Linda facilitating a session at the Students For Liberty Kenya Campus Caravan on issue-based dialogue projects in May 2017.
The leaders we nurture through our programs have gone on to establish free market think tanks such as the Eastern African Policy Centre (Kenya), Uhuru Initiative for Policy & Education (Tanzania), Liberty Sparks (Tanzania), Center for Free Market Enterprise (Malawi), and popular blogs such as the Rational Standard (South Africa), which are influencing policy changes in their respective countries. Our leaders are able to tap into the many opportunities available internationally in the libertarian world, pick up free-market advocacy as a career, enlighten other students in their communities, and teach peace, love, and liberty.
Very little is known about Eritrea. It is the North Korea of Africa. Its people would rather face hell than remain in the failed state. We were able to connect with those who have left the country to reside in other African countries. As a result, we now have an Eritrean Students For Liberty chapter, which is a growing community of mostly refugees who can relate with the ideas of liberty. The group is led by Bekit, an executive board member and a Ph.D. candidate in psychology from a university in Kenya. Bekit, who was jailed in his home country, has several harrowing stories to tell of his experience. He uses his expertise in psychology to help others who have escaped from Eritrea understand the mind-control tactics of the dictator in power.
We also managed to set up groups in Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, and soon, South Sudan. These countries have something in common: they all face political instability, have experienced civil war, and their people are devastated – a great number of whom have fled their countries. We are working closely with these groups, understanding the sensitivity of their cases and teaching them classical liberal ideas in the most basic of ways. And we are excited to see that leaders from these countries are hosting events and reaching out to fellow youth to give them hope for a prosperous future.