Maji Shule Biashara Event

The Maji Shule Festival began this week, and the Biashara Event was on Tuesday night, November 4^th. Biashara translates to Business in Swahili. Jamez Muzinga was there, along with other presenters and faculty members, talking about why students should study abroad, and of what Water School means to other countries. Frostburg has been doing study abroad trips for several years, having recently gone to Ecuador over the summer, and planned trips to Brazil and China for this coming summer.

The Center for International Education was at the presentation, and Victoria Gearhart, the Study Abroad advisor, explained the benefits of studying abroad. It is a combination of international experience with academic class work, but she emphasized to students who are interested to plan well in advance. Contact one of the trip leaders for more information, or to contact the Center for International Education. If interested, there are different scholarships that can help with the costs. Frostburg does offer different trips year round and she explained that students can go practically anywhere in the world if they want.

One of the benefits is that the credits students would earn while studying abroad can be transferred back to Frostburg, however students do need at least a GPA of 2.5 to be eligible. Gearhart explained that she believed only 1.5% of students in America study abroad, and only 2% of students study abroad at Frostburg. She explained that if interested, students, “definitely want to take advantage of that.”

Jamez Muzinga then took the podium, discussing how Water School first came to be. He explained that it all started with Water School Canada, and then eventually expanded to what it is today. Water School currently operates in three different countries; Haiti, Kenya, and Uganda, mainly operating in rural settings. Jamez explained that strategic positioning in those countries is very important. The goal is to focus, and with that comes excellence. Jamez explained that they are, “able to appreciate strength, weakness, and strategies,” through seeing and understanding what other countries have to go through on a daily basis. What most rural countries do not understand is that, “There is an ability to capitalize local resources,” and are, “able to get water at subsequent prices.” Water School is a non-profit organization, but Muzinga emphasized they are the money. Both Water School and Jamez hope that by the end of the year, twenty-four thousand households and schools will have been helped by Water School.

The presenters were then followed by a Jeopardy-style game. There were three rounds, the first involving true or false questions, the second involving multiple choice, and the third being decided by the two teams with the top scores, each answering five questions. If a team got any answer right, they could spin a wheel that would determine how many points they got, or how many they lost. When spinning the wheel, some of the situations a team could land on were,

“Your Village got a new school,” in which a team could get plus eight points, or “Your village got a Sodis rack,” which would give a team plus ten points. One of the true or false questions was, “Africa has only 20% of Earth’s platinum resources.” That question was false, because Africa has over 90%. Round two involved multiple choice and if answered incorrectly, other teams could steal. EchoStar won both Monday and Tuesday’s competitions.

After Tuesday’s event was over, Jason Moxley explained that he wanted,” to thank everybody that came out tonight.” He also thanked the College of Business, the Global Business Club for hosting this evening’s event, and the event coordinator James Kirk for all helping to set these events up. The Maji Shule Main Event is on Friday, November 7^th, from six to eight, and he encourages everybody to come out and support the cause. Jason ended by saying, “Frostburg has the ability to make a huge impact in Uganda.”