This year though my presence on this remarkably diverse continent will be 'virtual' by way of mentoring online training workshops to teachers/mentors and by providing new learning content that will complement national educational curricula covering topics such as geometry, arithmetic, environmental science and geography.
Working with a hardworking visionary team of men and women drawn from three continents led by the great Claire Gillissen and supported by Camden Educational Trust, I
am happy to have just completed a ‘Scratch in the Classroom’ teachers’
manual for the Africa Code Week initiative which this year is planning
to bring coding tuition to schools in every country across the African
continent.
In 2019, over 3.85 million African youth were engaged with 47% being girls; 39,000 teachers were mobilised and 37 countries were involved.
But in all honesty I am very sad that, after 5 enjoyable years, I will not have the opportunity this year to be immersed in the sights, sounds and friendships of Africa. From the townships of Capetown to the streets of Cairo and so much in between, I have learnt so much from the rich diverse ancient and new cultures of this continent.
It is where our human species began, it is where many of my heroes and role models are from, it is where great tracts of land are still wild and populated with rich unsurpassed flora and fauna. Every time I go there I feel that in some way I am rekindling some old long lost connection.
Until we meet again in 2021, I salute all the teachers, mentors, students, children, NGOs and governments involved in Africa Code Week, which is helping to upskill and empower a whole generation of young people