If you were to ask me what was one thing I did this summer that left a lasting impact, it would be almost impossible to list just one.
I might tell you it was the opportunity to visit seven of Miller Center’s top enterprises — INKOMOKO, All Across Africa/KAZI, Jibu, Deevabits, Solar Sister, Nyota, and Sistema.bio, and see firsthand the impact they have in communities across Rwanda and Kenya.
Or, I might say it was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame in his office in Kigali to discuss how Miller Center and Santa Clara University can further support entrepreneurship and educational opportunities in Rwanda.
Or visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial to acknowledge the 30 year anniversary since the end of the Rwandan genocide and honor the memory of the victims.
Or perhaps it was co-hosting a reception with the Nairobi US Embassy for Kenyan social entrepreneurs and changemakers.
Or the opportunity to meet with Miller Center Lewis Family Fellows and witness them conduct action research to help Miller Center social entrepreneurs increase their impact.
Or having quality time with our Immersion Trip delegation — which included Santa Clara University President Julie Sullivan and Miller Center Board Members Jeff and Karen Miller — and connect with this amazing group of fourteen humans on an even more intimate level.
Or even the unique circumstance of witnessing democracy in action by getting caught up in the recent political unrest in Nairobi and experiencing tertiary tear gassing — followed by quick action to ensure that our Immersion Trip delegation and student fellows were safe and out of harm’s way. (Everyone was safe by the way.)
All of these things happened this summer, and what’s even more remarkable, is that these experiences all happened on the same trip. One member of our delegation rightfully dubbed this trip as epic, and epic it was!
An Epic Immersion Trip
This summer, Miller Center hosted our annual Immersion Trip to Rwanda and Kenya. These trips showcase Miller Center’s mission in action and the entrepreneurs we support across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Over the years, Miller Center has hosted a number of Immersion Trips to visit enterprise partners all over the world. This trip, however, included a number of firsts for us.
This was the first trip in which we secured meetings with several high-level leaders in Kenya and Rwanda, such as with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Rwanda US Ambassador Eric Kneedler, Rwanda Development Board CEO Francis Gatare, and Kenya US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Marc Dillard. This was the first trip in which we combined the Miller Center Fellowship with the Immersion Trip. This was also the first time in which a Santa Clara University president traveled with us. The Immersion Trip reinforced President Sullivan’s Impact 2030 strategic plan to become a global hub for innovation that advances economic, social, ecological, and political development, creating a university where students can become citizens of the world.
Connections forged in Rwanda and Kenya significantly raised the profile of both Miller Center and Santa Clara University. By leveraging the partnerships that Miller Center has already established with our African social enterprise network, we now have even more opportunities to further drive catalytic support and help social enterprises innovate, scale, and lift entire populations out of poverty.
Authentic Encounters
This Immersion Trip has without a doubt, impacted how I view the world and my relationships. From a Miller Center perspective, this trip reinforced the importance of collaboration for supporting social entrepreneurship in Africa and beyond, as a way to address underlying causes of disenfranchisement.
On a deeper level, this experience emphasized an appreciation and love of our shared humanity and the importance of authentic encounters as a way to ground ourselves and provide meaning in our lives. I can’t help but reflect on Pope Francis’s call to center ourselves in “a culture of encounter capable of transcending our differences and divisions” in order to create a more just, peaceful, humane, and connected world. This year’s Immersion Trip to Africa did just that.
Taking a page out of the Miller Center Fellowship curriculum, which is rooted in Ignatian spirituality, I am now taking time for deep reflection about all that I experienced on this trip, which will hopefully be guided toward meaningful action that further serves our social enterprise network, Santa Clara University students, and our ever-expanding and interconnected Miller Center community.
We began 2024 with a shared commitment to make a difference through deep and meaningful engagements and are on our way to creating ripples of positivity together!
