Richmond Graduates Return Home with a Mission
03/09/2009
Richard Kapupu
I graduated from Richmond on May 17, 2007 with a BSc degree in Computing: Computer Engineering and a minor in Economics. By then, I had been accepted as a volunteer on a refurbishment project of a state-of-the-art assembly hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Godstone, Surrey. I was in the IT Design department with responsibility for ensuring all computers on site were fully functional and connected to the Internet. However, midway through the project, I was offered a full time position as teacher of Business and Management, Business Studies and Economics at my former school (before Richmond), Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa in Swaziland. From July 2007 to December that year, I taught these subjects at IGSCE and IB Diploma level respectively and since January 2008, I have added 'IT in a Global Society' for IB Diploma students. In the meantime, I have been pursuing a Post Graduate Certificate in Education with the University of South Africa and will be completing at the end of this year.
Returning to Swaziland gave me the opportunity to reunite with my siblings and I was also able to see one of my sisters off to college in the US. It was obviously heart-pounding to return to a school where the same teachers that taught me now became my colleagues, including the principal. It took a while before I started calling them by their first names! It has also given me many opportunities to share my Richmond University experiences with the IBs I teach as they make choices about the universities they want to apply to. Teaching at this high level has taught me how to learn more than teach and as such, I hope to pursue a Masters degree upon completing the PGCE.
Mfundo Malcom Mohammed
Having completed my BSc 'Systems Engineering and Management: Information Technology' in 2006, I returned to my home country, Swaziland, with a burning ambition: to play an active role in developing the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry in the Kingdom. In 2007, I started working as a Web Coordinator at my former school, Waterford Kamhlaba, where I have recently been promoted to IT Services Manager.
In 2008, I started an ICT company called Onswaziline (www.onswaziline.com) with an old friend who is also in the ICT industry. Our services currently include: website design, web hosting, domain name registration, search engine optimisation, online advertising and marketing, logo design, sell software and hardware plus other ICT services that people may need. One of our products is a website called www.tfolakele.com, an information site which provides information about various things in Swaziland.
The company is still in its infancy. However, we recently exhibited at the 2009 Swaziland International Trade Fair and received a very positive response and made significant connections with potential customers. It is clear now that the internet is good business for us as a lot of Swazi companies and organizations are now looking to tap into the Internet as a market and information media. I now run the company solo but have employed my brother who runs the office whilst I am at work at Waterford Kamhlaba. I am looking forward to developing my company and career in ICT.
My goals and ambitions in life were hugely influenced through my experiences at Richmond, The American International University in London and living in England. The interaction with people from different nationalities and backgrounds combined with the educational experience at RAIUL helped me to find my own identity in the world and shape targets for my life, future and the role I want to play in the development of Swaziland and Africa as a whole. I am
looking forward to visiting the University and staff on my next trip to
England which is long overdue.
Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/795.aspx
