to showcase the local cuisine. The food display was done in groups according to the African regions where the students come from. These included that is South Africa, West Africa, and Eastern Africa. The students diligently used locally available ingredients to produce replicas of the food cooked in their respective countries.

Some of the key cuisine highlights included the South Sudanese Kisra which fascinated many of the guests. The Ugandan Matoke and Luwombo gave a chance for visitors to taste the all-famous Ugandan cuisine while Namibia and Democratic Republic of Congo presented the Grilled meat & chicken. The West African corner boasted of unique delicacies such as the Groundnut soup and Okra stew from Gambia, a household cuisine in their country. Fufu, Jolof rice & pepper soup from Liberia was another taste for lovers of Western Africa delicacies. This was the first time for a number of the visitors to sample foods from this region. Kenyan delicacies included Mukimo from Central region, Chapati, and the famous energizer drink Mursik and ugali from the Kalenjin community.

Dr. Nicholas Makau, representing the VC and DVC (ASA) commended the organizers of the event noting that it gives a chance for the students to interact with the University management. He noted that through such interactions, the students can directly raise some of the issues of interest to the management. Further, he asserted that the University has embraced the spirit of inclusivity and this has been encouraged amongst the students too. This was manifested by the fact that the Secretary General of the University of Eldoret Students Association (UoESA), Mr. Matsiko, is an international student from Uganda. Prof. Gelas Simiyu (Ag. DVC PRE) beseeched the international students to be good ambassadors of UoE once they cleared their studies and moved back to their respective countries. Dr. Richard Ochieng’, representing the Director (Town Campus), impressed upon the students to endeavor to be engaged in other university activities such as games and sports to ensure greater inclusivity.

A number of the University administrative units were represented at the event. These included the Corporate Affairs & Marketing office, the Hostels Department the Health Unit and the Marketing Office (Town Campus).

Dr. HEKA KAMAU
Coordinator, Outreach and International Students’ Centre (OISC)