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German support for AU remains strong

New donations and opportunities for students highlight the continuing strength of German support for Africa University.
In November, the Protestant Development Service (Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst, EED), awarded a grant of €340,000 (US$496,000) to the University. The grant, which includes equipment as well as a professorship, is to be used to strengthen and improve the work of the University’s Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance (IPLG), especially its Centre for Mediation and Conflict Resolution. The EED, a development agency of the Protestant churches in Germany, already supports two academic staff members in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Both the IPLG and the Faculty of Health
Sciences will also benefit from opportunities for student internships provided by the City
of Oranienburg in Germany. The city government has voted to provide €9,000 (US$13,150) for travel and local
expenses for two students from Africa University. The students will take up internship placements with local organizations
between May – August 2008. “...through this decision, the city will set a sign of active development support and will
help to pass on high quality education to African students,” said Kerstin Fassman, Oranienburg’s deputy mayor. One student from the IPLG will be attached at the Sachsenhausen Memorial Site, the site of the first Nazi concentration
camp erected in Germany.
The other will serve with Domino Word, a non-profit organization that operates several retirement and care centres in the Oranienburg area. Both grants were a result in part of the ongoing friend and fundraising work of Africa University Board member, Rev. Dr. Heinrich Meinhardt, founder of the Container Church, located in Oranienburg. German support for the University includes the construction and equipping of its Agricultural Engineering building in
1997.