Part 1: A leadership journey weaving many threads
By Arina Anisie
At the end of 2025, I had the privilege of joining the Homeward Bound Global Leadership Summit in Tanzania alongside 60 inspiring women from around the world. Over 15 days, we journeyed from Arusha to Karatu to the Serengeti and back, spending two weeks far outside my comfort zone and immersed in extraordinary moments of growth.
It took me time to reflect. Life was full, and the experience itself was layered, complex, and deeply transformative. It needed space to truly percolate.
Being in Africa was a profound exercise of surrendering. Surrendering to what is. “Hakuna Matata” (no worries), “Pole Pole” (slowly, slowly) aren’t just phrases used all the time by locals, they’re a way of being. My greatest lesson? Don’t go to Africa to change it. Go to let Africa change you. As Musimbi Kanyoro reminded us in the opening of the summit: Africa is alive, happy, prosperous.
This Leadership Summit not another masterclass designed to fill our heads with new information. It was experiential, embodied, relational. That’s what makes it such a unique and personal experience.
This journey wove together many different threads: the sisterhood and deep connection with 60 amazing women; an encounter of worlds through meeting Maasai women; profound intimacy with wild nature and wildlife; standing at the cradle of humanity where the first signs of human life emerged; the rich content of the leadership program and witnessing leadership in action through daily activities and experiences; and the beauty of art and poetry woven throughout.
Sisterhood and Connection
One of the most powerful and unique aspects of the experience was building deep connections with sixty extraordinary women from around the world, all with STEM backgrounds and united by shared values and a commitment to protecting our planet.
Every story, every conversation, every moment of sharing this experience bounded us. We came from different corners of the world, yet we found ourselves in each other.
An encounter between worlds through meeting the Massai women
We spent one day with Massai women from Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC). PWC is a women-focused and women-led non-profit organization, founded in 1977 in Northern Tanzania. For over 25 years, PWC has worked at the intersection of material poverty, gender inequality, climate change, and social injustice, supporting women and girls to find their agency through economic independence, education, and civic leadership.
While their scope and mission may sound broad, it is actually an acknowledgment that all these issues – gender inequality, social injustice, land protection, climate change – are interrelated, and we cannot address them in isolation. This understanding is rooted in ancestral wisdom: recognizing the interconnectedness of all these issues, as opposed to modern approach of treating everything in separation.
Meeting the Maasai women felt like an encounter between worlds. We listened to their stories, their struggles, their triumphs, their daily realities. The cultural differences were undeniable, yet just as powerful was the recognition of ourselves in one another. Beneath the surface, we shared the same desires, the same hopes, the same battles, and the same deep love for life, justice, and equality. In their strength and resilience, we found mirrors of our own journeys.
Intimacy with nature and wildlife
The wild beauty of Ngorongoro and the vast Serengeti – “land with no end” in literal translation from Swahili – was breathtaking. We spent seven days immersed in its rhythms, witnessing herds of zebras, elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, giraffes, gazelles, lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, hippos, flamingos, and countless birds. Observing without interfering, simply listening and learning, was deeply transformative.
Nature is beautiful. Nature is perfect. She is our greatest teacher and guide. A Sufi proverb came to mind: “We are entrusted with everything and entitled to nothing.” What is our role here if not to protect, steward, and create beauty for this planet?
Animals teach us so much about leadership. A striking pattern emerged: many species- elephants, lions, hyenas- follow matriarchal structures. Females lead, protect, teach, and make decisions for the collective, revealing that collaborative female leadership has sustained life in the savannah for millennia.
Mama Africa: Cradle of Humanity
Olduvai Gorge is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, called the “Cradle of Humanity.” It reveals an outstanding record of human biological and technological evolution over the past two million years. This site yielded the very first known fossil remains of two bipedal hominin species, both dating to approximately 1.64 million years ago. These are believed to be ancestral to modern humans.
Standing here, at the birthplace of humanity, puts everything into perspective. We are all connected – across time, across continents, across all our differences. And it all started right there, in the heart of Africa.
Leadership in class and in action
The summit taught us that leadership is both learned and lived. In the classroom, we worked on projects and more importantly, activating ourselves to make the change we want to see in the world. Learning to lead from where we stand. Leadership is not hierarchy; it is inclusive, collaborative, and grounded in values. We learned to influence, speak up, ask for resources, and show up fully.
Leadership in action happens amidst tension, bias, and conflict. It’s how we uphold our values with kindness, acknowledge mistakes, forgive, and grow. It’s about shifting perspectives, questioning assumptions, and moving from constant doing to purposeful action. As Fabian reminded us: “Busyness is killing us. Ask yourself: why am I doing this? What is the impact? Be purposeful, not busy.”
This summit reinforced that life isn’t about us. It’s about using our gifts, knowledge, and science in service of others.
The poetry thread
Abena P. A. Busia, poet and a diplomat, played an instrumental role in sharing her wisdom and art with us, and weaving in powerful narratives about feminism movements and feminist stories from Africa, reminding us that feminism has deep roots on the continent. She wove art and poetry throughout the entire experience, reminding us to embrace creativity, to hold onto the fact that we are all creative beings.
