friday, October 31, 2003
news
the university daily kansan 34
3A
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Z. Gordon Straus/Kansan
Zimbabwean student proud of roots
Vimbayi Kajese, Harare, Zimbabwe, junior, explained her status of the Nyaminyami river god that guards the Zambezi River. She wore a soapstone sculpture around her neck of the bird that appears on the Zimbabwe flag
By Zack Hemenway
zhemenway@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
At the Open House held by International Student Services, groups of students proudly represented their home countries, carrying flags and other symbols of their homelands.
Delegations from China and Brazil were proud and numerous, but Vimbayi Kajese, flying solo representing Zimbabwe, might have been the loudest as she displayed her country's colors.
"I was walking around saying, 'Look at this flag! Isn't it great? Isn't it the best flag in the world?'" she said.
Kajese, Harare, Zimbabwe junior, is the only student at the University who is a citizen of Zimbabwe.
Kajese's home country has been embroiled in a state of political turmoil in recent years, as the government implemented a massive land redistribution plan. The program took land from white colonial farmowners and allocated it to natives.
The policy has resulted in an isolated country, losing foreign investment and leading to
hyperinflation. The situation hits doubly close to home for Kajese. Her father works as an ambassador in the Zimbabwean government.
Kajese uses the Internet and watches BBC News to stay updated on the events of her country. She said watching the news reports was much more difficult than hearing about things firsthand.
"When you're there, you can say, 'I know that's not true,' she said. "But when the news is the only source of information you have, you get worried."
Organizations such as CNN and BBC take a Westernized view on the news from Zimbabwe, and at times, Kajese becomes upset discussing the coverage, her voice betraying the passion she feels about her roots.
"There's just so much historical background you have to know," she said. "You don't get that other perspective."
Even without being the only representative of her country, Kajesie, with her extroverted personality and crown of thick braids, would stand out on campus. However, it's hard to know Kajesie without finding out about Zimbabwe.
"Many people's notion of Africa is from National Geographic. They'll ask me if I went to school on an elephant."
"She talks about it all the time."
elephant."
her friend, Mike Khadavi, Overland Park junior, said. "Most people don't know anything about it, and she'll explain to them what it's really like."
Vimbayi Kajese
Harare, Zimbabwe, junior
But Kajese's enlightenment of her classmates has not necessarily led to more understanding attitudes.
"Many people's notion of Africa is from National Geographic," she said. "They'll ask me if I went to school on an elephant.
While her scholastic background was in systems similar to the University's, Kajese still had a hard time initially adapting to this country. American food was the first cultural shock — Kajese said it took her six months to get used to it — and some cultural adjustments are still difficult.
In Zimbabwe, most meals are eaten without utensils, placing large importance on hand washing before meals, for both functional and ceremonial reasons. Kajese said she still had not gotten used to friends and acquaintances snatching a few french fries.
Kajese, a women's studies and international business major, would like to follow in her father's footsteps and work as an ambassador in her home country.
She wants to return to Zimbabwe this Christmas. It will be her first trip in two years to the place where the flag she carried flies proudly.
"I don't want to be rude, but sometimes I have to say 'Get your hands off my food!'" she said with a laugh.
Kajese said she was proud to give her country a presence at the University, but she cautioned anyone who thought she spoke for her entire country.
"It's a huge burden to be the only person to educate people about where you're from," Kajese said. "I represent a very small aspect of what Zimbabwe is."
Donation aids cancer institute's quest to join elite ranks
- Edited by Dave Nobles
By Joe Hartigan jhartigan@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Area cancer patients may soon have access to better treatment.
The Kansas Masonic Foundation made a $509,000 donation to the University of Kansas Cancer Institute yesterday. The donation would create a new professorship, a major benefit for the Institute.
"It could put us among those 61 who have attained this worldrenowned designation," said Sheri Dunbar, associate director
of the Institute. "It also gives us the ability to attract and retain world-renowned researchers to the Kansas City area."
That designation is recognition by the National Cancer Institute. The gift could help the Institute move toward its goal of being recognized by the NCI, but does not guarantee it.
The donation establishes the William R. Jewell professorship, an endowed fund that will allow the University to recruit an internationally recognized researcher to direct the institute, according to a
"We're very appreciative of the support and the new professorship which will help the Cancer Institute become well-known."
John Scarffe
Siman Director of communications, Kansas University Endowment Association
press release from the Kansas University Endowment Association.
In order to be designated as NCI recognized the institute must, among other things, perform basic cancer research and also research about cancer prevention, according to the NCI Web site.
A benefit of becoming an NCI-recognized institute would be allowing cancer patients in the area to access a major cancer institute close to home. Dunbar
said many of the NCI recognized institutes were on the East and West coasts. Dunbar said there are 61 cancer institutes recognized by the NCI.
"It's a very competitive process," she said. "They have very strict criteria."
John Searffe, director of communications at the Kansas University Endowment Association, said the donation could be used to support professors and research. He said William R. Jewell, director of the Institute, was instrumental in the donation.
"The Kansas Cancer Institute and the Masonic Foundation have established a great relationship," he said. "We're very appreciative of the support and the new professorship which will help the Cancer Institute become well-known."
Dunbar appreciated the donation.
"It's a wonderful honor for Dr. Jewell," she said. "And it's a wonderful gift for the Kansas Cancer Institute."
Edited by Shane Mettlen
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