Proving that there’s no better time to be an ALA student, Tania Twinoburyo, a Year 1 student who is also Secretary of the Student Government, shares her highlights of ALA’s Decennial Celebrations.
African Leadership Academy (ALA) is truly the hub of Africa’s next leaders and this decennial just emphasized it further. As Daniel Semphere said: “This is the best year to be an ALA student.”
It’s true.
We were highly excited to see all the people that would be coming to visit our beautiful campus. Meeting people from different countries, industries and walks of life was amazing.
On Day 1, I hosted the Executive Director of The Cape Digital Foundation Ms Emma Kaye, who able to go with me to my two favourite classes, African Studies – where we spoke about resistance – and Entrepreneurial Leadership, where I was excited to show our ideas on how to solve the problems of economic water scarcity in Africa.
Ms Emma Kaye was extremely impressed with the school and the way in which it functions, and it was in that moment I felt proud to be a student at ALA. She got to see what a day in my life and the lives of many other ALA students looked like. The first day ended on a wonderful note with music from ALA alumni and our school band, Prodigy.
Changing the status quo
Day 2 was exciting because I was hosting symposium speakers and I was super lucky to host South Africa’s very own Dr Makhosi Khoza, who is a South African politician. I was excited to host her because I look forward to studying politics in college so hearing her insights on how she is thriving in a male-dominated world was amazing.
One thing that really inspired me about Dr Makhosi Khosa is that she is a woman ready to change the status quo. She believes that young people should be mentored by older people in order to take roles such as presidents – something that is not done in Africa. I found this really interesting.
She also told me that I should never ever feel intimated by an industry dominated by men; as long as I have the willpower, I can do it. She was truly my highlight for that day. I am glad to have been here at ALA as a student to celebrate 10 years and be part of a mission to build Africa’s next generation of leaders and game changers.
Happy birthday ALA!
