Ninety-one young leaders from ALA traveled to 23 African countries over the summer holidays to organize entrepreneurial leadership camps (called BUILD-in-a-Box camps) for unemployed or under-employed youth. The camps, which are intended to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in African youth, provided first-hand opportunities for the participants to design social or business ventures that are relevant in viable in their local environments.
Across the 27 camps organized in different regions of the continent, 653 participants, aged 15-22, learned to use the BUILD model (ALA’s internally designed approach to problem solving) to design viable solutions to challenges identified in their environments. The camps also provided an opportunity for our young leaders to engage with their peers directly on issues of mutual concern in their localities, while improving their facilitation and project management skills.
At the conclusion of her camp, Suleikha Hachi, a second-year student from Somaliland, said “Watching participants think passionately about real world problems and finding solutions was the most gratifying part of the camp.” Her thoughts were echoed by Joseph M’Po Yeti, a second-year student from Togo, who said “Professionally, the end was the most gratifying part of running the camp. We could see that participants learned the BUILD approach”.
We are very grateful to The MasterCard Foundation and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation whose generous support has enabled our young leaders to run BUILD-in-box camps across the continent this year.
