ROFFEKE UN world education day 2020 - Report by Wangari Kabiru

edumental #EducationDay I ROFFEKE 2020 UN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION CELEBRATION
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ROFFEKECOMMEMORATIONOF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION
THEME: Education and Mental Health
VENUE: American Spaces, 5th
Floor, Bazaar Plaza
TIME: 5pmto 7.30pm
DATE: 24th
January 2020
CONTACTPERSON: Mildred Achoch
Whatsapp 0799149677
Email: mildandred@gmail.com
Twitter: @roffeke
Facebook: facebook.com/rffke
HASHTAGS: #edumental #EducationDay
UN International Day of Education
In celebration of the role of education for peace and development
(People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace)
Report Authoredby: WangariKabiru, Champion YEES! School-Kids
ProgramAfrica
Report Editedby: Mildred Achoch, ROFFEKE(Rock ‘n’ Roll Film Festival,
Kenya)
Available: Speakers bios, quotes, video poster and video programmeavailable at:
https://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2020/02/edumental-
educationday-roffeke-event.html

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Introduction
When ROFFEKEextended the invitation to speak on the trio topic "education,
environmentand mental health" at the #EducationDay 2020, the trio would
already make a full day's talk when dissected individually. This is justthe
beginning of the discourseas we need more instances for this convergence of
minds and especially the take-away to amplify to our respective audiences, local
communities, governments and decision makers. Thank you ROFFEKEfor the
invitation to be part of whatI enjoy more and especially during the UN
InternationalDay of Education 2020 (#EducationDay) "in celebration of the role of
education for peace and development'.
My context of #edumental stems from the joy of fullness of life, which is without
ration for every person. 3John - Chapter 1: 2 "My dear friend, I hope everything is
going happily with you and that you are as well physically as you are spiritually."
"There is a myth that the human brain stops developing
at a certain age. In 2005, new information emerged
that the brain develops continuously. There is a higher
potential for the human brain than we thought. And
even those who have mental challenges still have a
great potential. Like in the movie "A Beautiful Mind",
the character had mental challenges but he became a
Nobel Laureate."
-Dr. Hussein, Clinical Psychiatrist, Lebanon, Doctors
Without Borders Kenya.
John Forbes NashJr. (June 13, 1928 –May 23, 2015) was an
American mathematician who made important contributions to game
theory, differential geometry, and the study of partial differential equations with
his theories being widely used in economics. He served as
a senior research mathematician at Princeton
University during the later years of his life. He shared the
1994 Nobel Memorial Prizein Economic Sciences with game
theorists Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi. In 2015,he
shared the Abel Prizewith Louis Nirenberg for his work
on nonlinear partial differential equations. He is the only
person to be awarded both the Nobel Memorial Prizein

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Economic Sciences and the Abel Prize. He achieved all this despite living with
mental health challenges. In 1959, hebegan showing clear signs of mental illness,
and spentseveral years at psychiatric hospitals being treated for paranoid
schizophrenia. After 1970, his condition slowly improved, which allowed him to
return to academic work by the mid-1980s. Thefilm “A Beautiful Mind” starring
Russell Crowe, chronicles his struggles with his illness and his recovery. Thefilm is
based on Sylvia Nasar's biography of the samename. (SourceWikipedia)
KSAVE
I invite you to reflect on the principle of KSAVE, a life principle that I became
familiar with during my college years within the AIESECstudentbody. I strongly
believe that an early exposurein life to the attributes of enterprise education
helps to nurturethis life principle. Enterpriseeducation is the provision of
learning opportunities which help students develop attributes that may be
summarised as KSAVE; knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and ethics of the
entrepreneur.
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable
confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”- Norman
Vincent Peale.
Dictionary definitions providea guide for a shared understanding on two of the
attributes; values and ethics. Values; Principles or standards of behaviour; one's
judgement of what is important in life. Ethics; Concerned with whatis good for
the individual and society and affects how to makedecisions and lead life. Ethos
(Greek) to mean custom, habit, character or disposition. They are derived from
cultures, philosophies and religions.
A conversation on enterprise education would generate words such as;
empowered, care, hopeful, progressive, concerned, problem-solving, inclusive,
sustainable, prosperous and motivated. While words may beintangible and
innate they are critical building blocks to "the inner man and inner woman" belief
and as such expression of self into the world.
"Motivation is best served in the dark" - self motivation is empowering and
overpowers allother forms.

