The Online Learning Resources Team

Jan Beniest
Coordinator

There is something about the vast African continent that lures you in: the people, the glorious landscapes, the wildlife, the sun that shines almost every day ... Stay a little while, and you want to stay longer. Stay a little longer, and before you know it, you have no plans to leave. That's when you know you're hooked. Just ask Jan Beniest, a man who has spent more than half his life in Africa.

This native Belgian touched down on Kenyan soil for the first time more than thirty years ago. He stayed for a few years, then his work took him to Senegal, and finally back to Kenya. Ask him about his previous life in the Belgian city of Antwerp, and the conversation soon turns to the cold, wet weather. Ask him about his family, and he talks about his wife Teresa (a woman who is proud of her Kenyan heritage) and his two sons, young men who both make him proud.

Jan carries the same sort of passion he has for his adopted home into his work as the Principal Training Scientist and Training Unit Manager at the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF). Based at the Kenyan Center since 1988, he is directly responsible for the organization and implementation of the Center's short training courses and the development of learning and teaching materials.

This busy man also oversees the Farmers of the Future initiative, which conceptualizes agroforestry in schools in an attempt to improve the quality and relevance of education. Then there are the PhD students who are sent to the Center on attachment to undergo training, and the distance learning projects that are run in conjunction with the Commonwealth of Learning, to name just a few of his other responsibilities.

Jan's entire career has revolved around training - prior to joining the CGIAR, he worked as a Training and Extension Officer with FAO for 11 years. Indeed, such is his experience in the field that the other CGIAR Training Officers immediately nominated him to coordinate the ICT-KM Program's Online Learning Resources (OLR) Project prior to its implementation almost two years ago.

The first phase of the OLR Project came to an end in March 2006 with the establishment of an OLR repository and the creation of various OLR tools. Since then, the tools have undergone refinement with the help of interns from the Commonwealth of Learning.

Jan was not alone in overseeing this project, as he is quick to point out. "Dr Thomas Zschocke from CIP, Peru, was the technical brain behind everything," he says. "He's a specialist in business learning and frequency development and is going to look after the second stage of the project."

During this second stage, the OLR team will focus on quality, making sure the learning resources to be uploaded adhere to certain strict standards, while continuing the momentum of building a strong community of practitioners in education and learning throughout the CGIAR.

Looking further ahead, Jan anticipates a time when CGIAR staff will be able to take advantage of System-wide training resources. "One of my main concerns is that Centers tend to work in isolation," he explains. "This is a waste of resources. I would also like to see the Training Group working more with universities and organizations like the Commonwealth of Learning. Everyone can benefit from collaborative efforts."

In his spare time, Jan is very much into nature, which is only to be expected from a man who holds an MSc in Horticulture. An avid photographer, he often combines his twin passions, and likes nothing better than going on safari with his camera.

In a bid to get close-ups of the local wildlife, Jan has often tried to get as near as possible to his subject matter. On one occasion, a nervous elephant, which obviously didn't take too kindly to having its photo taken, turned and charged him.

"When something like that happens, you just get out of there as quickly as possible," he quips as he relates the incident.

Plans are now underway for Jan and a few other photographers to exhibit their photos to raise money for a needy cause.

It sure is a far cry from Antwerp, Belgium.

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