Something unexpected happens when African educators sit at the same table: we realise we have more in common than we thought.
During the African Leadership Festival, I learnt alongside school leaders and educators from Sierra Leone, Malawi, Sudan, Lesotho, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt and beyond.
Different countries. Different systems. Different realities.
And yet, remarkably similar questions:
How do we give children better opportunities? How do we build schools where they can truly thrive?
Beneath it all was a shared hope: that the children entrusted to us will have a better future because of the work we do today.
More Than the Sessions
We often measure conferences by what we learnt in the room.
But for me, the most meaningful part happened outside it, in the conversations that continued afterwards, the stories exchanged, and the quiet moments of “I understand. I’ve faced that too.”
We Are Not Building Alone
Working in education can feel isolating. You see the gaps, the challenges, and how much still needs to change.
Then you sit with people from across the continent and something shifts.
Someone else’s experience challenges an assumption. Someone else’s solution sparks an idea. You realise there are others asking the same hard questions.
“You realise you are not building alone.”
The Table Is Bigger Than Any One of Us
There is so much wisdom across this continent, educators and communities doing remarkable work, often without enough visibility.
Imagine what becomes possible when that knowledge is connected: an idea from Nigeria inspiring someone in Kenya, a lesson from Malawi shaping practice in Uganda.
“We don’t have to build separately when we can build together.”
That was the real gift of the African Leadership Festival, not just what I learnt, but who I learnt alongside.
With gratitude to Robyn Speed, Ema Land Muita, Melanie Smuts and Temitope Ifegbesan for the care and coordination that made this space possible.
Thank you for bringing us to the table.
If this reflection resonated with you, or if you would like to support or learn more about the work we are building at Dolly Children Foundation, I welcome you to connect or reach out. Because none of us is building alone.
