Background:
The National Museums of Kenya Heritage Training Institute (NMK-HTI), formerly Swahili Culture Centre, is a training institute of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) which falls under the Ministry of State of Sports, Culture and the Arts. It is a non-profit organization. Started way back in the early 1992 then known as the Swahili Culture Centre, it was a technical training institution offering Tailoring/ Dress making course for girls and Carpentry/Wood carving courses for boys. This was a joint project between NMK and the local Old Town Community with funding from ILO to support local youths to gain technical skills and be self-employment, so as to be self-reliant and keep away from negative social behaviour like drug abuse. When the project came to an end, the National Museums of Kenya, due to community request, took over and continued to support the training institute. Over the years, Swahili Culture Centre expanded and became the Research Institute of Swahili Studies in East Africa (RISSEA), the only Swahili research institute in East Africa, with a mandate of “generation, documentation and dissemination of Swahili knowledge, information and innovations for social and economic development”.
With the introduction of Devolution under the Constitution of Kenya (2010) and museums now being under the management of the counties, there was a need to establish a training institution to offer courses in the management of cultural and natural heritage.
Thus NMK with its many well trained and qualified heritage professionals who have vast years’ experiences in heritage management established the National Museums of Kenya Heritage Training Institute (NMK-HTI) in late 2015 in response to the envisaged devolved museums management function to the Counties. NMK-HTI which is set to play a critical role in capacity building for Heritage managers in Kenya and beyond took over from the former Research Institute of Swahili Studies in Eastern Africa (RISSEA) and retain the latter as a department in this new wider mandate institute. NMK-HTI was formed to educate county staffs, interested individuals and institutions on Kenya’s natural and cultural heritage assets.
Current Status:
The main office of NMK-HTI is at Mombasa, the former Swahili Culture Centre, next to The Mombasa Hospital. The institute is headed by the Head Coordinator, Mr. Khalid Kitito, with 10 staff members working under him. NMK-HTI satellite campus are in Nairobi Museum and in Lamu Museum.
NMK-HTI is a training and research institute of the National Museums of Kenya offering both technical and heritage training courses. The technical courses offered are certificate courses in Fashion Design/Tailoring one year Courses and Carpentry/Wood carving two years courses. The training is both theory with practical sessions, with students doing both internal and NITA examinations. Part of the courses include dying Swahili culture studies in ‘kofia’ making, Swahili embroidery and Swahili wood carving. Most of the students are self-sponsored, while we do receive sponsored students from Mvita CDF Skills Mtaani Project, County Government of Mombasa, among others.
The Institute also offers courses in heritage conservation and management for the local counties, individuals, private museums and international heritage institutions. Swahili language and culture studies are also offered from beginners to advanced levels. We also offer online Swahili classes for elementary, intermediate and advanced students.
NMK-HTI undertakes research works in Swahili culture and language and in heritage management.
NMK-HTI also provides research facilities and internship opportunities to local and international university students. Further to that, the NMK-HTI organizes seminars, workshops and conferences for both local and international scholars on heritage and Swahili Studies including historical and contemporary role of the East African Coast and the Indian Ocean basin.
Other more specialized planned courses include archaeological studies (terrestrial and underwater), heritage studies and museological studies, amongst others that fall in to the jurisdiction of the wider NMK mandate.
NMK-HTI has a well-stocked Coast Resource Centre, a public library which is open to public having a wide collection of rare books and manuscripts on history and the Swahili community. The books are given on loan to students, researchers and readers who want to learn more on the history of East African coast and the Swahili.
The facility is also open to hire for private and social events, having both indoor hall and outdoor courtyard which are ideal for seminars, weddings and corporate events. It is a preferred location as offers privacy, serene and secured site overlooking the Indian Ocean.The Goal:
To establish a training institute to strengthen professional capacity so as to sustainably manage heritage resources in Kenya and the East African region. This is through promotion of conservation and sustainable utilization of national heritage for social and economic development while enhancing the quality of environment.
Vision
To be a world class heritage training institution that undertakes Research and Training in Kiswahili language and culture, heritage and related studies in Kenya and the Eastern Africa region.
Mission
To ensure that interested Kenyans are expertly trained in heritage conservation, that traditional craft skills are revitalized and promoted, and Kiswahili knowledge is continually researched, documented, and disseminated to the Kenyan public and the world.
Objectives:
i) Offer specialized training in the areas of cultural and natural heritage collection, conservation and management.
ii) To develop a high standard and diversified research agenda on Swahili language and society.
iii) To develop a state of the art facility that will support research documentation and presentation of the findings to the public, researchers and students.
iv) Provide training in public programmes: exhibition development, education and community liaison
v) Create a network of museum professionals across Kenya in both national and devolved museums for the exchange of skills and knowledge in heritage conservation and management.
vi) Offer technical training for both male and female youths so as to be self-employed and self-sustainable hence reducing unemployment rate in the country
Guiding Core values
In order to achieve our Vision and Mission, we are guided by the following core values:
1. Partnership and collaboration. We shall nurture partnerships and collaborations of value to our members
2. Appreciation of Diversity. We shall promote gender, ethnic diversity in the recruitment of employees, trainees and capacity development
3. A commitment to excellence and Integrity is fundamental to all
4. A commitment to responsible leadership and teamwork
Target Group:
NMK-HTI programmes targets a varied category of staff from diverse heritage institutions. Special thematic workshops will also be separately organized for senior, middle and junior level with responsibilities over heritage. Swahili scholars, researchers, teachers and students from schools and universities will also be among the key target groups.Technical training will be specifically for unemployed youths both male and females, to gain adequate technical knowledge and skills so as to be self-employed. Tailor made short courses can be organized for already working, but not trained interested parties, as well as for those who need a specific technical skill in tailoring and wood carving.
Future plans:
To be a Centre of Excellence in research and training on heritage in general; be a leader in Swahili language and culture studies, a focal point in heritage management training, a leading production unit in endangered Swahili handicrafts. To achieve this, NMK-HTI will source for collaboration with higher institutions of learning so as to offer Diploma and Degree certifications for the courses offered at NMK-HTI.
To be an international recognized Kiswahili language training institution in East and Central Africa, NMK-HTI in collaboration with French Embassy (through National Institute of Oriental Languages & Civilization/INALCO) is in the process of achieving this strategy. INALCO will provide training to NMK-HTI on establishing an international standard Kiswahili language institution.