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On a recent visit to his home and family in Nairobi, Kenya, Fred Opere '07 found a way to bring a small piece of his home and traditions back to those at the Thunderbird campus in Glendale, Ariz. Fred's story below exemplifies how Thunderbird are "Truly Global." |
African Mug Story
Traditional African Drinking Mug Available at the ThunderShop
In traditional Kenyan society, traditional beer was served to the elders in an ivory horn as a sign of their elevated status in the society. When there was a ban on killing elephants due to the increasing interest in tourism, a switch was made to use cow horns instead. When I went home to Nairobi, I approached my cousin, William Okworo Ong'ele, about making one for me. William is an artist who specializes in arts and crafts and has managed to grow his small business over the years. In fact, over 90 percent of his business is now in exports.
The first horn I had was small and held less than 16 ounces, the average beer size. Additionally, the base was pointy so I could never put it down. Despite that fact, I continued to use it, and continued to have people ask me where they could get one.
After a school trip to South Africa, I invited four fellow T-Birds (and a Thunderspouse) to come with me to Kenya and stay with me. One of the stops we made was to see my cousin William. I explained to him my dilemma with the horn he had given me. Along with my fellow T-birds and William's artistic guidance, we came up with a rough concept for a new mug that could be set down. William took this idea and ran with it.
Since William uses primarily horns as a raw material, he is always on the lookout for sources. In Uganda, there's a breed of cow that has the biggest horns in the world: the Ankole-Watusi cattle. When the Ugandans slaughter their cattle for food, they typically do not use the horns and they discard them. My cousin decided to make some of the locals an offer and he started buying their waste product for his business.
The day before we left, we went back to my cousin's place and he had come up with the design that he is currently using. Since it's his design, it is unique in Kenya, too. We all made our orders and asked if he could make one with the Thunderbird logo so that we could present it to Thunderbird President, Dr. Ángel Cabrera. My thought was that this would be a reminder to increase the presence of Africans and Africa at Thunderbird.
When we got back to Glendale, the mugs were a hit. When we presented Dr. Cabrera his mug, his response was ecstatic. Kellie Kreiser, the Director for Thunderbird for Good, approached me about the possibility of getting more mugs with the Thunderbird logo.
Kellie and I worked with my cousin William and placed an initial order of 100. In a few weeks the mugs we delivered and have become a very unique symbol of Thunderbird. The story of the mug is quite truly a Thunderbird story.
All profits from ThunderSshop go toward funding Thunderbird for Good.
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