Over the years, many Kenyan professionals have landed lucrative job opportunities all over the world in recognition of their skills and ingenuity.
In the United States of America, Paul Otieno, a Bachelor’s Degree in Education graduate from the University of Nairobi, is making a name for himself after he was selected to teach Kiswahili at Michigan State University.
In a social media post by the US embassy on January 11, it was revealed that the educationist also teaches his students about Kenyan culture.
Otieno landed the rare teaching opportunity after he was inducted to the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) program in 2021.
"US-Kenyan cultural exchange continues! 2021-22 Fulbright grantee Paul Otieno has been a part of the community at Michigan State University where he teaches Kiswahili and shares Kenyan culture,” the embassy stated.
The Michigan State University is a prestigious university that was founded in 1855 and was ranked among the top 100 institutions of higher learning in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Prior to joining the teaching program, Otieno worked as an editorial assistant at one of the leading book publishers in the country.
It was at Longhorn publishers, that the teacher made a name for himself after he lead a team that developed digital content for the newly implemented, Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
His participation in developing CBC content came after he underwent professional training with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
"Besides attending professional development training for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), he has worked with Longhorn Publishers PLC, Kenya, as an Editorial Assistant.
"During that period he led a team of other Editorial Assistants mandated to create CBC interactive digital content," a statement by Michigan State University read.
Apart from being a drama and theatre enthusiast, Otieno is also a researcher and is currently undertaking a study on how drama and film can be infused in teaching languages.
Following his induction to the Fulbright FLTA program, Otieno joined a team of seven other linguists from all over the world who were selected for the prestigious program.
