It’s rare to meet a student starting university and think, ‘that person is really going to shake things up.’ There are many clever people, and lots of people who get things done, but combining the detachment needed to come up with original ideas and the dedication essential for putting them into practice is rare. When I first met Samuel Baker (Sam), fresh off the plane from Rwanda, I got the sense that he had it.
I met Sam at a debate on Syria. While at school he had decided that debating was a great skill and he wanted Rwandan students to participate in it. So, with a group of friends, he set up iDebate Rwanda. Within two years it was a national organisation running debates all over the country, and he had come to London both to study, and to find out whether he could organise a professional training team to work with iDebate students.
Three years on there have been two international debate camps in Rwanda, and iDebate is now a regional organisation giving hundreds of students opportunities to learn about policy planning, governance, and to travel internationally. None of this would have been possible without Sam. The rest of the team at iDebate refer to him as ‘the man with all the solutions’ because when something goes wrong, a funding partner drops out, a venue cancels, Sam - even while sitting his exams in London - could be relied upon to find a way to make it work.
Quiet, thoughtful, practical, and incisive, he makes things happen. When one of his friends joked about him running the World Bank, I felt distinctly hopeful that it might one day come true. Having discussed and debated issues surrounding development aid and intergovernmental loan programmes with Sam many times, I can say unreservedly that he can be much more sound in his reasoning than many of the UN, World Bank, and DFID officials I have interviewed.
It was partly for this reason that I was thrilled to learn he had been awarded a scholarship to study business at Strathclyde in Glasgow. The knowledge and skills he would learn there would undoubtedly lead to impressive things. It is also one of the reasons why I was devastated to learn that the scholarship had been withdrawn. Sam now has to the end of the month to raise £16,000 in tuition fees or he will be forced to leave the country. I would urge you to help him get there by donating through this link: and whether you donate or not, please share this message on social media and among your friends.
By Jack Watling, lead trainer at Debate Camp Rwanda
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