Tumaini Universty

Today I presented to and met with students, faculty, and entrepreneurs at the University of Tumaini in Iringa, Tanzania. It was an honor to be offered a chance to present in the Blomquist Lecture Hall on campus. Tumaini is a university that was found only 12 years ago, the first private university in Tanzania.

"Tumaini" means "hope" in Swahili, and it is a university founded by the local Lutheran church with help from Lutherans in Minnesota. The 'hope' was to allow many students a chance to get an education that otherwise were unable to get entrance in the very few public university openings available. Today, Tumaini is growing almost 30% per year and has over 3000 students.

You can see the presentation that was discussed here: http://www.cheetahdevelopment.org/Our_Program.htm.

It was a lot of fun as people thought with me about the fact that Tanzania has a stable government, resources, and many educated people. Many of the development problems are rooted in mindsets that are not functional. To be having this conversation in a university setting was so appropriate. After I was finished, most of the audience stayed for a lengthy question and answer session and it was an hour and a half before we broke up.