Network Africa

The view is brighter on the other side

Sunday 14 October: It had just gone past noon when 15 of us, including a British Council official, settled into the Virgin Nigeria aircraft that would take us from the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos to the Leopold Senghor International Airport in Dakar, capital of the small but beautiful West African Senegal. We were headed for the British Council-sponsored InterAction's Africa Leadership Programme Pan-African event, which was to bring some 140 Africans from 19 countries under one roof over a three-day period of learning and self discovery.

Most importantly, though, we looked forward to celebrating our great continent in a way that was fun and productive. We would be joined by participants from Pakistan and The United Kingdom, two non-African countries to which InterAction, a wholly African initiative, has spread. Having recorded remarkable successes over the past three years, it is already birthing in the Middle East.
On day one, to get the programme started we were split into different 'home teams' of ten participants each. To show how diverse the teams were, my table had a Sudanese politician, a Kenyan NGO activist, a Zimbabwean teacher, a South African college professor, a Ugandan Vetinary doctor, A Ghanaian Lawyer and myself, the Nigerian Paediatrician.

One of the high points of the event was a confidence-inducing activity, which called for the building of Africa's “Wall of greatness”. About six weeks previously, we had been told to individually prepare come to the PAE things that showcase Africa's contribution to the world: a picture, a painting, a concept or a design. Each us was to come with three of these and they were to be placed on little pieces of papers called 'bricks'. The final picture on the wall would represent Africa at its best and brightest.

Before I get into details about how we eventually formed the wall, let me give you a little background of how things are done in InterAction. InterAction is founded on a combination passions (six in all), principles (seven in all) and assumptions (eight in all) of Appreciative Inquiry, which participants are expected to apply as leaders at all time, either at work or at home. This programme does not in any way resemble any teaching process I have ever come across. Facilitators employ quite informal techniques (games inclusive) that achieve maximum impartation. By the time a session is through, the lessons are etched deep in one's mind.

Back to the 'Wall'. The facilitators had made it clear how we would build the wall, identifying which countries would use which side of the room. But when the time finally came to mount the bricks, instead of the orderly manner we anticipated, all 140 of us made for the wall at a go, placing our bricks in any space we could find; the bricks were many and the space available on the wall would ordinarily not take them all. Bedlam. Many shook their heads in clear acknowledgement of the futility of the mission.

Did the facilitators overlook something? Not at all. One of the InterAction principles states: “from chaos, order will emerge”. Very slowly and deliberately, people started to cooperate with each other; people started to become creative, finding unlikely spots (the doors and high up in the wall) to place their bricks. Through resolve, cooperation and patience, the much anticipated wall formed. The majesty of Africa in all its glory on a wall that just minutes before was a bare, dull pastel colour of greyish white. Depictions on the bricks ranged from the lush green mountains of Uganda to the coffee plantations of Ethiopia; the national football team of Cameroon and the Rugby team of South Africa, fresh from their Rugby world cup win; the beautiful island of Mauritius; and the powerful women of Nigeria. To add a minor twist, a Sudanese participant simply put up a picture of his wife and children; they were, he noted, his own modest contribution to the world; a large Nollywood poster was on display as well. There were no pictures of death and destruction - just pictures of hope and the numerous resources Africa has to offer. No, we did not pretend that these problems do not exist; we did not try to deny them or wish them away. What we simply did for that moment was to celebrate Africa, deploying one of IA's assumptions: “as we move foward, we carry along with us only the good parts of the past”. Many of the challenges we face on the continent are the result of people carrying with them memories that have potential to hurt, maim and kill. Imagine Kenya - memories brought forward with horrific consequences. So at the end of this exercise, what did the wall mean to us? It was a touching moment. There were many tears, tears of joy and wonderment. It was at that moment that many of us realised that building our continent in the midst of all the chaos is possible if only we can persevere, cooperate, innovate, stare at hope squarely at the face and most importantly never give up on her. That is what the wall meant to us. And just as we all scrambled to build the wall, we will all scramble together to build our continent. We will be those embers that will light a fire of change across our continent, a fire of change so intense that no one can ignore: it is possible.

Cover Stories Conversations that makes a diference The view is brighter on the other side Together as one The lies we should ignore   Recurring Decimal   "What You did't Know" Cameroon Ethiopia Malawi Tanzania Uganda