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A Forbes article (Quora) "whatare the most importantskills you need to have as
an entrepreneur?"enumerates ten skills that you gain through an enterprise
education: curiosity, time management, strategic thinking, efficiency, resilience,
communication, networking, finance, branding and sales.
An enterprise education enables students to develop confidence, self-reliance
and a determinationto succeed in life. The enterprising individual both initiates
and thrives onchange.
The Program delivers an enterprise education curriculum to school-kids who say
with confidence, "we learn how to do business while we are still young".
- YEES! School-Kids Program Africa.
We believe that the role of education is not to load an elephant's tusk onto a
warthog. The role of an education is to give learners the life agility fromthe
octopus '9 brainsand tentacle arms' and the vision fromthe giraffe 'long neck';
which means to open up pathways.
"Octopuses are so smart they
tip-toe around awkwardly on
the ocean floor hoarding
coconut shells to later build
themselves a fort to defend
themselves from predators, a
new Australian study has found.
This is an octopus that runs
around collecting cups, stacking
them, running along with them
underneath its body, and then assembling them as perfect armour if a predator
comes along," Norman said. "Planned future use". It's that forward planning --
and useof tools -- that surprisingly makes the veined octopus one of the smartest
animals on Earth. - Australian biologist Julian Finn and Mark Norman, Head of
Science at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, Australia (CNN World).
“Education today mostly makes us elephants; stunted, puffed up. Enterprise
education gives octopus tentacles and giraffe’s neck. – Wangari Kabiru, YEES!
School-Kids Program Africa

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Education and Recovery Is About A 'We" Not About "I"
In the context of health, it is not only about getting better but also achievement
of fullness of life and satisfaction with one’s life. This makes education, whether
as part of a formal or an informal systemto be a suitable pathway as the learning
process touches into the wholeperson; social, emotional, intellectual and
physical.
"I am a Researcher in variousfields of interest. I have been researching in the area
of mental health in Kenya. There is limited public information available in the
country and low awareness by the public. A Kenya National
Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) audit estimated that out of
six people with mental illnesses, a staggering five do not receive any
treatment. In December 2019, The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of
Health constituted a 'Taskforce on Mental Health" to visit various
parts of the country, calling for public participation until January
2020. Globally, there has been major breakthroughs arising from
proper research by bodiessuch asThe American Psychological Association (APA).”
- Research Insights, Deborah Neema, Researcher, Kenya.
Schooling which is associated with the formal academic institutions is a core
channel today to access an education. Schooling brings with it a structured
orderly system. Schooling also gives; the opportunity for meeting new people,
challenges tackling assignments, experiences of achievement and anticipation of
the opportunity to advanceto the next gradeor to apply the learning through a
job or enterprise. With conscious education, schooling provides a valuable avenue
for withdrawalfromsolitariness and solitary living.
"Whenever we addressmentalhealth, we need to first addressthe
society. Second, we need to addresseducation. How are we taking
care of our kids who are thinking outside (of the standard design of
the) education system? We are channeled into one system of thinking
where you have to get a white collar job. We are also quick to judge
people rather than first understand them." - Dr. Shevvy Mugweru, Kenya.

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Ten Important Elements InA School-DesignedEducationSystem
"Where do children seek affirmation? What defines them as human?
Are they defined by their gadgets? If they don't get (social media)
"likes", do they get depressed? Do they have FOMO - Fear Of Missing
Out? Have important values been addressed?" - Education and
Technology, Annmercy Wairimu, Tech Enthusiast, Kenya.
The following ten elements formimportant considerations in relation to mental
health in relation to schooland education;
1. Viewed as a disability or not as a disability; for special attention and specialised
care
2. Adaptive learning curve; designing individualised unique learning pathways
3. Career choices; well guided supportby career specialists and career counsellors
4. Taking time out; dealing with overwhelm, experiences of shame, seeking help
5. Managing fromteen years; into adulthood, family life and public roles
6. Equipping teachers; as the third eye
"I love teaching children. They are my joy. You may go to work feeling down and a
child will say "Hi teacher!" And you forget all about your problems. As an ECD
teacher, we go through a lot; from the administration, from the
parentsand even from the neighbours. Getting underpaid is the
biggest issue. ECD teachers are the most underpaid teachers in
the country. When I started teaching, my first salary was Ksh
2000 (USD. 20). And my boss by then would not even pay me
that Ksh 2000. He would stay with it for 3 months. One time he
told me: "You do the least work." I had 35 pupils in my class, all
below 5 years. If you want to start a family, you may not get maternity leave.
Right now, the school year ends in October. No pay in November and December
and sometimes even in October." - Grace Gicheru, ECD Teacher Kenya.
7. Parents; family and community supportas part of a village
8. Technology and infrastructure; supporting detection, learning during recovery
and speeding catching on
9. Teaching the Law and its Agencies; Reducing predisposition to possibleclashes,
getting into trouble and what to do in the event of violence and victimization

