Porto Novo, Benin – November 28, 2006: Leadership is not about being in charge: it’s about inspiring, supporting and serving those you have the privilege to lead. Luckily, the African telecentre movement is filled with people who understand this. These are people like Aminata Maiga Fofana who is heading up the development of a telecentre network in Mali and Ndaula Sulah who leads Ugabytes in Uganda. And, also, people who are newer on the telecentre networking scene: Telecentre Times editor Esther Nasikye; Afrilinks’ Mohamed Acharom; Silvie Niombo from Congo Brazzavile; Nayer Wanas from Egypt; and Paul Barera from Rwanda. All of these people have a talent for leadership, and a passion for the telecentre movement.

Just before the Telecentre Leaders Forum, these people came together for a one day facilitation training session. In the morning, the session focused heavily on facilitation skills, network development and promoting equal participation at workshops. The afternoon included hands on planning and prep exercises for the main Forum. The session was led by my good friend Allen Gunn, but much of the best content and learning came from the leaders sharing and interacting with each other.

This session also very much about team building. The 10 telecentre leaders who participated became key facilitators in the main event. They helped others articulate their ideas, built links, encouraged participation. And, they did it by working closely with both Gunner and each other. In the end, these are the people who made the Telecentre Leaders Forum a success. I am both impressed and grateful to them as community leaders.