On November 3rd, 2022, students gathered for a community building lunch and networking event hosted by the Pamoja ND – Africa Initiative. Around twenty multidisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students engaged in an information session that highlighted Pamoja’s goals, community and skill building event announcements, funding opportunities and job opportunities that support research on the African continent, and resources to amplify African voices campus wide.
In addition to receiving information on how to participate in bi-directional community building with the African continent, students were able to connect with each other across departments and share their experiences as Pamoja Summer fellows. They were able to talk to Pamoja-affiliated staff and students about funding opportunities, and ask questions about next steps regarding employment opportunities and future research. The conversation amongst students centered around further exploring the ways in which our Notre Dame Pamoja community can dismantle extractive practices of research and foster bi-directional exchange. Uniting students across campus will continue to occur through strengthening access and sharing resources. Achieving togetherness shows up through actionable steps within the Pamoja network, and increasing student accessibility to faculty and partnership development on the African continent. We are excited to build upon the student momentum that Pamoja has created thus far.