Rashid Mgute

First and foremost, I would like to pass my heartfelt gratitude to everybody who assisted in my career progression at DAAD-Stiftung from the kind wonderful donors to the administration. My progress in the entire scholarship period was smooth and amazing. All required funds and assistance from the administration were provided ardently and without any delay.

The open-door policy for any support needed from the directors and my personal contact partners at DAAD-Stiftung was a notch above my expectations. Thank you so much for playing a role in the realization of my academic dreams and career progression.

At the University of Nairobi, in Kenya’s capital in East Africa, I still have nostalgic experiences on the premises, especially at the Mahatma Gandhi Graduate Library. It is well-equipped with fancy modern furniture and physical study materials including books, journal articles, research papers, theses, and dissertations, as well as recorded lectures and speeches that are also retrievable through the internet by visiting the UON Digital Repository.

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Rashid Mgute deeply absorbed in his studies

I had great academic experience learning from experienced lecturers in the Geography Department. The chairman of Department, Prof. Wambua, was very supportive to students, like for example, he was welcoming to students so many found it open to discuss any challenges they faced with him as he is an understanding person, and he advises without judging.

My supervisors, Dr. Isaac Ndolo and Dr. Isaiah Nyandega, took me through the strides of climatology, from dynamic climatology, paleoclimatology, physical climatology, and microclimatology to agroclimatology as well as hydroclimatology, which gave me a firm foundation for my study topic related to meteorological drought.

In their learner-centered teaching approach, which involved a blended learning mode with 15 guidance hours in lectures and presentations and 16 hours spent on my personal study and doing presentations for corrections. Through a course on Geographical Information System (GIS) I learned to analyze geospatial data using Arc Map, and QGIS after downloading different datasets such as the Climate Hazard Group Infrared Precipitation Station data (CHIRPS), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Land Use Land Cover data from USGS earth explorer. I also learned how to use the Standard Precipitation Index (PSI) and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) to measure the frequency, intensity, and persistence of drought in my study area.

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Analyzing Geospatial Data at the GIS Lab

I attended several seminars, conferences which built my social aspects by interacting and connecting with people from different environments from which I learned one or two things.

Most of the conferences I attended were on Climate Change Action. A workshop on Geospatial analysis taught me how GIS is an essential tool to monitor the impacts of climate change through digital mapping.

I also registered myself on most of the research sites such as ResearchGate and now I am doing some corrections on some work with my supervisors to publish at least two papers related to questions from my research project. During refreshing times, I sometimes visited my favorite viewpoint in Nairobi City Center, Kenya International Conference Center rooftop Helipad for an aerial view of Nairobi City.

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Attending a Geospatial Analysis Workshop

From being the only student specializing in climatology surviving with no course mates to the challenging expensive city life in the capital Nairobi that taught me to budget my expenditures accordingly as well as the Nairobi cold weather as I was used to Mombasa's warm weather taught me perseverance and transport congestion at the city center challenged me to wake up very early before the traffic jam as I was staying in the city outskirts due to expensive accommodation and inadequate space in the Universities' halls of residence all made me wiser and a better person.

An excursion at Shimba Hills Forest National Reserve on the role of forest in the climate system as well as impacts of drought on forest cover and river discharge on the Shimba Hills waterfall will be memorable to me.

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An excursion at Shimba Hills Forest National Reserve

Going out with my friends to sip a soda is one of the nostalgias I cherished during the study period when I had some leisure.

The foundation in climatology in the master’s degree has ignited a new curiosity to yearn for more knowledge in the field of Climatology.

My vision is now to apply skills learned by assisting my community with climate data analysis for extreme climatological events such as drought and floods by forecasting and issuing early warnings to prevent the devastating impacts.

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Laughter and joy - Rashid Mgute spends time with his friends

In the wake of a greatest challenge facing the world presently (Climate Change), with my foundation in Education courses at undergraduate and Climatology at my Masters. My future plans are also on widening my master's level topic to research on drought persistence, adaptation, and resilience in my Doctorate so that I can have an upper hand to lecture Geography Courses at the University.

It is an honor for me to have been awarded the Garissa Master Scholarship Kenya by the DAAD-Stiftung which allowed me to continue my studies without having to take a student job. DAAD-Stiftung has laid the foundation for a successful start into my professional life.