1. Brent L. Kamba (’14) pulled out a
$100 bill, dipped it in a mixture of
water and ethanol, and lit it on fire. His
crowd—Ugandan teachers of middle
and high school chemistry—went wild.
The money caught fire, but the paper
didn’t burn, and the teachers whipped
out their own bills to test the principle.
“Put anything of value . . . in any kind of
experiment, and it will stick with people
that much more,” says Kamba. He and
BYU chemistry professor Jennifer Bur-
rows Nielson (BS ’88) were in Kampala,
Uganda, demonstrating experiments
that can be done with limited resources.
The experiments are part of Nielson’s
ongoing research to help rewrite the
chemistry curriculum in Uganda, where
classes are often relegated to “copying
down what the teacher writes on the
board,” says Nielson.
In some ways, Kamba was an unlikely
sidekick for Nielson’s project; he was
barely passing her organic chemistry
class, after all. But when he made his
way to her office to talk about his grade,
the conversation meandered. Kamba
mentioned his talent for African drum-
ming—something he’s taught every Sat-
urday for two years to Utah children
adopted from Africa. He also mentioned
that he had never been to Africa—where
his own father was born and raised. “I
just invited him right then; ‘You should
come,’” Nielson says.
She assigned Kamba to develop non-
toxic, low-cost experiments. He got
up early for two semesters, tweaking
experiment instructions here, substi-
tuting materials there.
“Keep in mind I was still bombing
her class,” Kamba laughs; he ended up
retaking the class for a much better
grade. But Nielson never doubted his
ability. “He was the perfect student,”
she says—with his initiative and his
ability to connect with the Ugandans.
Kamba expresses gratitude for the
BYU donor who made his work in
Uganda possible. “Being in Africa, I was
just in heaven,” he says. In addition to
sharing experiments, Kamba was able
to visit an African drum–maker village—
“one of the highlights of my life,” he says.
He brought home a traditional Ugandan
drum and marimba, which he shared
with the African children he teaches.
Of his experience in Africa, Kamba says,
“It was nice to finally get that complete
connection to where I came from.”
Kamba hopes the experiments he
dreamed up will help chemistry come
alive for Uganda’s children. “To me,
development means working with kids
and teaching them,” says Kamba, who
hopes to be a pediatrician. “They’re the
future of the world,” he says. “[And] if
they can wrap their heads around chem-
istry, they can learn anything.”
—Natalie Sandberg Taylor (’14)
Experimenting
in Africa
A student finds his
rhythm in chemistry.
Flexing his science know-how, Brent Kamba found ways to make chemistry tangible.
SARAHSTROBELHILL
magazine.byu.edu 15
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