Africa Visits SIU Madrid

When we think about higher education we normally think of big classrooms, heavy books and hours and hours of studying. While this is certainly the case most weeks, there is only so much you can learn from reading a book. At the end of day those are simply ideas jotted down on a piece of paper therefore, there must be another way to get that information.

At Schiller we know human interactions are the best way to learn, and while we can learn from everyone around us, there are certain people that deliver a far greater understanding than the average man or woman. Those are the people we look for and invite to speak to our students.

This time one of our Professors, Jose Pinto, invited the former Minister of Tourism and Culture, Guillermina Mekuy to speak at our event, Africa Visits SIU. Ms. Mekuy is a writer, Politian and businesswoman passionate about education and especially empowering women to help them overcome the current struggles of the XXI century.

During the event, Ms. Mekuy shared her experience as a young writer aged only 17 years old. She discussed her studies in Madrid which helped her start her career in politics and the opportunities and challenges which she came across.

She inspired our students to never let their young age hinder their career by emphasizing that we should never use young age as an excuse for our lack of determination. If she could do it so can every young man and woman with the right mindset, skills and opportunity.

Following the talk, we had the pleasure of enjoying several different recipes from all over Africa. As SIU Madrid students understood, food plays a big role in African culture, and everyone certainly agreed by welcome these delicacies and enjoying a meal with the SIU family.