Growing, Belonging, and Being an MIT-African Forever
This speech was given by professor Hazel Sive at the MIT Africans’ Ìdàgbà Cultural Night.
Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you tonight. Cultural Night is a highlight of the year, and I am thrilled to attend again. I am Prof. Hazel Sive, from Johannesburg, Joburg, South Africa, and from MIT!
I may have taught quite a few of you Intro Bio in 7.013, and with Ari Jacobovits, we may have sent you as a MISTI intern to one of twelve African countries. Interns, please raise your hands! Many of you will be working next IAP with Global Teaching Labs in Morocco, Ghana, Uganda, or South Africa. Please raise your hands!
Michal asked me to talk about Growth, but I’m going to start with something different. I actually want to show you an amazing machine. It was given to me by Prof. Michael Yaffe, one of our most fantastic Profs., who is a world leader in cancer research. Prof. Yaffe told me that this machine takes gases and liquid and turns them into solids! It is the most high-tech machine of its kind. It is very MIT. Wow. Any ideas what is is?
Hey?! It’s a ‘money tree’ plant! This is one of the greatest engineering triumphs of all time. People have not been able to build a machine like this. Thank you Prof. Yaffe for enlightening us. And here’s another great machine!
And what do these wonderful machines have in common? Well, they GROW!
Like the tree from its tiny seed, and you from a tiny person, life is about GROWING. We are all life-long growers. At this point in your lives, and on this fun occasion, you are at a wonderful place of growth. You have grown from something very small into an MIT-African student!!
Whether you came here from the continent, as I did, or your family came in recent pasts or more distant pasts, or whether you want to be connected with Africa (because it’s the best continent!), you are a HUGELY IMPORTANT part of MIT. And you always will be.
I started the MIT-Africa Initiative because I wanted to use the privilege of a position at MIT to do useful projects with colleagues on my home continent. And I knew there was similar huge interest from students and other faculty. Today, Africa is a Global Priority Region for MIT. And MIT-Africa forms a cross university NETWORK with the tagline “Collaborating for Impact”.
You all, and the ASA, are key parts of the MIT-Africa network. Indeed, ASA exec members, Michal Reda and Roberto Berwa serve on the MIT-Africa Working Group that advises MIT leadership on strategy to connect with Africa. This gives students direct ability to advise MIT’s senior administration on African strategy. Your ASA president Jessica Quaye is starting a GTL in her home of Cape Coast, Ghana. Awele Uwagwu, your Vice-President, has big plans for life-long connections of MIT-African alumni.
Through MIT-Africa, I have grown my own connections. I started an MIT-Wits Program with my alma mater Wits University in Joburg, and then similar Programs with Makarere U. in Kampala, and U. Ghana, Legon in Accra. I have grown my connections to Africa through our MISTI-Africa Internship Program. And through all of you, learning from what you are doing to represent MIT in Africa, that make us proud you are part of MIT. I have grown through connecting with African colleagues around the power of a Problem- Solving Education. The kind of education you are getting here at MIT, that makes you so employable and will give you resilience to do well even within a changing world of work.
Last summer, we started the MIT-Africa Short Course series. I taught the first one, on ‘Problem-Solving Approaches to Education’ together with outstanding students, Michelle Huang, Jia-Hui Lee, Alice Li, Ashwin Narayan, Keith Puthi, and Michal Reda. We spoke with leaders and colleagues who were interested, in Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Tanzania; and soon over IAP in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. We spoke about how MIT students learn in the classroom, but learn much more from psets and hands-on practice. Low tech approaches with high impact.
These aspects have been part of my life-long growing curve with Africa.
Right now, you are growing very fast. You are growing your academic degrees. Your MIT degree will be the BEST IN THE WORLD. It will OPEN DOORS forever. You are growing in other ways — developing your interests, as responsible citizens of the world, and often as innovators. Some of you have startups or ideas, to contribute to the African region you choose. You all have your own power. Now, your power is as an MIT-African STUDENT Soon it will be as an MIT-African ALUM.
MIT alumni are extraordinary.We have alumni in top government positions: Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT in Rwanda; David Sengeh Chief Innovation Officer in Sierra Leone. So many alumni are running their own successful companies in Africa or leading others. So many MIT startups are in Africa, where MIT interns can promote their trajectories. I see Pelkins Ajanoh in the audience — former ASA President and founder of CassVita, who has given current MIT students great internship opportunities. MIT-African Alumni are growing in power, enormous power to form a network stretching from Cambridge across the continent. Where you will be able to contribute, and lead. And wherever you go after graduation… Forever you will be an MIT-AFRICAN!
I showed you the money tree as an analogy for your amazing growth as individuals, but here is another meaning to the tree. For me, the tree stands for where you BELONG, where you CONNECT. It has been said that belonging, being part of a common purpose, is the most important measure of satisfaction in life. I think each of our belonging trees starts as a small seedling, grows into a sturdy young sapling and with time becomes a majestic tree, that helps define each of our lives.
Our whole lives, we can work to develop a sense of belonging, and you are all well on your way as MIT students.
For me, my belonging tree reflects the complex mix of my life. It began rooted in South Africa, but was wrenched from the ground when I left to study. And when I stayed here, my belonging tree withered quite a bit before I could replant it. That was very hard, and there were times when I felt quite lost. But eventually, my tree found nourishment, and now it has fairly deep roots. My belonging tree is rooted in Joburg and Cambridge. It is rooted at MIT and at Wits University, at Makerere, and Njala U. in Sierra Leone. My belonging tree is rooted with my family, and with my MIT students and trainees. It is rooted in my religion (I am Jewish). It is rooted in the deep connection I feel with all life. My tree of belonging has healthy leaves, and it bears fruits that are filled with gratitude, for all the opportunities I have had.
As you grow, your belonging tree will grow and flourish too. You are well on your way. You are part of MIT, and that should nourish your sense of belonging. I am so proud of each of you, as you use your opportunity at MIT to move forward, in whatever ways are comfortable and meaningful to you. Forever, you will be an MIT-African.
Thank you for giving me the honor of speaking to you. And have a wonderful party tonight!
