Benjamin Adu-Kumi

Benjamin Adu-Kumi was born in Akim Tafo in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He graduated from the African University College of Communications in Accra Ghana as a first class student with a major in Development Communication. He earlier earned a diploma in Communication Studies from the same University five years before with a major in Strategic Communications.

He worked as a Client Relations Manager with Yankah and Associates a leading Communications Consultancy firm and later became an Assistant Consultant having gained a lot of experience working on Major projects such as the National Pensions Regulatory Authority Communications Strategy and Mo Ibrahim foundation Communication campaign in Ghana.

Ben hopes to obtain a Masters in African Studies while Ohio University and study further to obtain a PhD in Communications and Gender Studies.  He loves music and sings.

Eden Almasude

Eden Almasude is a Moroccan-American and has an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences.  Her thesis research investigated a novel regulatory RNA molecule in the pathogenic bacterium Shigella dysenteriae, one of the causative agents of diarrheal disease.  Eden is interested in maternal and child health and plans to study medicine after the MA program.  

Edwina Lebbie

Edwina is a Sierra Leonean American with B.A in French and African Studies from the Goergetown University. She has work experience with the HALO Trust: Humanitarian Landmine Clearance and Weapons Disposal as well as in Government Affairs and Corporate Fundraising.

Edwina’s research interests is in areas of Corporate Governance, Private Sector Development and Extractive Industries in the Gulf of Guinea

Favorite quote: Nous ne sommes nous qu'aux yeux des autres et c'est à partir du regard des autres que nous nous assumons comme nous.  Jean-Paul SARTRE

Flavius Mokake

Flavius Mokake from Cameroon holds an MA in History specializing in Medical History from the University of Buea in Cameroon. He was recently recruited as an Assistant Lecturer in Cameroon before joining Ohio University in Athens, and has also since 2009 worked as the Program Officer for the Cameroon Forum for Peace, (CFP) an NGO committed to building the culture of peace and people centered –development.

Flavius’s research Interests are in the areas of medical/public health history, youth socialization & adaptation to technology, and culture and peace studies

Favorite quote -"History was someone you touched, you know, on sunday mornings or in the barbershop. It's all around you. It's in the music, it's in the way you talk, it's in the way you cry, and it’s in the way you make love. Because you are denied your official history you are forced to excavate your real history even though you can never say that's what you are doing." -James Baldwin.

Francis Semwaza

Francis Semwaza hails from Tanzania. He is a graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam with specialist knowledge in language studies and Mass Communications. Mr. Semwaza has taught Kiswahili language and its related cultures at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has flair for social welfare and has volunteered with two child-based welfare organizations:  Child in the Sun (CIS), and Africa's Children Africa's Future (AC-AF) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

He has been involved in a number of health research studies regarding both communicable and non-communicable diseases in Tanzania. Moreover, Francis Semwaza has conducted an independent survey on malaria awareness in Tanzania's Coast Region.

He has also worked in the communications industry, especially in journalism and communications advising. His current areas of research interest include disease awareness and resource conflicts in Africa

Jessica Haldeman

Jessica Haldeman was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and now lives in Columbus, Ohio.  She is a second-year student in the African Studies program and will graduate after fall quarter 2011.  Jessica is a Graduate Assistant and works at the front desk of the Yamada House.  She is completing a Capstone Research Project that deals with identity formation, the politics of memory and teaching history in post-genocide Rwanda.

Karla Gulker

Karla Gulker is originally from Kentucky, and currently lives in Portsmouth, Ohio. She got her BA in Social Science from Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio.

Her research interest is North Africa, specifically mosque-based education in Morocco.

Favorite quote: “Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.” –D.H. Lawrence

 Kingsley Kwadwo Antwi-Boasiako

Kingsley Kwadwo Antwi-Boasiako is a professional Journalist and a Public Relations practitioner from Ghana. His work experience covers the areas of radio and TV broadcasting, as well as Public Relations practice with some major organizations in Ghana.

Before coming to Athens, Kingsley was the Ashanti Regional correspondent/editor for TV Africa, a local television station which covered nine out of the ten regions in Ghana. This he doubled with the running of a small events management company he had set up himself in 2007 to help in organizing events and offer other publicity services for clients.

Kingsley’s interest in African Politics got him enrolled in the African Studies program here in Ohio University where he says he feels at home due to the warmth of the people and the calm nature of the university campus. His research is on Aid to Africa and its impact, Conflict Resolutions in Africa and the impact of oil on the African economy.

Kombe Kapatamoyo

Zambian Kombe holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Social Work. She has worked in some of the remote areas of Zambia promoting healthy nutrition especially the uptake of Vitamin A in order to combat the growing increase of Cataract eye problems in the country. Kombe has also worked in one of the largest mental institutions in southern Africa. This involved counseling both patients and their families, sensitizing the communities about mental health as a disease and not a curse.

Currently, she is pursuing a Masters' Degree in African Studies to broaden her perspective on the continent of Africa as to aid her in understanding the health sector which is her area of interest".

Michael Ofori

Michael Ofori is from Ghana. He holds a BFA in Theater Arts with a specialty in play directing from University of Ghana, Legon. His research interest has been (and still is) in the area of performance art in African cultures.

