On Friday 1st August, 2025, Kibabii University hosted a delegation from International Center of Martial Arts (ICM-UNESCO), Korea who are in the country to assess the progress of the ongoing Kenya Martial Arts Open School 2025 Project. The delegation was led by the Secretary General Gyu jig Kim. Established under an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) the main objective of ICM it to preserve existing martial arts, implement research initiatives and different forms of experiential and educational programmes to promote the growth of martial arts in today’s societies. The other members of the delegation were Sungsik Cho, Senior Programme Specialist and Chief of International Cooperation and Hyeonjeong Park, Programme Specialist at ICM.
Receiving the delegation was the Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Julius Maiyo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration, Finance & Development) Prof. Donald Siamba, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics & Students Affairs) Prof. Joshua Ogendo, the Director Center for Creative Performing Arts & Sports (CECPAS) Dr. Edwin Masibo and Coordinator (Linkages & International Affairs) Dr. Patrick Owoche. Speaking during the visit, Prof. Maiyo thanked ICM for choosing to partner with Kibabii University in this important project that has already had a great impact on the community. He expressed his joy at the fact that Kibabii University was one of the only two locations in Africa for the ICM-UNESCO projects.
On his part, Prof. Donald Siamba thanked ICM-UNESCO for their partnership and trust they have in the institution and that the project had marked Kibabii University as a strategic partner in addressing different social challenges facing communities. He informed the delegation that his Office has been supporting the project since its inception and that all the support will be available to its completion and future endeavors.
From the Academic and Student Affairs Division, Prof. Joshua Ogendo stressed the importance of sports in the development of a learner from the earliest stage of learning to higher education. He noted that sports fuel economies of developed countries. The Director CECPAS thanked ICM-UNESCO and the University Management for giving it enormous support throughout the process of this project. Kibabii University has always been a center of excellence when it comes to Martial Arts, this project offered it an opportunity to look at how martial arts can be used to address a number of challenges facing communities in Bungoma County and specifically address Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other forms of bullying.
St. Mary’s Kibabii Primary School is the model school that is being used to implement the project. The Deputy Head teacher of the School Mr. George Wamalwa thanked Kibabii University for choosing his school to be part of this important project. The project has brought very positive results from the students. The levels of discipline, focus, self-awareness and confidence among the 200 pupils under this project has been noted by not only the teachers but also their fellow students and parents, said Mr. Wamalwa.
The visit saw the delegation together with the University Management planting trees to commemorate the project and later participated in the three Martial Arts trainings. The training sessions saw students exhibiting the skills they have acquired for the past eight weeks. The Secretary General ICM-UNESCO expressed his admiration at the achievements made so far and expressed his desire to see a continued working relationship between ICM and Kibabii University.
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