Nairobi International Trade Fair

About a year ago, a friend of mine and I set off for a school in a remote town about three hours drive from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi to give a motivational talk to the students. When we told them that we were pilots, they all looked at us in disbelief.

The first reason that crossed my mind that could possibly explain their bewilderment was my gender. However, when we asked them why it was hard to fathom that we were pilots, their response was they thought that only westerners were pilots!

It saddened me to realise that for many children in Kenya the scope of their dreams and imagination was limited. Dreaming is the luxury of children, if Kenya’s bright future is to be fulfilled, our children have to be allowed to dream without limitations. It dawned on me then that we need to expand the realm of possibility for our children by opening their eyes to what they can achieve with a little dreaming coupled with hard work.
The challenge would be reaching all these students in a country that has an area of 580,367 square kilometres. The idea to exhibit at the Nairobi International Fair came up when a friend and I brainstormed on how to reach these students.
The Nairobi International Trade Fair is an annual fair that offers opportunity for regional, continental, and global exhibitors to display and demonstrate their services and products to an extensive market of potential clients as well as students. It also offers an opportunity for those attending the fair to meet various people from different countries and backgrounds, hence offering them a chance to exchange ideas and experiences, which is useful to them in their everyday lives.
Due to the large number of students from around the country attracted to the fair, WAFRIC (Women Aviators in Africa) in partnership with other aviation stakeholders are working together to exhibit at the Nairobi International Fair to provide information on the diversity in the aviation industry and mentorship to students to spur and influence their futures. Our main objective for this fair is to leave students equipped with enough information to pursue their goals and ambitions and also with the notion that their dreams can be a realised.