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"In whatever field you are in, you will interact with some legality. Two issues are
very important to mental health: human rights and Intellectual Property rights.
Especially since the latter has everything to do with creative arts which is an
element that is sometimes displayed by mental health victims. There are laws that
protectyou when you create something on your own volition and/or when you are
employed. Our education system, especially at the higher level, needs to introduce
teaching of basic law to all for the betterment and benefit of society in general." -
Njoroge Mwaura, Lawyer.
10. Belief in God; stemming fromwhat one believes in, to engagement of support
entities such as the Church.
Nature Is The Best Medicine
"Caring for the environmenthelps to care for your mental health." - UNEP.
"Environ-Mental. Mental health and the environment are two
sides of the same coin. I think children should be taught about the
environment so that as they grow up, they are aware that
whatever they do will either have a negative or positive effect on
the environment and by extension, on their mental health and the
mental health of others." - Emma Ochieng, Founder Of Towards A
Better Earth Initiative.
Enterpriseeducation is a way to create 'hands on' awareness on the environment.
One of the most exciting projects for the YEES! Scholars is Greenfinger School-Kids
- School Nutritious Gardens an opportunity for planting seeds in bottles and
vegetables in sacks within the school spaces. Maturing into community clean-ups,
tree planting and door-to-door sensitisation.
The skills gained are critical to the young learner today as an influencer to their
local communities. More so to the values and ethics of the nation's leader for the
majority parliamentary political party tomorrow, corporateleader tomorrow, tech
Nobel Laureate tomorrow and decision maker at the future of the UNEP; with
influence to the political, economic, socio-culturaland economic way of nations.

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Closing Remarks
According to The Kenya Mental Health Policy (2015-2030), about40% of in-
patients in health facilities suffer frommental disorders.
My firstencounter fromwhich I reaffirmthe place of self-belief and community,
arosefromthe experience of hosting a woman missionary. Shecame along with a
'host guide'; if you see this do this, avoid these types of foods and increase on
these. As she embarked on her 'mission', her husband of over ten years and kids
were at peace back at home carrying on with their life missions. Mostadmirable
was her self-awareness which allowed her to live into the fullness of life.
As we toast to 'people, planet, prosperity and peace', to each of you on The UN
InternationalEducation Day 2020, 'my dear friends, I hope everything goeson
happily with you and that you keep well physically, educationally, legally,
entrepreneurially, politically, environmentally,in every way possible as you are
spiritually'. God bless you. WANGARI KABIRU
WANGARI KABIRU
WANGARI is a consultant and Champion for YEES! School-Kids Program Africa, an
education-leadership program that delivers an enterprise education curriculum to
school-kids who say with confidence, "we learn how to do business while we are
still young". She serves as a dispute neutral (CPM). WANGARI is a fan of
technology, game thinking, entrepreneurship and travel.
VOTE OF THANKS
I would like to thank all the guests and participants who took time to attend the
event and shared their views, insights and experiences. I thank Wangari Kabiru
who authored this report. I also thank all the filmmakers who submitted their
films to ROFFEKE, including the four filmmakers whose films/music videos were
screened on the day of the event. Finally, I thank all the teachers who, through
their hard work and dedication, always add value to our lives. Asanteni. - Mildred
Achoch, Founder of ROFFEKE (Rock ‘n’ Roll Film Festival, Kenya).
###

