Building a Just Society with African Prisons Project (Ayiba)

I recently got the opportunity to interview the phenomenal Peter Tibigambwa, African Prisons Project (APP)’s Country Program Manager for Uganda.  Founded in 2004, APP believes in prisons for catalysts for change, and builds sustainable interventions that actively engage prisoners to challenge injustice and empower local governments to implement sustainable change. Through its programs in Kenya and Uganda, this admirable organization changing the social justice landscape of East Africa.

Read more here or find the full piece below.

In African Prisons Project’s view, what’s the role of prison in society? What does an ideal prison look like?
African Prisons Project believes that prisons should be places of positive transformation, and that prisoners should not be deprived of their humanity. I think that the ideal prison space is one in which those who end up there but should not be there leave as soon as possible. Those who should be there should have the right to a humane stay where they have a hygienic space and proper diet as well as an understanding of why they are imprisoned. They should be encouraged to use that time to transform their lives and influence their communities.

Where does APP get most of its funding?
Our funding is mainly from trusts, foundations, and high-network individuals as well as some contributions from local embassies and government institutions in Uganda and Kenya. Prisons work is not the most fancy, so often donors would rather prioritize things like childhood education or maternal mortality.

What are your current, most active programs?
We have four key program areas with various associated projects.

The first is leadership development, where we inmates with a track record of leadership while in prison, a demonstrated commitment to supporting their peers, and have graduated from A-levels in Uganda with a good academic record. These inmates apply to the University of London through the African Prisons Project, and enroll in the liberal education program. These students go on to study law, and use the legal skills they learn from their day-to-day life and their classes to provide legal support to their peers. We have male and female inmates as well as prison staff that are enrolled to study law, and they establish legal aid clinics within the prisons. At the moment, that program runs in three prisons in Kenya and two prisons in Uganda.

We also have a human rights advocacy program where we have prison staff and prisoners who have also a similar track record of demonstrated commitment, and we enroll them on a ten-day training course. They graduate as prison human rights advocates, and then go on to act as links between the prisons, the police, and the community. Access to justice isn’t just about the individual who has been accused, but it’s a chain of events so you need to engage with all the different stakeholders. The advocates help inmates access timely justice mainly around bail, utilization of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and better sentencing. Last year in Uganda, we had funding for a project in a district with six prisons and had 817 inmates access justice within a period of about ten months.

You find that the average inmate in Uganda is someone between twenty-one and forty-five-years old—individuals in their productive years. When these individuals are locked up for several years, they often lose track of events in their communities and they’re often illiterate. Our life skills program identifies these individuals, equips them with literacy and numeracy skills, and graduates them with some practical skills. Different projects include dairy farming, agriculture, and carpentry, and are linked to what the inmate is doing and the resources they have available back home. The life skills program is currently only in Uganda.

We’ve established thirteen libraries in Uganda, and we’ll be launching a library in Kenya this month. We provide reading resources as well as comprehensive materials for those who can’t read and write, like comic books and illustrated books. We also have mother-to-child reading groups, book clubs, debating clubs, and poetry clubs. The libraries are not only a key tool for people to improve their reading and writing skills, but also a way for inmates to understand what their judicial rights are. A recent report in Uganda showed that in last four years that nine out of ten people have wanted to access some type of legal support but did not.

We also have a health care program. We aim to address the challenges that result from overcrowding in prisons. Although Uganda has made amount of progress in improving facilities, the number of facilities is still insufficient. There are just over 40,000 inmates in Uganda, yet the total capacity is around 15,000. Clearly you can see that the occupancy rate is over 250% with 2.5 people sleeping in a space meant for one. The biggest health issues are around water, hygiene, and sanitation as there are conditions that are favorable for transmission of TB and skin diseases.

There’s a huge need to strengthen the link between prisons, communities, and health care services. Prison communities need to be empowered to understand their public health care requirements in order to mitigate disease breakouts. Working with the Uganda Prison Service, we piloted a successful prison village health care model in eight prisons in Northern Uganda. The success of the project helped the Prison Service apply for more funding from the Centers for Disease Control to roll out the program across the country. Now all Ugandan prisons have that model in place—a huge milestone for Uganda and APP.

