And I wanted to come back because I thought, like, I could have more impact back home. Yeah, like when I made the decision to come back, I was in the process of making the decision to come back, I felt like to some extent, also, I was self sabotaging because I mean, I have spent so much time abroad, like learning and growing there and becoming an adult, becoming a professional.Īnd then all of a sudden, I’m like, okay, I want to go back home where I did not necessarily have a lot of prospects.Īnd for me, my coming back as well, for a lot of people when they come back to Africa, well, they already have, like a job lined up, or something that kind of encouraged them to come or like, hefty savings or something.īut in my case, it wasn’t like that. Is that why you come back to Senegal? Things are easy out there! So I could have worked in the lab or even continued a career at the universities. So while I studied, I did not really have a problem to integrate, to stay there and have a job. Because, you know, what I study is something, I guess with COVID, people more likely understand the importance of it. So I could have stayed in the countries, in either country. I asked her: could she have stayed abroad? First, we meet Khady Sall, a molecular biologist who completed her education to doctorate level in France and the United States, before returning to her native Senegal. I hear from two researchers about how they contribute to scientific research back home. In this sixth episode, we spotlight the African diaspora. In this series, we explore the practice of science in this wonderful continent, the progress, the issues, the needs, and in the words of African scientists who are based here. I work and live in Lagos and I'm passionate about promoting science and public health journalism in my native Nigeria and across Africa. I am Akin Jimoh, chief editor of Nature Africa. ![]() Welcome to Science in Africa, a Nature Careers podcast series. ![]() Khady Sall and Rafiou Agoro tell Akin Jimoh how diaspora scientists can support colleagues back in Africa. This is the sixth episode in an eight-part podcast series hosted by Akin Jimon, chief editor of Nature Africa. COVID has taught us distances matter less when it comes to education,” he says. A lot of people who are abroad are eager to do something back here. ![]() “I was looking for any any opportunity to have an impact back home. So far, Agoro and his team of 150 mentors have supported more than 100 scientists. Togolese researcher Rafiou Agoro runs the African Diaspora Scientists Federation, a mentoring platform that connects African scientists based abroad with colleagues back home, from his base at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. People will say: ‘Wow, why didn’t this happen sooner?’” And then we will be vibrant and do a different kind of science. “If we’re not authentic in being scientists, and not doing research that follows local problems and our local culture, then at some point, we will just become another US or another France, and that will be very boring. But working and living abroad has convinced her that science careers in Africa, and the cities where science takes place, should not follow US and European models. Sall tells Akin Jimoh how her career experiences abroad made the return to Africa a daunting prospect. ![]() SeeSD promotes science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics education to encourage scientific literacy and critical thinking in young people. Molecular biologist Khady Sall returned to Senegal in 2018 after setting up Science Education Exchange for Sustainable Development (SeeSD), a non-profit organization she founded while a PhD student in the United States.
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