East African Refugee Program (EARP)
1962 – 1971
Between 1962 and 1971, AAI administered the East African Refugee Program (EARP), which provided education and training in East Africa for Southern African refugees in order to meet capacity needs of these newly independent nations. Under EARP, AAI constructed two secondary schools, recruited faculty and students, and administered scholarships to Southern African refugees in priority fields of specialization at the post-secondary level. Kurasini International Education Center (KIEC), located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, opened first in 1962, and Nkumbi International College (formerly Mkunshi International College), located in Central Province, Zambia, opened later that year. At these institutions, students participated in an academic program that included basic college preparatory curricula and commercial education, focusing on accounting, bookkeeping, typing, English language as well as agricultural training courses.
AAI worked in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organizations of African Universities (OAU), the Coordinating Committee for African Liberation, East African government officials, and student political associations to administer EARP. By 1970, EARP had expanded its support of training programs for students from Southern Africa from solely programs at secondary institutions to include training at post-secondary institutions as well. While EARP officially ended in 1971, the goals of the program continued to be met under one of AAI's new programs, the Southern African Training Program (SATP) that ran from 1971 until 1974. In 1976 the EARP program was re-established with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and was renamed the Southern African Refugee Education Project (SAREP). Under EARP and SAREP, over 1,450 students from Southern Africa received scholarships, returning to their countries of asylum and countries of origin to contribute to development efforts.
Total number of EARP/SAREP participants trained: 1,450 +