We also have a secondment program where prisons officers from Uganda and Kenya go to the UK to benchmark their progress against other systems, and learn how they can implement different policies in their countries.

The Ugandan government and prison services are active, committed partners. They’ve helped by establishing an Open Door Policy where APP has the opportunity to come in and implement these programs.

What are the conditions like in prisons in Kenya and Uganda? How do the two countries compare?
I am not very knowledgeable about Kenya, but I do know that the remand population in both countries is over 50% as well as 250% occupancy in both countries. The rate of prison population growth is not well aligned with the development of facilities to accommodate the inmate population, and there are inadequate health care services. Africa-wide, I haven’t seen any country that has adequate services, but when we’re talking about a vulnerable group, both in Uganda and Kenya, which is locked up in the same space, it’s a breeding ground for disease. In Uganda, the prevalence of HIV in prisons is almost double the prevalence in the outside community.

The Uganda Prison Service has made progress through the prison village health care model, but I don’t think they have a similar program in Kenya yet.

What are the most common crimes that land people in prison in Kenya and Uganda?
The types of crime often differ between urban and rural areas. In rural settings, you’re more likely to find land-related crimes, defilement, and petty offenses. Defilement is still common in urban centers where there are also some robbery cases as well as a few murder ones.

How does the ratio of men to women in prison compare in Uganda?
There are a lot more men than women in prison, but they are imprisoned separately. They each have their own spaces. In Uganda, it’s about 95% men to 5% women. In Kenya, it’s about 90% men and 10% women.

In the United States, there’s a big conversation around mental health issues among prisoners. Do Uganda and Kenya face similar problems?
I don’t have statistics on that, but I can tell you that the mental health issue is serious. It’s not just about observing that someone is mentally ill, but inmates need to be assessed or triaged. In Ugandan society, even in the outside community, it remains difficult to diagnose mental illness due to a lack of qualified mental health professionals. In prisons, it’s even more difficult to address these issues given the minimal available resources for health care support. I’ve spoken to prisons officers before who’ve expressed that it’s clear that many prisoners do have mental illnesses.

Is there any support for ex-offenders to help them re-enter society?
In Uganda, there are some NGOs doing a lot of work in re-integrating inmates back into their communities. In the long-term, APP hopes to become more active in that space as we understand that it should be an essential component of prison’s work. Re-integration of prisoners doesn’t start from when they get released, but it’s a process that starts at entry—where they’re coming from, their skills, and how they can productively use their time in prison.

The Ugandan Prison Services is making strides in addressing this key area. Through APP, many prisons in Uganda that you’ll visit have different life-skills programs that prisoners can enroll in. You have to look at the community they’ll return to, and do a pre-assessment of the landing ground of someone who will soon be released from prison. The Prisons Services has a model that should work that way, but due to inadequate funding, the welfare officers assigned to each prison are unable to visit the family members in the communities that prisoners will eventually return to. Because of the distance between the prison and the prisoners’ community, these welfare visits often don’t happen, so when a prisoner comes out of a community, they might struggle to re-adjust to their home.

Are the any African countries that APP looks to as models for criminal justice?
You just mentioned the challenges that the United States is facing regarding inmates’ mental health. The management of prison communities isn’t just an African problem, but a worldwide one. Only a few countries have managed to address it well.

In Africa, there are not many models we can look to. Rwanda has progressed a lot although many issues and stumbling blocks remain. Interestingly, in 2014, the African Journal of Criminology and Justice ranked the Ugandan system as the best in Africa. Uganda has the third best recidivism rate in the entire world, and the best in Africa. The Commissioner General of Prisons of Uganda most recently chaired the African Correctional Services Association, and Uganda’s correctional services was voted the best in Africa. Uganda is not perfect, but the government is committed to being better.

Are there any plans to expand APP’s focus beyond East Africa?
We are currently working on our four-year strategy, and we are looking at how we can scale our programs elsewhere across the continent. At the next stage, we see ourselves offering these programs to prison services so they can adopt low-cost services funded by their own governments.

