A year on. Master’s student Ronaldo Juma Jaoko reflects on what he has learned

A year into his Master’s degree programme in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics that brought him to Denmark from Kenya, Ronaldo Juma reflects on his personal and academic journey.

Since his arrival in 2024, Juma has aced his exams, taken on a Danish internship, and immersed himself in both academic and everyday life.

What has made the biggest impression? Not just Denmark’s formal waste systems but also the public’s active engagement in managing waste.

“I joke that I’ve become Danish because I recycle my bottles, go to the thrift stores, sort my rubbish and take everything to the right waste containers,” he laughs.

Juma is one of 17 young professionals who began their Danish Master’s degree programmes last year as part of Denmark’s  strategy for its engagement with countries in Africa, “Africa’s Century”. The initiative strengthens knowledge partnerships between Denmark and African countries by investing in people.

As Tove Degnbol, head of LEARNING at Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, puts it, “We see this as a very important part of bringing our countries closer together and understanding each other better”.

In Kenya Ronaldo Juma’s works as a public private dialogue officer for Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), a job he will return to after he has finished his Master’s in Denmark.

We met him in Nairobi, Kenya before he travelled to Denmark in September 2024.  Watch the video and read the article Meet Ronaldo Juma Jaoko, one of the new Master’s students from Africa.

 

 

 

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