Thursday 1st February was a momentous day for the BLAZE Network and the Catholic University of Eastern Africa as the first campus experience zone built for the students by Blaze was officially launched.
It was the first of seven campus experience zones to open across the country. The other six include Egerton University, Mt Kenya University, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Pwani University, Moi University and Technical University of Mombasa.
The launch featured Mwalimu Rachel as Master of Ceremony, was buzzing with lots of energy. There was free BLAZE swag available and gaming areas open to students throughout the day. CUEA students Debbie and Young Tune also graced the stage with a memorable performance to the delight of the students. From the event, it is evident that BLAZE is intent on supporting the students in every avenue available including increasing sponsorship engagement from BLAZE in campus events.
The Campus Experience Zones are more than just a kiosk and a fun time though, as reiterated by almost every speaker through the night -“this campus experience zone has been brought here to give the students internship and employment opportunities which they can access through the student union offices,” according to the CUEA student body (CUEASO) president Emmanuel Ole Ntome. To encourage the students present to apply for jobs, current student employee Catherine Waruguru shared her experience so far and was very positive, looking forward to succeeding in her role at the Campus Experience Zone.
The launch was attended by Sylvia Mulinge, Director for Consumer Business at Safaricom Limited. In her statement to the students, she mentioned Safaricom’s commitment to the youth stating, “a further 50 million would be invested in bringing the network closer to students across the country.” She also offered the students a nugget of wisdom saying, “it doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you start.” Mulinge encouraged students to take advantage of the Experience Zone to kick-start their careers.
Catholic University Vice-Chancellor, Justus Mbae was also present at the event. He expressed his interest in more collaborative opportunities between the university and the youth network BLAZE. Professor Mbae especially pointed out more projects in the areas of “innovation and research… will benefit the university and BLAZE.” For now, the students of CUEA can take advantage of the employment opportunities, customer care center, device sales, open wifi and gaming zones available to them at the Campus Experience Zone.
The other BLAZE experience zones will be open to the youth with the course of the year.
This article was written by Capital Campus Correspondent Maithya Kioko.