Can volunteers get involved in APP?
We have a volunteering scheme, and we’re expecting about eight volunteers this year from Europe and Africa. Volunteers typically spend three or more months with us. If you would like to find out more, please email info@africanprisons.org.

Even with South Africa and Zimbabwe’s Olympic Appearances, African Women’s Football Still Has Ways to Go (OkayAfrica)

In the spirit of the Rio Olympic Games, check out my latest for Okayafrica here or see below. Despite disappointing finishes during the women's football tournament, South Africa and Zimbabwe's participation at this year's games marks a step forward for African women's football.

As in the rest of the world, African football has long been dominated by men—and the proof’s in the ticket sales. In Rio, the top tickets for the women’s football quarterfinal will cost 100 reals, while football fans seize the best seats for the men’s quarterfinal for 200 reals. Despite greater attention to gender inequities in football—partially fueled by a federal wage complaint filed by female American players—disparities on the African pitch fail to attract the same level of attention.

With African women’s football often relegated to the background, the appearance of Banyana Banyana (South Africa) and the Mighty Warriors (Zimbabwe) at the Rio Olympic Games is huge. Although both teams lost during the first and second stages of the matches, their presence at the games is an achievement for a region where many countries still lack proper women’s leagues.

In South Africa, home to one of the continent’s best-funded networks of football clubs, women’s football is guaranteed a mere eight percent of the South African Football Association budget. There is no professional league for South African female footballers despite the fact that Banyana Banyana won more matches than men’s team Bafana Bafana.

According to Fran Hilton Smith, the head of women’s football at the South African Football Association, “[It is difficult for women to compete because] it’s not something that brings in any income, it doesn’t attract big sponsors, it’s a costly exercise and, especially in Africa to travel to play international matches is outrageously expensive.”

Organized women’s football is a relatively new phenomenon on the continent where about only 30 countries have national-level women’s football associations. Continental championship games began in 1991 when the Confederation of African Football began sponsoring the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCN)—nearly 35 years after the start of the men’s competition.

Even in the case of Nigeria’s women’s team, who has a history of high performance and a record nine AWCN wins, compensation is poor. After qualifying for the Cup, the Nigeria Football Federation handed the players 10,000 naira ($50) each. The Super Eagles, the men’s team, in contrast receive $4,000 for a draw and $5,000 for a win. With paltry pay for their past victories, there is little incentive to participate. While Nigeria has traditionally dominated the AWCN, the Super Falcons failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics because of club engagements and injuries.

In a multi-billion dollar industry, these kinds of disparities are a big deal. For exceptional African players, football can be an opportunity to enhance social mobility through access to lucrative contracts and scholarships. In 1999, Nigerian forward Mercy Akide’s performance at the quarterfinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup lead to a 4-year scholarship to Milligan College in Tennessee alongside teammate Florence Omagbemi. Akide went on to join American professional team San Diego Spirit and joined a FIFA Women’s All-Star team in 2004. Akide’s exceptional success remains near impossible for African women without sufficient sponsorship deals, equipment, coaches, media coverage, and, most importantly, leagues.

In recent times, some African women footballers, such as BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year Gaëlle Enganamouit of Cameroon, have enjoyed considerable success in Scandinavia, the world leader in the development of women’s soccer.

Akide and Enganamouit’s careers as high-flying professional African women footballers are the exception rather than the rule; however, as women’s teams gain greater exposure with high-level football competitions in this age of social media, more African women may be encouraged to take to the pitch. Greater international competition creates much-needed opportunities to improve performance against top-quality opponents—and provides much-needed exposure.

With the recent appointment of Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura as FIFA’s first female, non-European Secretary General, and South Africa and Zimbabwe’s spirited play at this year’s Olympic Games, African women’s football may be poised for greater visibility.

Meet The Gambia's Miss Marple

A throwback from the archives-- a story about one of my favorite women in the world, my formidable aunt, Ayesatou Gillen.

Not much gets past Ayesatou Gillen. A former teacher, one even might say she has eyes in the back of her head. But these days the observation skills once employed in detecting naughty classroom behavior are coming in handy as an amateur detective.