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Gallery

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Appendix
PROGRAMME
5:00-5:25 Arrival and Registration Speaker/Director
5:25-5:30 Introduction/Welcoming Remarks Mildred Achoch
ROFFEKE
5:30-5:35 Speaker Session
About Centric Air
Victor Mumo
Centric Air Ambulance
Education and the Environment
Emma Ochieng
Founder, Towards a Better Earth
Initiative
5.45-6:00 Short Film and Discussion
Cor
Director: Núria Vila
6:00-6:10 Speaker Session and Discussion
Challenges of being a teacher
Grace Gicheru
ECD Teacher
6.10-6.20 Short Film
Making things up as I go
Director: P.J. Schenkel
6.20-6.25 Speaker Session
Education and Tech
Annmercy Wairimu
Tech Enthusiast
6.25-6.30 Speaker Session
Education, Mental Health and
Wellness
Dr. Hussein
Clinical Psychiatry
6:30-6:40 Short Film and Discussion
Astronaut
Director: Pierre Ponchant
6:40-6:50 Speaker Session and Discussion
Education and Mental health
Dr. Shevvy Mugweru
6.50-6:55 Short Film
Put your heart into it
Director: Cory Kerr
Intellectual Property Education in
schools
Njoroge Mwaura
Lawyer
7:15-7:25 Way Forward, Closing Remarks, Vote
of Thanks.
Mildred Achoch
7:25-7:30 Speed Networking Guests

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Film Title Director(s) Synopsis/Description Education and Mental Health
Themes/Lyrics/Links/Photos
Cor Núria Vila Roc is passionate about electronic
music, but doesn't like going to
class or doing homework. One day
he decides to stop doing his
homework, but something
happens in the classroom that
makes everyone behave strangely.
https://www.oecd-
ilibrary.org/sites/9789264311671-
en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/9789
264311671-en&mimeType=text/html
Making
things up as
I go
P.J. Schenkel "Making Things Up As I Go" is
both a mantra and a lifestyle. No
structure is needed for your
imagination, and we take you
down a road through ours in an
honest and fun video showing off
the goofy side of Jeremy Parsons.
Astronaut Pierre
Ponchant
Once upon a time, there was a
broke guy who left the earth in a
thrift store space suit. Astronaut is
a no budget Space Odyssey, a
voyage into the imaginary world
of a hero who, night after night,
explores the universe seeking for
a safe haven.
Put your
heart into it
Cory Kerr After a struggling artist pours his
heart into his book, he sells the
rights, but the deal isn't what he
expected. This animated short is
about the disparity of what
creators earn compared to those
who distribute the creators' work.

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https://wildezine.com/2159/opinion/the-starving-
artist-dilemma/
International Day of Education
“The world will celebrate the InternationalDay of Education on 24 January 2020,
a day proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly to honour education
and its centrality to human well-being and sustainabledevelopment.
The 2020 celebration will position education and the learning it enables as
humanity’s greatestrenewable resourceand reaffirmthe role of education as a
fundamental right, a public good and an enabler of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. Itwill frame‘inclusive and equitable
quality education and lifelong learning for all’ as a goal in and of itself, as well as a
necessary means to accelerate progress to meet the targets of all 17 Sustainable
Development Goals.
As the UN organization mandated to lead on education in the 2030 Agenda,
UNESCO will draw on its convening power and engage with education and
development partners to celebrate the Day around the world by focusing on the
many ways learning can empower people, preservethe planet, build
shared prosperity and foster peace.
The 2020 theme ‘Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace’, highlights the
integrated nature of education, its humanistic aims, as well as its centrality to our
collective development ambitions. Italso gives stakeholders and partners
flexibility to tailor the celebration for diverseaudiences, a variety of contexts and
for priority themes.
People
A humanistic approach to education implies an integrated approach to the
multiple individual and collective purposes of education. Education is at the heart
of both personaland community development. Its mission is to help all people
develop their talents fully and to realize their creative potentials, including

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responsibility for their own lives & the capacity to contribute to society. Education
is also a powerfulcatalyst – for combating poverty & inequality, improving health
& well-being, and overcoming discrimination. Itis the key to achieving gender
equality & is vital for individuals to live healthy lives…
Planet
Formal, non-formaland informal learning opportunities can play a major part in
the transformation needed to realize more environmentally sustainablesocieties,
in concert with initiatives fromgovernment, civil society and the private sector.
Prosperity
Education, including vocationalskills development, is essential for inclusive
growth that does not leave anyone behind.
Peace
Education is a condition for political participation, inclusion, advocacy and
democracy. In the best instances, education can catalyzeand buttress peace,
especially when access to it is equitable.”
Source:https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/education-day-2020-concept-
note-en.pdf
A ResearchSymposium, A FilmScreening andWorldPhilosophy Day
THIS SECTIONWAS POSTED BYKENYAROCKFILMFESTIVALJOURNAL AT11:55 PM
ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER15, 2017
https://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-research-
symposium-film-screening-and.html
Today, 16th November, is World Philosophy Day. Tomorrow, 17th November,
there is a Business and Philosophy ROFFEKEscreening atMetta. On the 14th, I
attended the StrathmoreUniversity Research Symposiumfor the firsttime. As
luck (or fate) would have it, the sessions I attended were quite philosophically
inclined:

