Push The Ladder Down Behind You
Around September 2021, I came close to dropping out of university. Academically my grades were beginning to plateau, physically I felt drained, and mentally I was struggling to keep myself on track. Simply put: I wasn’t happy. Graduating with a First two years on from that point was something I, and others around me, thought impossible.
The 18 months leading up to September 2021 were difficult for many of us around the world, given the force with which Coronavirus had struck so many people. Certainly, I felt a sense of claustrophobia and anxiety from being forced to stay at home during lockdowns. I had been unhappy at university, and in general, for some time, and these lockdowns acted as a catalyst in worsening my resolve to stay on top of my studies. Most of all, I found it almost impossible to find that spark within that I usually had when engaging with my academic studies. I felt that so much of my life had been building towards a single path that now seemed so hopeless to follow.
A turning point came however, when I was granted a final chance to resit my second-year exams, something not offered to most in a situation similar to mine. It was an academic lifeline with no guarantee of success, given how far my grades had fallen. All in all, it took me five years to finally complete my undergraduate degree and so much of that came down to the support of friends, family, and academic fellows who still saw my potential within.
Naturally, my graduation was a day charged with emotions and much of it blurs into one hurried episode in my mind. Gown fittings, refreshments, music, handshakes… all of which moments to be cherished. The one moment that cut through this surreal feeling however, was an idiom – or rather, a play on an idiom – spoken by the Vice Chancellor of Warwick during the ceremony: “Always push the ladder down behind you”.
That phrase stuck in my mind for a long time after the ceremony. On the one hand, it was simply the opposite of saying “don’t pull the ladder up behind you”, meaning that we shouldn’t stop others from having the same advantages we had.
But on the other, it summarised so much of what I had experienced firsthand. Whilst I had worked exceptionally hard to turn things around, I was nonetheless reliant upon the work of others to allow me to be in that position. It made me realise just how much we take for granted the work that others do to allow us to succeed. And it is this line of thinking that drew me towards the work of Africa Bridge so much; it is the passing of the ladder so that others may climb up after us.
At Africa Bridge, we realise that talent and skill can be found all over the world, but opportunity cannot. There are so many amongst us with hopes and dreams that may never be realised because they were not afforded the necessities to thrive: a stable nutrition, access to education, and employment opportunities to list a few. Our model is designed to give people, particularly children, these opportunities.
It is my hope that over the next few years, Africa Bridge continues to foster partnerships with other organisations that wish to implement our model. I truly believe the Africa Bridge model is a proven path towards sustainable development for impoverished communities, but donations and partnerships with other organisations are vital, if the reach of our model is to be felt all across the areas of the world that need it.
Our work is not about relief or providing respite, it is about achieving prosperity. And we can do that not through traditional aid programmes that reinforce dependency, but with a sustainable model that furthers community cohesion. Whilst our aim of alleviating poverty is shared by many, our focus on protecting the most vulnerable children, empowering women, and transferring project ownership to local communities, ensures a much more sustainable model.
Our work is not designed to cover the cracks of inequality of opportunity, it paves over them.