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Welcome. The Ujima Project springs from a story of friendship, a friendship that began in the 1990’s, when Dalton students first wrote letters to try to help free Koigi wa Wamwere, the renowned Kenyan political activist. At the time, Koigi was imprisoned in Kenya and his life was in danger because of his courageous stand against the repressive and dictatorial government then in power. Eventually Koigi was freed, largely through pressure from the international community. Since then, Koigi has been a Dalton parent, and he has spoken a number of times at Dalton assemblies. Today, he is a prominent Member of Parliament in the new, democratically elected Kenyan government. It is the inspiration that Koigi has brought us that is the seed for the Ujima project.Ujima (oo-JI-mah) is a Swahili word that means “neighborhood cooperation, collective work and responsibility”. It also means “Let’s work together!”. This project is founded upon these principles. We hope that, through this project, students and teachers in Kenya and in Dalton can get to know each other, educate each other, and work together to make all of our lives richer and fuller, and our world a better place. We also hope that everyone involved with this project will approach it with an open minds and hearts, and in an inclusive spirit. That is our philosophical statement – beyond that, we are simply ready to listen to you, discuss with you, and, wherever possible, work with you.
This website is designed to encourage and facilitate such activity. Our focus is upon education. Through our student and educator forums, we hope that students will communicate with students, educators with educators, and that together we can launch initiatives that will benefit everyone. This site is also the New York ‘virtual home’ for the Subukia Scholarship Fund. The Education and Activist sections are the places you should go to see what is happening and to become involved. The remainder of the site is designed to provide information about Kenya and Dalton, which we hope will be useful to you.
Hundreds of Kenyan children take part in a Peace March in Nairobi, Kenya in 1998. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim, caption source, AP Photo.)