Like the infamous Miss Marple of Agatha Christie fame, Ayesatou has deployed her own talent for sniffing out the truth in her local community of Serrekunda, The Gambia. As the country’s largest urban center, Serrekunda buzzes with activity. But with a population of just under 400,000 people (a third of the size of Washington, D.C.), located in the smallest country on mainland Africa, the town still feels intimate. The neighbors form an extended family full of surrogate “aunties” and “uncles.”

In this close-knit environment, it’s difficult to imagine crime. Yet increasingly, with exposure to global consumer culture, Gambian youth are gaining an appetite for expensive gadgets from smartphones to tablets to flat screen TVs.

With over 48% of the population living below the poverty line, youth have few means to satisfy these tastes. Ranking 165 out of 187 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index, The Gambia has few natural resources and almost no industrial activity. Faced with unemployment, but hoping to keep up with the golden age of connectivity, some youth resort to theft to remain en vogue.

Last March, Ayesatou was the victim of such a theft. As she left one evening to visit a friend in the neighborhood, she spotted a group of young men outside her compound.

“When I saw them, I had an intuition that they were up to no good,” she says.  “I walked past them to visit two friends of mine. When I returned home, I noticed that my window was open and my things weren’t where I had left them. I suspected that one of the boys I had seen was responsible for the burglary. I wasn’t sure, so I went around the house to inspect the scene.”

Remembering a string of thefts at her brother Abdu’s home just a few months prior, she had a hunch that the same burglars might be responsible after noting similar entry techniques and a curious bloodstain on the windowsill.

In The Gambia, where polices don’t have the resources to mount large-scale investigations, most thieves often escape justice.

“If they’re never caught, they can just do it to someone else. I decided to take my time and expose them,” Ayesatou says. Taking matters into her own hands, she employed her detective skills.

“I asked a girl in the neighborhood to watch him for the next few days and note his activities. Anytime the ringleader bought anything expensive, the girl came to tell me. Whenever I saw him on the street, he acted shifty, so I knew he was the one.”

Although the money was taken on a Tuesday, Ayesatou bided her time and waited to capture the culprit until the next Monday. The modern day Miss Marple says, “I believe that you have to be patient to catch a thief. When you talk too much, information gets to them and they can run off or get rid of the evidence.”

As she trailed the thieves for the next few days, her informant noted that the ringleader appeared to recently have come into some new money. He purchased expensive products like a tablet, headphones, and a new phone. When she was sure of the culprit, she went to the police and enlisted their help in apprehending the suspect.

“Before I entered the house to fetch him, I told the police to form a triangle, so that when he exited there would be no means of escape,” she says. “I got his sister to call him, and I lured him out where the police told him he was wanted at the station. Then they arrested him and took him away. Now he’s in prison at Mile Two.”

Since assisting in the arrest of the thief, Ayesatou has offered her services as a community liaison for The Gambia Police Force. “The police are present, but they sometimes aren’t actively engaged,” she says.

“Policing isn’t only about punishment, but also about being in constant conversation with the community. It’s about encouraging people who might engage in crime to direct their energy elsewhere. When you have someone who is familiar with the day-to-day, they can be that liaison.”

While the offer is still under review with local authorities, the Serrekunda community can be sure of one thing: no more thieves will escape justice as long as Ayesatou is on the lookout.  

Navigating Cross-Cultural Relationships in the Workplace (She Leads Africa)

I'm excited to be working for She Leads Africa as a contributing writer. She Leads Africa is a community that helps young African women achieve their professional dreams by delivering business and career advice, support, and access to a network of driven young women.

I'll be writing for SLA on a bi-monthly basis about a variety of topics. Visit the She Leads Africa website to learn more about their resources.

Check out my first piece for SLA on meditation, and read below for my latest on cross-cultural relationships in the workplace.
 

