Giving debating a voice in Africa

Kiran Iyer, Sashi Balaraman and Damien Bruckard

Our 2012 Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipient Kiran Iyer and Monash graduates Sashi Balaraman (BAcc 2007, LLB(Hons 2011) and Damien Bruckard (BA 2012, LLB(Hons) 2012, DipLang(French) 2012) have teamed up to encourage and develop debating in African universities.

The trio – all members of the Monash Association of Debaters (MAD) - set up the African Voice initiative to enable Monash debaters to travel to Africa each year to mentor students.

“We wanted to use the skills we developed through our time with MAD to make a difference in countries with leaders that have traditionally resisted the transformative potential of discourse and debate,” Kiran said.

“Debating in African universities has developed over the last few years, but we believed that our initiative could accelerate the transition.”

During a year of planning, Kiran, Damien and Sashi contacted universities and non-government organisations in several countries so they could tailor programs to suit the African students’ specific needs.

They were able to spend part of their time teaching students at Monash University’s South Africa campus.  

“The students we met were extremely engaged by politics and passionate about making a difference in their communities,” Kiran said.

“However, they had often never received the training in public policy issues or in advocacy that would enable them to effectively articulate their views. Our training program was not aimed at imposing our values, but rather sought to empower these young leaders with the skills to better express themselves.

“It was refreshing to meet people who were not cynical about the future of their countries and were committed to making a difference. Our hosts were incredibly welcoming and we learnt a lot from them.”

The content of the training program was heavily drawn from what the students learnt at Monash University.

“We integrated the concepts we were exposed to in our Arts, Law and Commerce degrees into our workshops, as legal policy, international relations and economics are central to debating,” Kiran said.

“We are hopeful that we can send generations of debaters to Africa to transfer the skills they have developed at Monash University.

”We are currently planning workshops in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria, in addition to our established programs in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, we plan to run a workshop specifically targeted at Rwandan women, aimed at confronting the patriarchal culture in Rwanda that limits female advancement.”

For more information visit the African Voice Facebook page. If you are interested in supporting African Voice, please send an email to africanvoice2013@gmail.com.