Standing on the shoulders of giants: A glimpse of my HRDA experience
by admin on | 2025-02-04 16:00:50 Last Updated by admin on 2025-02-06 11:54:02
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On the 10th of December 2024, I graduated from the University of Pretoria (UP), Centre for Human Rights in South Africa (SA) with a Master of Laws, specializing in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa (HRDA). This was a significant period in my career and for the Centre, especially as the Centre celebrated 25 years since the commencement of the HRDA LLM/MPhil program (Programme) in 1999. This piece is a snippet of my experiences during the programme. It reflects not just a sense of fulfilment that comes with a dream realized but also some of the valuable experiences gained throughout the programme. These experiences have profoundly enriched my personal and professional life, equipping me with the relevant arsenals and confidence to defend human rights and champion democratization in all the spaces I find myself in. These I do not take for granted, especially at a point where human rights and democratization in Kenya and Africa are more than ever under threat
2. Acceptance
One of the best communications that I have so far received in my career as a young lawyer is the communication of acceptance to join the programme. I knew that the programme would be quite impactful not only to my career but also to my life in general, and getting accepted was the best gateway to that. Upon getting accepted, I knew that one of my early career dreams of doing an LLM at the earliest opportunity specifically at UP was about to be realized. Being a highly competitive programme, I knew that some heavy weight had been placed on my shoulders, with the trust and confidence that I was able to carry it. The best I could do was to embrace it with open arms. 3. New country, new people, new cultures Going to SA for my LLM programme was my first time travelling outside the country and being away from home for a considerably long period of time. While I was excited about the new opportunity and ready to start my LLM, no one fully prepared me for the experience of meeting completely new people and being miles away from home. I was eager to experience what it feels like to sit in an LLM class and wondered what would come out of that. My class was my first dynamic experience after my interactions with the school pick-up driver, with whom we could only communicate...Read More