After years living in France and the United States, Aminatou, an experienced business development consultant, arrived in Abidjan to work for a local social enterprise. Despite the logistical hiccups of working on the continent, she didn’t think the transition would be that much of a problem. After all, she grew up in Saint-Louis, Senegal, and spoke fluent French. She’d worked across Africa for leading multinationals and smaller start-ups for the better part of a decade. But after a few months, she was struggling with her team and considering returning to her job in Paris. What was the problem?

Cross-cultural training isn’t just for the West. As many young African professionals contemplate moving back to the continent —to their home country or somewhere else in the region, they can suffer from the shock of navigating cross-cultural dynamics in the workplace. It’s no secret that business leaders need to understand the cultural nuances of the different regions where their business operates. Yet, aspiring Motherland Moguls returning home might underestimate the need to orient themselves to the minutiae of workplace dynamics across Africa, especially as the continent rapidly transforms. The Ghana, Kenya, or Zimbabwe of 2008 doesn’t look the same in 2016.

Avoid clichés

Clichés and stereotypes can lead to faulty assumptions. While generalizations can be useful, culture is complicated and can’t be measured by one or two factors. Individual people might not fit these generalizations. Even as we advocate for pan-Africanism, we should recognize that each country or region is unique.

For example, there is a prevailing stereotype that Africa is a sexist place and that men will be condescending to women in the workplace. This is not always the case. Assume best intent until proven otherwise, and ask questions toimmediately clear up miscommunication. Overemphasizing stereotypes can have a real cost — misplaced fear of encountering workplace sexism may scare talented female professionals from taking positions in Africa.

As you enter the workplace, you might encounter differences along these four major areas:

1. Different Communication Styles

Across cultures, people communicate differently when it comes to verbal and non-verbal communication. Messages aren’t always explicit — more often than not, you’ll have to read between the lines.

Words and phrases that are common in one place might leave people looking at you in confusion in another. In some countries, there might be more of an emphasis on hierarchy than in others. In Francophone Africa, for example, there is more of an emphasis on formality than in Anglophone parts of the continent.

2. Different Conflict Resolution Styles

Not everyone always gets along. Some cultures approach conflict directly while in other cultures differences are worked out quietly. Feedback might be frank or more diplomatic.

3. Different Approaches to Time Management

Some countries, like Germany and Switzerland, are famous for their strict adherence to clocks. However, in most non-Western cultures, time is better viewed as a polite suggestion. Nevertheless, time management views can defer depending on the situation. People tend to have short-term or long-term orientation when comes to time. In parts of Southern Africa, for example, some people differentiate regarding the urgency of a project by saying “now” (sometime soon) vs. “now now” (right this minute).

4. Different Decision-Making Styles

A cultural frame of reference often shapes expectations about how to make a decision. Does what the boss says go? Is there room for dialogue? The roles individuals play in decision-making can depend on the egalitarian or hierarchical nature of a culture. This determines whether or not decisions are made unilaterally or by consensus.

To successfully navigate cultural differences, follow the three L’s:

• Listen actively and empathetically to assume best intent,
• Learn from generalizations, but supplement these with your own observations and,
• Look at the situation from both the insider and outsider perspectives.

Arm yourself with these tools, and you’ll avoid misunderstandings and conflicts that can cost your team profits or productivity.

Maame Adjei Takes Risks Exploring Ghana’s Hidden Gems on Her New Travel Show ‘Girl Going Places’ (OkayAfrica)

Maame Adjei is probably one of the coolest people I've ever met. So when I heard about her new web series, 'Girl Going Places,' I was dying to check it out. in my latest piece for Okayafrica, I chat with Maame about her wanderlust and where it's led her on her quest to explore each of Africa's 54 countries.

Check out the interview on the Okayafrica website or below. 

Sometimes the best adventures are in our backyard and Maame Adjei knows this well. Adjei, an actress and producer best known for her work on An African City, hopes her new travel show, Girl Going Places, will dispel Africa’s “dark continent” narrative and highlight the continent’s natural beauty and dynamism. The first six episodes of the pilot season take viewers around Ghana to explore undervalued gems like the Likpe Caves and Ada. Future seasons will find Adjei exploring cities all across Africa’s 54 countries in an effort to make travel on the continent a more accessible experience.

