update
Education Creates Hope in Africa
Jonathan Starr was the opening keynote
speaker at the annual Pitcairn Family Wealth
& Investment Forum in November 2015. Here is
Jonathan’s story.
“Without education, there’s so little
hope, but with education, everything
can change.” That’s the experience of
Jonathan Starr, a successful hedge fund
manager who now serves as headmaster
of the groundbreaking Abaarso School in
Somaliland. “The UN considers Somaliland
one of the most broken countries in the
world and it has been that way for 25
years, “explains Mr. Starr, “but looking out
15 or 20 years from now, we see Abaarso
alumni filling leadership roles throughout
their country and one of our students
will probably be president. This gives
me hope.”
When Mr. Starr asked himself how he
could make a contribution to the world, he
realized he was in a fortunate position – he
could put all options on the table. After
visiting his uncle’s homeland, Somaliland,
and seeing its struggles firsthand, he
decided to move there and start a school.
Abaarso School’s early days were marked
by accusations of corrupting children and
flouting Islam. That all changed when
Abaarso students began to be accepted
in top US high schools and colleges,
including Oberlin, Harvard and MIT.
Parents wanted their children to have
this opportunity.
Mr. Starr attributes the school’s success
to a culture built on three principles
– tenacity, reasoning, and integrity.
“Tenacity is the motor that pushes you
over obstacles, reasoning is the steering
wheel and without integrity, everything
helping kids even worse off than they are.
Our students really learned the value of
giving back when kids they worked with
were later able to enroll in Abaarso.”
Though students in the Abaarso School
pursue their own dreams whether that
be teaching, medicine, engineering, or
accounting, they share a common dream of
coming back to be future leaders of their
homeland. “Our whole movement is for
students to study abroad and then help the
country back home, because education is
the best hope for Somaliland.”
Practical Advice for
Creating Change
Not everyone is in a position like Mr.
Starr – having so many options to do
something special in the world. However,
for those who have means and motivation
to bring about change, Mr. Starr offers a
few practical suggestions from his own
experiences.
else is meaningless,” explains Mr. Starr.
“Our students spend double the normal
time in school each day, are expected to do 1. Determine whether what you
hours of studying and other work outside
want to do is actually possible.
the classroom, and must quickly adapt to
Before committing to a charitable
teachers who speak only English. That
operation, be sure the stated mission is
builds tenacity. But how could we instill
achievable.
integrity when students had never even
2. Look at specific solutions. Recognize
been taught not to cheat? Abaarso School
that a solution for a problem in inner
has strong punishments for cheating and
city Philadelphia is not the same as
incorporates discipline and integrity into all
the solution for that same problem
aspects of life. In addition, Abaarso students
in Somalia or even in rural areas of
regularly tutor at nearby orphanages,
the US.
3. Consider the assets and liabilities of the given situation. In Somalia, the
education system was so completely broken that there was no way to make
it work for students. The Abaarso School’s only option was to make students
good enough to be accepted into American colleges.
4. Be adaptive. It is extremely rare that the execution of a plan goes off exactly
as intended. There will be failures. For example, Mr. Starr planned to take
students from the local university and pair them with foreign teachers so
the local teacher would eventually be able to take over classes. It didn’t work
because the school’s ninth graders were soon equally or better educated than
the apprentice teachers.
5. Culture makes the difference whether it’s a non-profit, a corporation, or a
philanthropic undertaking. Abaarso School’s culture of tenacity, reasoning, and
integrity is integral to its success. P
©2016 Pitcairn
Pitcairn President & CEO Leslie Voth with keynote
speaker Jonathan Starr, headmaster and founder of the
Abaarso School of Science and Technology in Somaliland.
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