On Friday 9th February, 2024 Kenya welcomed the MV World Odyssey, a floating university, which docked at the port of Mombasa. Among the 763 passengers are 585 students representing over 20 countries, 178 faculty members, and 198 crew members. The Academic Voyage, known as "Semester at Sea," is run by the Institute of Shipboard Education in partnership with Colorado State University.
The Technical University of Mombasa, through the Blue Economy Innovation Hub (BEI Hub), was privileged to host and organize academic field trips for two faculty members (Prof. Yuwei Shi & Prof. Stephen Preece) and 32 international students, who are undertaking Social and Sustainable Venturing class, in the Semester at Sea Programme. We organized academic field trips to two accomplished social ventures in Mombasa: Baus Taka Enterprise and Kuza Freezer.
In Mombasa Old Town, Dr. Tayba Hatimy, the Executive Director and Co-founder of Baus Taka Enterprises guided the students through coastal community-driven waste management and plastic waste segregation initiative under the #StopPlasticPollution Campaign, highlighting the efforts to combat marine plastic pollution. She shared her personal founding journey, the best practices of the social enterprise, and the pivotal role of women in spearheading initiatives for building a climate-resilient community.
In Bamburi, Dennis Onkangi, the CEO and founder of Kuza Freezer, gave insights about their cold storage solution for small-scale fisheries to tackle post-harvest losses and boost community income. At the Kuza Freezer workshop, the students were able to interact with the innovative solutions #TheColdBox and #EcoHeat
Thereafter, within TUM, the students engaged in in-depth discussions with founders of six other social ventures.
Blue Economy Innovation Hub (BEI Hub) - Dr. Cosmas Munga, Dr. Mathew Egessa
Big Ship Organization - Bosco Juma
Kumbatia Seafood - Nelson Ondego Mumata
Ceriops Environmental Organization - Derrick Muyodi
Blue Radio - Gilbert Were
VUA Solutions
The founders made presentations about their start-ups and shared experiences of their founding journeys. This was followed by fruitful discussions and feedback sessions with the students.
The full-day engagement fostered mutual learning and understanding amongst all participants and partnering institutions. It perfectly aligned with the ideals and core pillars of BEI Hub - #SocialInnovation #MaritimeTransport #CoastalTourism #MultiDisciplinary #QuadraHelix
Videos of #SemesterAtSea in the Kenyan media
KBC
The Star Kenya
