It was a great and wonderful opportunity to be among the few selected entreprenuers that participated in the East Africa regional leadership center for East Africa in Nairobi at Kenyatta University. I interacted with a huge pull of multi-linguistic, and multi-cultured individuals. Young leaders doing so much to change their communities in the 14 countries of East and Central Africa. After the orientation, we were hosted at Brackenhurst for two days. This is where the real experience of YALIRLCEA begun. We had group interesting games like high ropes that taught me to; always develop trust in my team and build capacity of the rest of the team, because if those down cannot support you, you are most likely to have a thunderous fall. I learnt team work as well as aiming on achieving my goal no matter the situation. In just those two days, people that went as strangers came to Kenyatta University as a team of close friends.
At Chandaria Business Incubation and Innovation Centre, yes Design Thinking and This is Africa, were interesting modules but 7 HABBITS of Effective Leadership stood out for me. It helped me make a surgical understanding of myself. Yes, am an innovator and team leader, but I needed analysts, drivers, and other team roles for effective leadership. I also came to appreciate why we’re having much storming in my team prior to YALIRLCEA.
However, using those skills and knowledge, I have normalized my team and we are now progressing faster because now we appreciate our different roles, plan well and respect each other with a more effective communication strategy so as to eliminate misunderstandings. In addition, as soon as SafeBangle launches, millions of African women will be able to access it through YALI Network. I have also been able to integrate in the Uganda YALIRLCEA Chapter that has opened up more opportunities for SafeBangle as well as being selected for the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship under the Leadership in Business track at University of Notre Dame-Indiana State. “YALIRLCEA, is the best thing that has ever happened in my life”
Written by Kamya Ambrose, SafeBangle Team Leader