Favorite quote: “the world is a comedy to those that think and a tragedy to those that feel” –Horace Walpole

Omar Hashi

Omar Hashi graduated from The Ohio State University, and is currently perusing his graduate studies at Ohio University in African Studies and Political Science.  

Last summer Omar taught at the University of Florida as adjunct Lecturer.  Currently he teaches Somali Language at Ohio University. 

Ousmane Diop

Ousmane Diop received his Master’s Degree in Sociolinguistics from the Universite Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis (Senegal). In 2007 he received a Fulbright grant to study English and graduated in 2010 with a BA from Hamline University (Minnesota).

Presently he is pursuing an MA in African Studies at Ohio University to whet his understanding of the African continent and issues hampering its development. His research interests include rural development/development policies in Africa, communication, African History, and education.    

Samba Camara

Samba Camara obtained his Licence d’Anglais (BA) in 2008 and earned his Maîtrise d’Anglais (MA) and D.E.A Etudes Américaines (pre-doctoral degree) respectively in 2009 and 2010 at Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University. Admitted to the prestigious Senegalese Teacher Training School (FASTEF, ex-École Normale Supérieure de Dakar) in 2008, he received his Second Cycle English Teaching Certificate (CAEM) in June 2010.

In the same year, he was selected as a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant and served as the first Wolof instructor at Bluefield State College, West Virginia. In an attempt to fulfill his Fulbright duties, he participated and presented during different Fulbright orientation sessions and conferences, namely the Fulbright mid-year conference in Washington, DC.

As an EFL teacher and Wolof instructor, Mr Camara is still interested in broadening his academic fields of interest and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in African studies. Samba’s research fields include: Teaching English as a Foreign Language, African language Teaching, Education, African American studies, Gender and Identity issues, and African studies.

Sheila Chelimo

Sheila is a Kenyan with Bachelor of Psychology and currently pursuing M.A in African Studies. Her Research Interest is on Education in Africa especially issues of Access and Quality. Sheila has worked for Local NGO’s In Kenya dealing with the Rights of Children especially children in conflict with the law by proving psychosocial support for institutionalized children. She also worked with VSO in Northern Ghana in advocating for the education of girls’ education as well for children with disabilities

Favorite Quote: They are numerous but the one currently setting my sail is: Everyone is a Genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it’s stupid. Albert Einstein

Sidi Becar Meyara

Sidi Becar Meyara is a Fulbright alumni from Nema, a small city in the eastern part of Mauritania near the Malian borders. He obtained his Bachelor’s in Linguistics from, a certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign language (TEFL), and a certificate in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) from Ohio University     

He is currently working on a dual Master’s in African Studies and Linguistics. He intends to continue his studies and get a Phd in Political Science. His short-term goal is to become an expert on African Politics, but he would like to teach Linguistics as a sideline. He does linguistics because of his passion for Grammar, Syntax, and Semantics. He still shares with Chomsky his interest in politics.

His ultimate goal is to become a researcher at the Carnegie Institute for Peace. He is mainly interested in Water Conflicts and Policies, Politics of Religion, and Democracy and Developmental Work in Africa.

The only real work experience he has had is working as a Lab Assistant at the LRC (Language Resource Center)

Favorite quote: “The surest way to success is to help others succeed”, Dale Carnegie

Uloaku  Uchegbu Irobi

Uloaku is a Nigerian currently studying African Studies here at OHIO. She has taught in high schools and has been working as Research Assistant. Uloaku is currently working on "The social determinants of Infant and child mortality in Nigeria" for her research.

Favorite quote - Determination is the key to Success.-unknown

Vieux Toure

Vieux Toure is from Senegal. He earned his Diploma of Literary Studies in 2007, and, concomitantly, got admitted to the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Education at the ESL/EFL department to complete his First Cycle Teaching Certificate. As a transfer student, he was the first African Fulbright Undergraduate Scholar at Blufield state College in 2009. He completed his B.A (Cum Laude) in Humanities with an English specialization in May 2011.

His Research interests include: African studies, African Francophone literature, Comparative Literature, Wolofal Poetry, Sufism in West Africa, TESL/TEFL.  He served as a French and English Teacher at Dimath Diery Junior High School at St. Louis /Senegal in 2008. Prior to that position, he respectively did his practical training in English and French at John Fitzerald Kennedy High School and Galandou Diouf high school at Dakar.

Favorite Quote:  ‘La Meilleure des connaissances et celle qui mène l’homme vers les hommes’ (Amadou Hampathé Ba). The best of knowledge is the one that leads someone to his fellow men. (Translated by me)

Yaa Asabere

Yaa Asabere is from Ghana. She obtained her B.A. Sociology with Political Science.

Favorite quote - You will fall for anything if you don’t stand for anything.

Yacoubou Alou

Yacoubou Alou is a professional teacher from Niger. He has a BA in Literature. He has great interest in the African continent and is thus currently pursuing an M.A in African Studies here in the Ohio University, and is in the class of 2012.

Yacoubou teaches French, English and interpretation and has his research interests in the areas of Nigerien Education Policy and Childhood education.