Okayafrica caught up with the globetrotting Adjei to hear more about her adventures, and where this girl is going next.

Akinyi Ochieng for Okayafrica: Can you tell me about when and why you decided to move home to Ghana from Philadelphia?

Maame Adjei: It was very impulsive. In September 2012, I was in Ghana for a quick two-week vacation to celebrate the anniversary of my Grandmother’s death. Before I left, I felt this pull to move back—it was time to move home. I returned to Philadelphia, drafted my letter of resignation, shipped all my things, and by December 1 of that year, I was back in Ghana. My background is actually in healthcare finance, so that’s what I initially thought I’d do in Accra. For the first few months, I looked for jobs in that field, but I realized I was tired of pursuing a career that I wasn’t passionate about. I decided to take off 2013 and travel Ghana. When I had come for my grandmother’s funeral, it was my first time visiting my mother’s hometown and I loved it-the landscape and the people. Seeing outside Accra was a great experience, and I was eager to explore Ghana more.

Moving in such a short amount of time would be daunting to most people. Are you naturally adventurous? How did doing this show force you step out of your comfort zone?

I’m naturally a risk-taker, especially when it comes to just packing up and moving around. When I was 15, I decided to move from Ghana to England to live with my dad. When I was in London, I decided I wanted to move to Philadelphia for college despite not having any family or knowing anyone in that area. When it was time to move back to Ghana, I decided to just drop everything and do it.

The show definitely pushed me to be more adventurous. In the first episode, you’ll see me crawl down to hike inside Likpe Caves. Initially, I thought I was going to get there, park, cross the street and see the cave. If I had known I was going to go in, I might have been more hesitant, but once I arrived, there was no backing down.

Always being up for a challenge, being open to exploring—is that what it means to be a “girl going places” or is there more to it?

That’s certainly part of it. A “girl going places” is someone who has found something they’re passionate about and is pursuing it vigorously. Someone who is confident, fearless, and approaches life’s difficulties saying, “I can do this.”

Why did you decide to create the show and how do you see it as a movement?

I consider myself a real Ghana girl, Ashanti to the core and proud of it. But as I began to explore Ghana for myself, I realized how sad it was that I had never really explored my own country before. I hadn’t even been to Kumasi or seen Manhiya Palace [the seat of the Ashanti kingdom]. Many of my friends had never been outside of Accra.

When I started this project, I was really just documenting things for friends, people, and myself to show the world outside of Accra. As time moved on, I thought it would be great to share with more people, especially other Africans, and show that the beauty and history we look for elsewhere outside of Africa is right here under our noses.

You don’t have to go to Milan for a cultural experience. You don’t have to travel to Jamaica to get a beach vacation—you can go to Zanzibar. Africans have to be able to travel and learn about our own spaces before we venture elsewhere, and I don’t think we’ve done that enough, for many reasons.

One of the reasons which frequently comes up is cost. Getting from Nairobi to Dakar will cost you around $1200 while Nairobi to London is $600. Any advice for exploring the continent on a budget?

The cost of travel around the continent is ridiculous. It’s one of the largest deterrents to travel. Why pay all that money to go to Dakar when you’re not even sure what’s there when you can pay half the price and go to London where you know what to expect? London markets itself beautifully, and Dakar or Accra or Abidjan have to do the same.

So if you’re traveling the continent, make sure to get that bang for your buck. If I’m traveling from Ghana to South Africa, for example, that’s time to take advantage of the neighboring countries like Botswana or Namibia. Make your travel itinerary such that you can explore a region rather than just a country.

You mentioned the failure to market our gems. In Ghana, where you’re from and where season one is focused, what do you think the government is—or isn’t—doing to support growth in domestic and regional tourism? 

There’s a tourism board and Ministry of Tourism, but what are they doing to market our country? In Jamaica, you know what to expect. When you think Jamaica, it’s “beauty,” “beaches,” and “vacation.” In Ghana, tourism revenue is huge, but I don’t know where it goes. There are few government-owned rest stops on the way from Accra to Kumasi—they’re all privately owned. There have to be greater efforts to provide structure to spaces and tourist sites to encourage people to visit places around the country.

