November-December 2004 > The Alumni

Doing His Work

Philippe E. Wamba ’93 was killed in a car crash in Kenya in September 2002 while he was conducting research for a book on African youth. He was only 31 years old. Wamba graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history and literature. He then obtained a master’s degree at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and published his first book in 1999, a memoir and historical text, Kinship: A Family’s Journey in Africa and America. He served as the founding editor-in-chief at Africana.com from 1999 to 2002.

His family, friends, and classmates have committed themselves to raising awareness about Africa’s growing epidemic of road traffic injuries and deaths. Road accidents have emerged as the second leading cause of death for economically active adults in Africa, but there are very few resources devoted to road safety (see "On the Road with Death," November-December 2002, page 48). Last April 9, the Harvard African Students’ Alumni Network (HASAN), of which Wam ba was a founding member, launched — in collaboration with the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies — the Philippe Wamba Memorial Fund to support field research, training, and advocacy work for the reduction of injuries and deaths due to road traffic crashes in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information, or to make a financial contribution, visit www.HASANweb.org/memorial.asp or send a contribution to: HASAN, P.O. Box 382154, Cambridge 02238-2154, payable to HASAN with "Wamba Memorial Fund" indicated in the memo section.