People always want to know how I found the courage to start an organization while in university, and how I aggregated the resources. My answer is simple — just start. When I started, I had no idea what was required to run an organization and I received advice from nobody. I simply wrote down my ideas in a journal, introduced those ideas to a few friends, invited them for a meeting and took their questions.
I am convinced that there are no disadvantaged people in life. There are only people who refuse to make the most of the resources available to them. I know that there are people who have had it far worse than I have in life, but I have also seen people from much poorer backgrounds who have achieved far more than I have. We need to stop complaining about what we do not have and start maximizing what we do have.
As I have found myself in positions to mentor others, I have devised a theory of my own – that everyone is qualified to be a mentor. I believe that even if you are only one step ahead of another person on the ladder of life, you have a responsibility – an obligation – to reach behind you and help them up with a combination of your experiences and your wisdom.
When I was in university some years ago, I was primarily involved in journalism. I loved it. I was also a part-time Geography teacher in a private high school while running tutorials for my peers and juniors. Then I took on debating and public speaking in my second year and won a range of competitions; I then interned as a… Read More »For Discovery, Before Purpose
The first time I met him was in March 2015, and at that time he was remarkable in an unremarkable way; he was a chubby little boy with a curious dress sense and an eagerness to stand out. We later joked about his checkered shirt and tie combo on his first visit to South Africa to participate at the second… Read More »He Taught Me Leadership: Mubarak Adetunji
I have never formally had a mentor. I don’t even know if that’s true, but I don’t recall ever entering into a formal relationship with a person and agreeing to be mentored by them. Yet, I have been helped along my personal and professional journeys by several people whom I will consider my mentors; some were academic mentors who guided me… Read More »Is Mentoring Overrated?
Those who have made a career out of bashing the youth fail to realize that every generation engages with the world the way they find it. We are pursuing different ways of engaging with our world, constantly learning from the disappointments of generations past and quietly evaluating new avenues for involvement.
I think back very often to the time when I was 13 years old. Being an adult seemed so far away and I was not sure I could wait long enough to do all the things for which I needed to be grown-up: have a job, run my own company, get married, be my own person and every imaginable set… Read More »Memories
I have just returned from a three-day experience in Istanbul, Turkey, where I had the great privilege of attending the third edition of the annual Al Sharq Youth Forum, and to network with leaders of some of the world’s foremost youth organizations. My insights from the weekend supersede the fact that global change is indeed possible, and that consensus on… Read More »Change Is Possible; Consensus Requires Effort