In India there were ten winners, in Africa there were ten winners. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology representing Ghana won first place while Addis Ababa University representing Ethiopia was second. I came in third from Botswana representing Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and school of fine arts and design.
At this year’s graduation at Limkokwing Botswana where over 700 students received their certificates in their respective fields of study, Fatma El-kindiy graduated with not just a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Architecture, but also with a set of graphic design skills that make her adaptable and allow her to compete successfully on the international stage.
Adding diversity to the university’s renowned multicultural student body, Kenyan born Fatma is in every sense a ‘global graduate’. She is an open-minded individual whose motto is ‘making possible of the impossible’, and being the valedictorian in Interior Architecture, has given her the drive to become a great leader.
She tries to impart her skills to young entrepreneurs in an initiative called, ‘I AM’ – the pledge: a self-development and leadership training program targeted at teenagers; guiding them in finding their life’s purpose and helping them take the first steps in the journey of learning, achieving and sharing in a discipline they are passionate about.
An opportunity came to apply her creative skills through an INDIAFRICA initiative and in true Limkokwing style, she set her aim to the sky and took flight. INDIAFRICA is a unique people to people initiative that aims at engaging multiple stakeholders in India and Africa through contests, fellowships, discussions, events, collaborative projects and cultural exchanges. This year students participated in Poster design, essay writing, photography and business venture with the aim of developing greater visibility to local, regional, national and global markets; connecting for scale; coordinating complementary strengths; increasing convergence opportunities with other sectors; and establishing leadership in the creative sector.
The competition was open to students in India and Africa across all universities. “Even though I did Interior Architecture, I remembered the creative skills I had acquired in the first semester when studying at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, and applied it in the poster design,” she explained.
This year’s theme was FREEDOM. She interpreted freedom as ‘freedom of expression’ and her winning piece was titled ‘The Naked, Truth of Free Expression’ inspired by an article on a protest group against fundamentalist groups asking for the closure of its historic show on the human body in Indian modern art. “With a nude picture of myself covered with a single newspaper I managed to express a woman’s sexuality and for it to be freely expressed in today’s newspaper. In my art, I brought out Freedom of expression as important to a self-governing society,” she clarified.
Describing how she felt Fatma said, “In India there were ten winners, in Africa there were ten winners. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology representing Ghana won first place while Addis Ababa University representing Ethiopia was second. I came in third from Botswana representing Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and school of fine arts and design. It was the most wonderful sentiment when I got an email that stated I was one of the winners among student from great universities.”
Limkokwing Botswana was the first campus to be set up on the continent and to date has had over 5 thousand industry ready graduates injected into the economy. “This institution brings with it an international reputation for being practical trendsetters. We have seen this from the positive example being set by some of the university’s local alumni who are already making their contributions to our society. We are therefore confident of Limkokwing’s continued ability to empower our youths in this setting,” said His Excellency, Mr Festus G. Mogae, Former President of the Republic of Botswana at the opening of the campus.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology’s flagship campus in Malaysia is the first of its many campuses in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East committed to empowering youth by fostering creativity and innovation in education to deliver graduates that are competent and future ready. At its helm is Founder and President Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato Sri Paduka Dr. Limkokwing, an educator, philanthropist and humanitarian. In spreading his unorthodox approach in education he has empowered the human capital of many nations and brought these nations closer to reaching their respective economic goals and the attainment of knowledge economy status. The Government of Malaysia has officially recognised this international award winning university as ‘Malaysia’s University of Innovation’ and ‘Malaysia’s University of Transformation’.