January 29, 2015

Mr. Andrew Cunningham

62 Woodstock Road
St. Antony’s College, Oxford University
Oxford, OX2 6JF
United Kingdom
E-mail: andrew.cunningham@sant.ox.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 7507290972
Skype: andrewjccunningham

RE: Recommendation Letter for Mr. Ally Abdulrahman for the FLTA

To Whom it May Concern,

As a George C. Marshall Scholar, Harry S. Truman Scholar, and Goldman Sachs Global Leader currently
pursuing my Doctorate in Comparative International Education at Oxford University, I have spent the last
eight years working in international educational development projects in Kenya, Cameroon, Tanzania,
India, and China. After co-founding a secondary school for girls in Muhuru Bay, Kenya
(www.wisergirls.org), serving as an educational consultant with UNICEF-Kenya, the World Bank, the
Education Above All Foundation and leading high school students to China and Tanzania with the
Experiment in International Living (www.experimentinternational.org), I have worked with thousands of
youth leaders and leaders of youth around the world.

Mr. Ally Abdulrahman, by far, has been one of the most engaged, intelligent, charismatic and impressive
international youth education leaders I have ever met in the last nine years of my professional and
academic career. I am deeply honored to serve as one of his recommenders for the FLTA programme.

I first met Mr. Abdulraham as a Group Leader for the Experiment in International Living’s five-week
program to Tanzania in July and August 2012. Briefly, since 1932, the Experiment in International Living
(EIL) has sent more than 80,000 high school students throughout the world on three-, four- and five-week
programs across 30 different countries with a simple vision: to change the world, one friendship at a time.
The Peace Corps was modeled after its success. I was an ‘Experimenter’ to China in 2002 and then was
asked to design its inaugural program to Tanzania in 2011, the program on which Mr. Abdulrahman co-
led as the in-country translator and educational leader on the trip.

In this short letter of endorsement, I want to emphasize three traits that set Mr. Abdulraham apart from
other educational leaders I have worked with in Eastern Africa.

First, Mr. Abdulraham listens for nuance in advanced debates about international relations at
home and abroad. Whether it was leading students through the bustling streets of Dar es Salaam or
engaging in conversation with a former Black Panther in Arusha who had started an orphanage after
fleeing the US in the 1960s, Mr. Abdulraham always wanted to know ‘why’ or ‘how’ a certain opinion
had been formed and/or sustained over time. He invited the students and we, as the group leaders, to
actively participate in debate; this was made possibly only because of his remarkable English and
Kiswahili language and translation skills.

Second, Mr. Abdulraham leads through example and his enthusiasm is contagious. During our ten-
day homestay in rural Stahabu village, a small fishing township of no more than 900 people on the coast

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of Tanzania with no electricity or running water, we were given the dual task to lead English classes at the
local primary school and provide a fresh coat of white paint on one of the classroom buildings. After
walking approximately 6 miles with various homestay brothers and sisters, Mr. Abdulraham was
essential for the success of the program as he co-led each high school student’s development of small-
scale curriculum to be delivered to Tanzanian primary school students. While others (both youth and
group leaders) expressed their frustration or tiredness at various stages of the project, Mr. Abdulraham
never showed his intention of giving up or stepping back from the project’s needs. He would simply
encourage his students with a simple, friendly reminder – ‘This is what we’re here to do’. Similar to what
I would envision to be what you look for in a candidate, Mr. Abdulraham will always be the first to
step up and follow through with a commitment to serving others and learning through the process.

Third and foremost, Mr. Abdulraham is a true ambassador of the concept of translational learning
– taking what he teaches in the classroom and applies it to the real world and vice versa. Without Mr.
Abdulraham’s language assistance in the program, students, group leaders and community partners would
not have been able to understand, engage or collaborate in the very difficult exercise of international
understanding and cultural appreciation. In other words, Mr. Abdulraham enabled our students with the
Experiment in International Living to become citizens of the world.

Finally, Mr. Abdulraham is a prince of curiosity and a steadfast pioneer in experiential learning. I believe
he is an incredible candidate for the FLTA and I look forward to learning of the impact he will have with
the skills, knowledge and opportunities that I can imagine would emerge with such an affiliation.

Thank you for his consideration for this prestigious opportunity and please feel free to get in touch with
me if you have any further questions.

Warmly,

Andrew JC Cunningham, MSc.

Group Leader for the Experiment in International Living, Tanzania ‘12

PhD Candidate in Comparative and International Education, Oxford University
Robertson Scholar, Truman Scholar, Marshall Scholar, Goldman Sachs Global Leader
UNICEF-Kenya Education Consultant
Co-Founder of WISER (www.wiserigirls.org)