April 3, 2017
Dear Princeton Class of ‘72,
Sanbonani!
It’s hard to believe my last correspondence was last
year! My time at African Leadership Academy is
slowly coming to an end, but remains one of the most
transformative and impactful years of my life. In my
last letter, I wrote of many plans that included eating
food from all 54 countries in Africa and learning to say
hello in every language spoken by a student at my
school. I must admit I underestimated these tasks, but I
am confident I will accomplish these tasks… when I’m
50.
Me (right) and fellow Ghanaian, former AngloAshanti Gold CEO Sam Jonah
Since October, my workload has increased and in turn
so have my skills. We lost a vital team member, which
resulted in me picking up a lot of her tasks. It was quite
stressful, but I really appreciated being exposed to the
importance of external communications. I worked on a
donor report for a major foundation that resulted in the
improvement of my communications writing skills. In
addition to this, I was responsible for arranging all inperson and virtual meetings for our students and
donors. It was great to see how much our students light
up when sharing their accomplishments and stories
with their donors. I have really enjoyed the time I have
spent with students and donors.
I have continued producing videos for the fundraising
calendar. I am currently working on a video about one
of our alums who started a school in South Sudan while
studying at Notre Dame. This student is an amazing
young leader and it was an absolute pleasure to work
and learn from him. I am so excited to share this video
with the world when it is finished. In order to create this
video, I had to coordinate logistics remotely from South
Africa. We hired some videographers who were based
in Uganda and flew them to Bor, South Sudan to film
the opening day of this alum’s school. I am currently
awaiting our second draft, but I hope to have the final
video by the end of this month. I plan on creating a
Me (left) and coworkers during a student-run
event celebrating African women
Selfie with a student and coworker during
school pictures
media outreach plan to share it with CNN Africa, BBC
Africa and other major news organizations with an
African focus. The students and alum at ALA have
exceptional stories and I love sharing them with rest of
the world. ALA has taught me the power of youth,
especially in the African continent and I want our
students to serve as examples to others just like them.
Before I left for the holidays, I was extremely busy
writing and designing end of the year/holiday
communications to donors. These communication
pieces included about 40 targeted mailers to donors
who are alumni of the universities where some of our
recent graduates are attending and 100+ thank you
letters to donors who sponsor students and dorm rooms.
Though this period was extremely chaotic for me, it
taught me a lot about time management and work
prioritization that I have taken forward in my role this
term.
During the holidays, I went to Accra, Ghana to visit my
parents. In Accra, I felt much more at ease navigating
the city thanks to my time in Johannesburg. I easily
went to the market by myself and haggled with the
vendors (who I must admit are easier to bargain with
than in Johannesburg). I ate my fill of home-cooked
food and spent a lot of time with family, many of which
I had not seen since I left Ghana at 7. While in Ghana
I could not stop comparing South Africa to Ghana
especially, in terms of tourism. I have a great interest in
tourism, which South Africa is leading on the continent.
Being at ALA has opened up my interest in
entrepreneurship, so I began brainstorming with my
uncle on possibly starting a tourism venture in Accra. I
hope to continue this conversation because I believe
Ghana has a lot to share with the rest of the world and
I want to transform our tourism industry to be on par
with South Africa.
Upon returning to South Africa, I found out my
manager would be transitioning out of ALA. I was
unhappy with the news, but remembered she taught me
so much about communications and fundraising that I
will continue to use as I progress in this field. Before
she left she found more opportunities for me to put to
use the goals I set for this fellowship, which included
graphic design, public speaking and professional
Me and fellow Joburg PiAf Fellow, Faith
Park, celebrating the Chinese New Year
Me and Faith during trip to
Mpumalanga in Northern South
Africa
writing. I was given opportunities to give
announcements during community assemblies, design
invitations for upcoming ALA events as well as work
on important donor reports and proposals. She allowed
me to retake all the student headshots when I identified
the ones we had were not the best. I did these retakes
with little assistance and ended up with 234 great
student photos to send to donors! I am extremely
grateful for her dedicated supervision and willingness
to help me grow.
Outside of work, I have continued to explore South
Africa and as well as the rest of the continent. I
mentioned in my last letter I would be attending a PiAf
Southern Africa retreat with the other PiAf Fellows in
Lesotho. It was great to explore Lesotho and catch up
with the other Fellows. This retreat saw us repel down
a waterfall, learn about Sotho culture and ride donkeys
through the mountains. I also had the chance to visit the
province of Mpumalanga, which is in the north of South
Africa with the other Johannesburg Fellow. We saw
breathtaking landscapes that I will never forget. I highly
encourage a visit there.
One of my favorite trips so far was my trip to Nairobi,
Kenya. Our PiAf retreat was held in Moshi, Tanzania
last month and it was amazing! I caught up with
Fellows I had not seen since orientation in June and
learned more about my options post-fellowship. Some
PiAf Fellows and I decided to spend some extra days in
Nairobi and it was one of the best decisions I have made
so far in this fellowship. I fed a giraffe, explored the top
of Kenya and got to spend time with friends I truly
connected with during this fellowship.
Riding my first donkey while trying
to hide my fear in Lesotho.
All the Southern Africa Fellows during our
retreat in Lesotho
The rest of my travel plans for this fellowship include
going to visit the PiAf Fellows in Botswana, spending
Easter in Mozambique with the Southern Africa
Fellows, going to Swaziland for a music festival and
sharing my love of South Africa by visiting Durban and
Cape Town with friends who will be visiting me from
the U.S. in June.
Me (center) and other PiAf Fellows at top of
Nairobi
I have chosen to spend the second half of my fellowship
exploring the region more and figuring out my plans
after my fellowship. I came into this fellowship with a
set plan of what I wanted to after ALA, but now I have
no plans and I am really happy about that. Being here
has exposed me to so many different career
opportunities, countries, entrepreneurs, which have all
impacted what I want to do in the future.
Through this fellowship, I have discovered I am
interested in starting my own business venture, an
interest in marketing and the power of youth.
I am grateful for every day I have spent at ALA and the
connections I have made and I would not trade my time
here for the world. For providing me this opportunity I
am truly grateful.
Feeding a giraffe at Giraffe Center in Nairobi
With gratitude always,
Vanessa Nyarko
Princeton in Africa, 2016-2017 Fellow
Donor Relations Fellow, African Leadership Academy
[email protected]
Selfie with two of my “daughters” from my
Advisory Family
Enjoying the best of South Africa at Bourke’s
Potholes in Mpumalanga