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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blasio Vincent Ndale Esau Oriedo | 8/8 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasio_Vincent_Ndale_Esau_Oriedo | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T16:56:04.060364+00:00 | kb-cron |
== Patron of academics == Apart from Oriedo's contribution to the healthcare system in the East and Central Africa region, he was a patron of higher education. In the late 1950s (and thereafter) he was a silent force behind the fostering of indispensable rapports with likeminded contemporaries abroad that led to the inception of higher education opportunities in North America for talented East African students. During the colonial and embryonic postcolonial period, higher educational opportunities were inadequate for native African students. The higher education initiative (concept of opportunities in North America) resonated very well with his confidante and compatriot, Thomas Joseph Odhiambo "Tom" Mboya (d. July 1969)—a political figure in Kenya's liberation movement. The two friends were utterly indispensable in their combined efforts; moreover, they teamed up with other key protagonists, locally and abroad, to champion the programme as a key policy initiative. Some of these key partners included Senator John F. Kennedy, William X. Scheinman (businessman), Jackie Robinson (former baseball star), Harry Belafonte (singer and actor), and Sidney Poitier (actor); William X. Scheinman is undoubtedly the pillar that buttressed the campaign, and the engine and fuel that sustained the process—a man to whom Kenya owes a great debt. Tom Mboya played a key role in securing air transportation to North America, in September 1959, for the initial eighty-one students with scholarship in the United States and Canada. Thereafter, Mboya would become the dominant political face of this successful initiative. Perhaps the crowning achievement of the initiative was the 1959 founding of the African American Students Foundation (AASF), which further obtained hundreds of new scholarships in North America for students from the East African countries. In addition, the AASF raised funds for airfare and living expenses for the scholarship recipients. Moreover, the AASF, with the facilitation of John F. Kennedy, secured a contribution of US$200,000 from Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation that entailed the entire amount needed for the 1960–61 academic year airlift, and the assisting of students with basic living expenses in the United States.
== Memberships == Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene — London-based organization promoting the study, control and prevention of tropical diseases Royal Tropical Institute — a foundation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands Royal Society for Public Health, The U.K. — Sanitary Inspectors Association, Public Health Specialist Officer Staff Member—The East African High Commission's Bureau of Research in Medicine and Hygiene East African Standing Advisory Committee for Medical Research. Collegiate Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom The British Medical Association (BMA)—Uganda and Kenya Branches (colonial era) The Kenya Medical Association (KMA) Kenya Medical Department of the colonial British East Africa Royal Entomological Society International Congresses of Entomology
== Awards and honors == Research fellow — The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine fellowship Research Grant & Travel Stipend — The Dutch Royal Institute, The Netherlands Extramural Medical Research Grant — The United States National Institute of Health (NIH) NIH Fellow — The United States National Institute of Health (NIH) Bukusu Omukasa (a Bukusu folkloric healer or a paramount elder-leader) — Titular folkloric title conferred him by the Bukusu Kenyan ethnic group in gratitude of and respect for his successful campaign to save the tribe from the 1954 epidemic outbreak of enteric or typhoid fever. Special Achievement and Contribution to Public Health—The East African Bureau of Research in Medicine and Hygiene The British Colonial Medical Services at London; Ministry of Health and Housing, Kenya Recipient of coveted the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), Extramural (Medical) Research Program grant Twice Panelist at the East Africa High Commission Scientific Conference, Nairobi Panelist at a Rural Health Conference of the South Pacific Commission, Tahiti
== Legacy == After his death, the Kenyan Ministry of Health and Housing recommended that the Kenya Medical Training Centre at Nairobi be named in his honor and memory. However, the fratricidal tribal politics du jour prevented the Kenyan national legislative body from adopting the de jure process to implement this meritorious proposal by the Ministry of Health and Housing. A multipartite initiative has been relaunched to compel the sitting national government to abide by the 1966 intent to duly honor the memory of this consummate Kenyan statesman, and many other unheralded Kenyan patrons of his generation. At present, he is commemorated by a family monument at Iboona village in Western Kenya.
== Notes ==
== References ==