Residential Faculty live in the dormitories to offer student support, and to ensure that students have a safe and pleasant residential experience at the Academy, with adequate adult supervision. They lead the dormitories under the guidance of the Assistant Dean for Pastoral Care.
Boys and girls live in separate dormitories. The dormitories are controlled by an access control card system, which limits entry to only the residents of each hall.
Students are paired in dormitories with students from different countries and regions in Africa, and often speak different languages.
ALA opened new residential wings in 2015 that form part of the new Nelson Mandela Residence with 48 Student dormitory rooms split between 2 male and 2 female buildings, 4 Faculty family homes, 10 Faculty apartments, 2 Large courtyards, 2 Laundry facilities, 4 Shared lounges and 2 Sick bays. The accommodations are comfortable, well-equipped and safe and house over 250 people every year.
My daughter began teaching me about the new project that I was embarking on. I was so proud that my 15-year-old daughter is teaching me. Sending her to ALA helped her see the world from a different perspective.
Every student is unique but she/he needs to be nurtured further in order to bloom and ALA is the place that provides the necessary space and opportunities to bring out this uniqueness of its students. Here, no one is a competitor to anyone but rather, only a complement for each other. The student only competes with herself/himself to reach greater heights. How ALA transforms young promising minds within 2 years (filled with challenges, opportunities, diversity, care and fun) into future passionate leaders, can only be experienced and cherished over a lifetime by a parent.
I look forward to going out into the world and applying the skills and competencies that I have acquired at ALA so as to inspire other and make the change that I seek in the world.
One of the things that I learnt at ALA is how to be a pioneer. Don’t be afraid of big ideas that scare you.
Together with Wuntia Gomda, we designed the Wastewater Treatment System, which has the capacity to clean 300K litres of water annually. When we – through ALA – won the 2019 Zayed Sustainability Prize is a moment that I am never going to forget.
One of my greatest achievements to date was to be appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to serve as 1 of 17 advocates for the sustainable development goals where I will solve some of the toughest issues facing humanity. If I didn’t go to ALA I would not be where I am today. It changed the trajectory of my life.
ALA shaped my daughter Waigumo into the leader she is today. My deep appreciation goes to the school for providing opportunities to enable her embrace and truly discover her multifaceted characteristics and unknown talents.
Through the various opportunities ALA provided, she developed sound depth in academic research, engaged in arenas that increased her holistic knowledge on African youth and political leadership, empowerment of women on the African continent and engaged in riveting discourses on how to propel the versatile continent into unforeseen heights. With fondness, we are grateful to ALA for not only inspiring her deep passion for mathematics but propelling her to a mind shift of holistic excellence; By gaining a network of like-minded and lifelong friends, I have no doubt that Waigumo will aid in the development of a more equitable, sustainable, and technologically driven future for Africa.
In 2009, a friend casually mentioned a certain African Leadership Academy during our morning work out. The following year, I went to Johannesburg to see this too-good-to-be-true Academy. Fast-forward 10 years after that visit, all my children have graduated from ALA! I don’t know of any better transformational experience my wife and I could have offered our children!
When I joined ALA, my passion for finance and business was fostered. I currently work as an investment specialist, focussed on African investment initiatives that will change the continent.
If am happy to see who he has become, and I hope other parents will consider ALA for their child. I can assure them that they will not make a mistake. The transformation in my son is that he now knows who he wants to be.
When Francis approached us back in 2013, as Parents, that he wanted to go to ALA, and would therefore fall behind by a year, if he was to leave Bishop Mackenzie International School (BMIS) in Lilongwe, Malawi, we debated the merit of this audacious move. Eventually, we resolved that, no, let us not stand in his way. Let him join ALA, maybe his destiny will be shaped there. I am glad to say, we do not regret he attended ALA. By the time he was finishing at ALA, we noticed that he had certainly matured beyond his age and peers at BMIS. He was brimming with enthusiasm and full of confidence, with a clear focus of what he wanted to do in life. We believe ALA taught him to believe in himself.
I am glad that I made the decision to send my daughter to ALA . She is more articulate, expressive and certain about her purpose in life.