One of the most basic areas that can be addressed is infrastructure—roads. Driving outside of Accra to reach the Volta Region in episode one took five hours (when it should have taken three) because the roads get really bad at a point. Government has to make it more accessible to travel within the country.

Are there any hidden travel gems in Ghana that you wish more people knew about?

My favorite place in the whole word is Cape Three Points. It’s about an hour and a half outside of Takoradi, which is about four hours drive from Accra. A few years ago, I’d say probably 90 percent of my peers had no idea about Cape Three Points, but now more people are learning about it. It’s so beautiful—a beach with a seemingly endless coastline and a gorgeous, old lighthouse that was built when it was used as a trading post. Cape Three Points is all about relaxation and untapped, natural beauty It’s what I imagine an island destination like St. Lucia is probably like —clear water, clean sand, palm trees.

What’s at the top of your Africa travel wish list?

Namibia. I keep hearing how beautiful and dynamic it is, so it has been at the top of my mind.

Sitting Still is the New Move: On Meditation (She Leads Africa)

I'm excited to be working for She Leads Africa as a contributing writer. She Leads Africa is a  community that helps young African women achieve their professional dreams by delivering business and career advice, support, and access to a network of driven young women.

I'll be writing for SLA on a bi-monthly basis about a variety of topics. Visit the She Leads Africa website to learn more about their resources.

First up? Learn why "Sitting Still is the New Move."

Almost everyone I know is either busy or tired. In this age of hyperconnectivity, we’re always “on.” In the race to stay on top of work, news, and friendships, it’s difficult to find time for self-care. By creating the space to embrace the present, meditation gives us the time to tune out the noise and listen to our inner voices

I first learned the importance of meditation at my Quaker high school. Silence is a unique features of a Quaker worship service. Through silence, Quakers believe they can listen, reflect, and deepen their connection with God, their community, and themselves. For forty-five minutes once a week, teachers and students met in a sunlit room to sit in silence. In such a competitive, Type A environment, the fact that we came together weekly to affirm the time to reflect and to dream is extraordinary. Taking the time for mindfulness helped me listen to my inner self rather than follow the crowd.

As a teenager trying to figure out life, that space was essential. But as a young woman in the digital age, I find the need for silent reflection even more essential. It was easy to meditate in high school when the time was carved out for me—it’s harder to accomplish now as an adult with a hectic schedule. But according to experts, meditation one of the best ways to focus and be present rather than in “react” mode.

Ready to start meditating? Here are a few tips for incorporating it into your life:

– Start small. Sit for just five minutes a few days a week, and gradually build upwards.

– Check in with yourself. How do you feel—tired, anxious, energized? Focus on your state of being and you’ll learn more about yourself.

– Don’t worry about doing it right. For some people, meditation is about clearing the mind or avoiding all thought. While that can happen during meditation, that’s not the point. It’s normal to have thoughts, and meditation can help you better focus the direction of your attention.

– Create a space. When you’re meditating for short periods of time, your location might not matter as much, but as you increase your time spent meditating, you should be comfortable. What does your soothing environment look like? Do you need a pillow? Do you prefer sitting in the sunlight or an evening session with candles? Design a calming space that helps you clear your mind.

– Make it part of your daily routine. Set a reminder to meditate each morning to help get your day off to the right start. Switch off your phone and find a quiet space. Can’t take the time before the morning commute? Try carving out a little bit of your lunch break or use meditation as a strategy to unwind before bed.

– Join a community. There are Meditation Meetups in thousands of cities worldwide. If you can’t find a group that suits you, create one with family, friends or colleagues. Depending on where you are, you can look into your company benefits—many employers now provide meditation training to promote wellness and productivity.

– Try an app. Some crowd favorites include Headspace, Buddhify, and Mind.

Every morning, I take half an hour to meditate. The silence helps me cope with the deluge of information I receive everyday in my full-time job as a Communications Manager at multi-stakeholder industry association and my night-owl assignments as a freelance writer and editor. In the words of Buddha, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”