BANZA February 2016 Issue | Page 20

Plus, he had more time to work with Wits Golden Key Thinker Symposium, a youth-lead forum that he started which aims to create a platform for sharing thoughts and creating solutions. change my course at university. I realized that I was learning so many things, but I couldn’t see their relevance in real life. There was a lot of reading information and regurgitating in a text. So, I was like – what’s the purpose?” We are both enjoying this moment and the set, except for one thing – the fan. It’s been humming for a while now, and it’s rather annoying, so I propose to turn it off – we did. The way Fred Swaniker envisioned the African Leadership University’s learning model made sense to Katleho, and that’s when he loomed up on him. He wanted to get involved and help make the ALU dream a reality. Little did he know that one-year-later he would be running the orientation program for the first-ever ever batch of the inaugural class. “I didn’t see myself at that time working at ALU,” he chuckles. Katleho works with the student life team as the project leader of the ALU Arts program. “I met Fred Swaniker, the founder of ALU, after attending his session about the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program at my university,” he recalls. “And what caught my attention was his understanding of the African crisis and centralizing it around the idea of transforming the future generation of leaders – it was something I was very passionate about.” He repositioned himself in the seat. “One of my passions is transforming leaders because I have very close to my heart this belief that leadership is where things are going to happen. We need to develop leaders beyond just those in high positions, but throughout the community, and empower people to lead their lives and transform society. So, Fred’s vision resonated with me.” He got me cogitating, and I dig delicately into what seems to be a pool of philosophical thoughts. He adds, “But beyond that, rethinking education was another thing that attracted me. Rethinking education for a different generation in an unalike form so as to create a space for people to learn differently. It was one of the reasons I had to He is also one of the facilitators for Entrepreneurial Leadership.