Ten Days at YYAS: How I Fell in Love with Africa, by Dzifianu Edoh-Torgah

Ten days is equivalent to 14,400 minutes, which is equivalent to 864,000 seconds. All of this time, to my young mind, seemed like all the time in the world. However, I am extremely grateful and fortunate to have spent those ten days doing something extraordinary and special.

During this time I fell in love with myself and Africa at an enrichment program known as the Yale Young African Scholars Program. I was lucky enough to embark on this adventure with my older sister and 148 other brilliant African teenagers. The experience was life changing, and it opened my eyes to so many different things. 

Every single morning, I woke up with a smile on my face. I walked around the campus with a delighted spring in my step. The entire program was very intense, and I had never done anything like it before. Not even close to it. Of course, there was reasonable sleep time, but during the day, there were back-to-back activities that demanded 110 percent energy. From the SAT lectures, which I expected to be boring but were rather involving and fun, to the seminars which were quite frankly mind blowing—everything was spectacular.

Dzifianu with her sister at YYAS 2018 in Ghana.

One of my best experiences was my seminar on African Feminism. Before YYAS I did consider myself a starting feminist, and I was eager to know more about what this entailed. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the room and met three males already seated. They were outnumbered by us girls, but they were there all the same. The girls and I exchanged stories on our experiences, and I learnt something new that hot afternoon: Gender inequality is everywhere. A girl from South Africa was mistreated or stereotyped in the exact same or similar way as I all the way here in Ghana. And so was another girl in Tanzania.

By the end of the seminar the three boys had become feminists: they began to better understand the challenges that many women face in the world. Through constructive dialogue, debate, and discussion, together we were able to share viewpoints and tackle larger issues such as misconceptions and stereotypes about women.

But we also talked about was stereotypes against boys, which I didn’t know we would examine but I’m glad we did. For example, the question, “why aren’t boys allowed to cry?” was asked. As a class, we delved deeper into the subject and realized that there are several double standards in our societies that are set up against not just girls, but boys as well. Obviously, we didn’t find a way to end gender inequality, but we were able to talk about concrete steps to end this disparity and I believe the world is a little bit better because, out of that one seminar emerged twelve young adults with the agreed mindset that both genders are equal, and who are now advocates for what they believe in. This seminar was so inspiring in fact, that we made a poster. Several of them actually!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the YYAS lectures. As someone who likes to speak a lot, I loved the structured times for debate and hearing others’ points of views. After each YYAS lecture, we would break up into groups of about fifteen and talk about what he had just heard during Discussion Group Sessions. 

Every single activity was something different and something to learn from, but what I loved most about YYAS was the people. There is so much you can learn from others once you’re given a chance to interact with them on both a fun and an intellectual level. In the morning you could learn that in Kenya “rafiki" means friend. In the afternoon you could learn a cool new dance from a group of Ethiopians. In the evening you could learn that that shy boy from Cote d’Ivoire can really play amazing guitar! And right before bed, you could learn from your dorm mates a random fact about astrology. It fascinated me, really, finding out so much in such a short space of time. 

And it wasn’t just me—I’m sure everyone else at YYAS can testify to that. Even the instructors and lecturers. We learnt from them, and they learnt from us. More than just learning from each other, though, we inspired each other. We all reached a point where we were totally in love with Africa because the youth of Africa are so brilliant and affable, and we totally loved ourselves, because we realized there is nothing we can’t do once we set our mind to something.

I have always known I can do anything I set my mind to, for as long as I can remember. This notion comes from my Christian faith and my life experiences (believe it or not, you can see a whole lot in fifteen years!). YYAS was a special experience, and I call the ten days I spent there the best days of my life so far because more than ever, I not only learned—I became inspired.

It was basically ten days of hearing this message: “You can, and you will. If not you, who? If not now, when?” And the message hit home. I always knew I could, but the lively, involved, and bright instructors at YYAS, the entire team, and all the other young African scholars, made sure I WOULD. And it means so much to me, because they accepted me, and taught me, and listened to what I had to say, even though I was one of the youngest people there. I came out of YYAS 2018 full of many ideas that I am putting into projects. I am not just a dreamer, I’m a doer. And I have YYAS to thank for helping me discover that love. 

“UBUNTU”, by Obaid Ajoughlal

The 2018 Yale Young African Scholars program in Rwanda was an exciting, insightful, life-changing journey for me. Now, as an alumnus, I can absolutely say that my time at the program made me a better and stronger young leader.

I chose “Ubuntu”, which means “I am because we are” in Zulu, as the title of my YYAS experience, because I believe that each day of YYAS was a celebration of diversity—a celebration that made us more united, more concerned by the issues our continent faces, and more eager to solve them.

During the 10 days in Rwanda I was a Moroccan ambassador: not only did I present my cultural background but also, as an ambassador, I always looked for more ways to know about Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western African cultures, as well as Africa’s islands’ through my fellow participants.

Obaid (right) from Morocco with his new friends at YYAS 2018 from Kenya, Sudan, Ghana, and Ethiopia!

Thanks to the distinguished Yale faculty lecturers, I was exposed to Africa’s health problems, as well as their ongoing solutions and prospective solutions. Additionally, during meal times, my peers and I talked about our respective home countries. I told them how I feel when I see the Kingdom of Morocco, my beloved country, split into two territories: Morocco and Western Sahara. My peers told me about their countries’ histories, too, talking about the Rwandan genocide, the Somalia vs. Somaliland conflict, and the Zimbabwean crisis caused by former president Robert Mugabe, among other stories.

From the first meal we had to the very last moment of the program, I discovered a deep and big passion I have for our continent: Africa! In fact, I merged within a community of 29 nationalities so quickly and so easily that I felt home. Indeed, I forged lifelong friendships with peers from countries I considered with mystery, countries that I used to know only the name such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Sudan, or even Botswana! Furthermore, I was surprised at the development of my leadership skills during such a short time at YYAS, particularly during one fun activity called Afrotopia.

This newfound passion for Africa makes me think about a second answer to a question asked on the application form: “What makes you African in the 21st Century?” My previous answer was mainly being proud of our accomplishments as Africans and being hopeful for a better future. But now, after having completed YYAS, I am convinced that this definition is not enough, and I have tried to find an answer to this thought-provoking question ever since.

"In a nutshell, YYAS has absolutely influenced me and made me see the world with new eyes."

Thanks to the various range of subjects taught during seminars and lectures, and thanks to enrichment activities that built our leadership and teamwork skills, and thanks to our long, but interesting conversations with experts in Africa that made us aware of our role as Africa’s next generation of leaders, I think that being African in the 21st Century means to use the knowledge you gained in areas that attract you the most, combined with leadership and teamwork skills to improve your local community, your country, and your continent!

In a nutshell, YYAS has absolutely influenced me and made me see the world with new eyes. In fact, I have managed to use the knowledge and skills I gained during YYAS—specifically during university guidance workshops and admissions days—together with my great want to improve my local community in order to pursue higher education abroad an achieve attainable goals for many other Moroccan high school students. Thank you YYAS!

Obaid (second from left) with his workshop group at the certificate ceremony!

Obaid (right) with a fellow YYAS participant during the award ceremony.