The Moment My Journey Began as a AWA Inclusion and Climate Justice Fellow

AWA fellows 2026 (Inclusion)

On March 10, 2026, I joined the onboarding session for the AWA Inclusion and Climate Justice Fellowship by Code for Africa. What stayed with me was not just what we discussed but how we framed the problem. We spoke about gaps not simply as missing information, but as missing recognition. Entire communities are doing powerful, transformative work offline, yet remain invisible in the very spaces where the world goes to learn.

Seeing My Region Differently

As I moved deeper into the fellowship, I began to see Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini through a different lens. I started noticing what had always been there but rarely documented:

• The activist whose impact lives in communities, not online
• The woman leading change whose story hasn’t been written
• The LGBTQ+ voices present in reality, yet absent in digital spaces

It wasn’t absence of existence. It was absence of documentation.

Holding Space for Complex Stories

One of the most meaningful parts of this journey has been working with stories that sit at intersections.

Stories where:

• Gender meets governance
• Identity meets policy
• Climate meets lived experience

Turning Experience Into Intention

As my journey continued, it naturally shaped my plan. Not something abstract but something rooted in what I was seeing every day. I found myself drawn to:

• Documenting activists whose names hadn’t yet entered global knowledge spaces with my community.
• Highlighting women and LGBTQ+ individuals whose work is often overlooked
• Strengthening representation in governance and human rights

It became less about “what I need to do” and more about:

The Quiet Work of Change

A lot of this work is quiet. It’s sitting with information. Verifying sources. Structuring data. Making small edits that might not seem significant on their own. But I’ve come to understand something: Visibility is built in small, consistent actions. Every entry created. Every profile improved. Every missing detail added.

What This Journey Has Changed in Me

This journey has changed how I see the internet but more importantly, how I see my place within it. I am no longer just someone searching for representation. I am someone helping to create it. And that shift is powerful. Because it means the next person searching someone like me might not encounter silence. They might find a story. A name. A reflection.