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"School Fires andGeneral Indiscipline, treat cause not symptoms" by Patrick
Kibui
Mr. Kibui pointed out that part of the problemwas that students are
domesticated rather than educated. Pink Floyd's song, "Another brick in the wall"
comes to mind:
We don't need no education
We don't need no thoughtcontrol
No dark sarcasmin the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers!Leave them kids alone
All in all it's justanother brick in the wall
All in all you'rejustanother brick in the wall
It's interesting that in the music video of the song, there is a schoolfire!
Part of Mr. Kibui's abstractreads: "Theattitudes of teachers have influenced the
character formation of students at all levels leading to creating a society of very
learned people with limited education."
One of the films submitted to ROFFEKEis titled "Cor". A boy is studying at home,
at night. A figurine waves at him - up, down, up, down - but the boy does not
notice it or chooses to ignore it. He throws his pen on the desk in frustration. He
looks behind him, checking whether he will be seen, then he switches on the
radio. He sways to the music, eyes closed, figurine still waving - up, down, up,
down. He opens a CD case. Suddenly, he pays attention to the waving figurine. He
picks it up, stares at it. Behind him, his mother looks at him looking at the waving
figurine. All she has to do is nod at the figurineand the boy places it back on the
desk and switches off the radio.
"Haveyou finished them yet?" The boy replies that he is not going to do them. An
argument ensues. Finally, the boy asks: "Whatareyou going to do, take me back
there again?"
In the next scene, students sit in a class, uniform, stiff and orderly. They are all
dressed in the same dark colour but the boy is wearing a brightyellow jacket. He

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is slumped on the desk, looking bored. The teacher is talking about a list of
equations: "Mostof them are very similar to the ones we worked on last week."
Cue creepy music. "Very similar." The teacher says this over and over again as he
waves, his actions eerily similar to that of the waving figurine. "Justlike all of
you." Oneby one, the other students copy the teacher's motions. Up, down, up,
down.…(Watch whathappens next during the film screening).
The movie ends with this quote:
"Our education systemis focused on batch-cloning pupils. Itshould do the
opposite: discovering the unique talents of each." - Ken Robinson.
The next speaker was Esther Kariuki. She presented on "Perceptionof the Role of
Aesthetics inDaily Living Among University Students inKenya." Shequoted
Aristotle's and Aquinas'definition of beauty. Aquinas saw brightness as a
component of beauty while Aristotle saw orderliness as a componentof beauty.
During the Q and A session, thesetwo perceptions were questioned.
One attendee pointed out that there is a certain beauty in the chaos that is the
Kenyan transportsystem. I agreewith him. There is a certain beauty that can be
found even in chaos. Casein point: during last Saturday's NairobiMetal Festival,
there was "chaos" in the mosh pit but I saw the beauty in that chaos: kids from
different tribes and different races, moshing together in harmony.
One of the films submitted to ROFFEKE - Sandeep Kumar's "Tints and Shades"
captures the beauty in the chaos of an open air market in India.
I am a big fan of the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi. I am suremany goths can
relate. Aquinas considered brightness an important element of beauty. As a goth,
I mustadd that there is also beauty in the darker colours. Jillian Venters, author of
"The Gothic CharmSchool: An Essential Guide for Goths and those who love
them" talks about the gothic aesthetic.
I suggested that for further research, perhaps theAfrican definition of beauty
could be looked into, for example, fromAfrican proverbs, traditionalsongs, etc.

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The next speaker was Wokorach Raphaelp'Mony who presented on "Aristotle
and St. Thomas on Magnanimity:Seminary agendafor servant-leadership". It
was an insightfulpresentation and whatstood out for me was "justiceis the
excellence of the soul".
ROFFEKEwill continue to pursuemagnanimity through its motto: Friendship, Fun,
Freedom.

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