EduSpots’ Post

🌦️ What if the thunderstorms we are passing through today, are clearing the skies for tomorrow? ⭕ On Saturday, I braved my 1st TedTalk, on the theme of “How to build a movement for community-led education." The talk is suffused with play-based claps as I aim to emulate the philosophies we practise. 🤔 Weaving in the 'rain clap' led to a reflection that EduSpots was born in a thunderstorm in more than one sense. ⛈️ It was December 2014. I was in Abofour with the Addae family and Francis, a local driver. There was thunder and lightening, and the lights were out. A thunderstorm of another kind was also passing through me. My dad had recently died, and I was sitting in my own kind of darkness. ⚡ In that very storm, as the rain and hail pounded the roof, we decided to create a Spot - the first Spot - known between us, to be in memory of dad. 🌅 And 10 years later, the Spot is open every day and night. It's lit by solar, symbolically, so that the light never goes out. 🌧️ The Spot concept gained its own life, building a new kind of educational firestorm that we think may spread far beyond its origins in Ghana. ☂️ Yes, I hear you: we shouldn’t have to suffer the fiercest storms to reach a new future. And sometimes no brighter sky is worth the thunderclap that hits. 🌪️ But as I stood on the TedX ‘Spot’ doing the 'rain clap', on the anniversary of my dad’s death, in a country far from my original home, I realised that sometimes you have to let life play out, and own your story, accepting its twists - and 'twisters'. 📝 Here are 3 other examples of how 'storms' have led to new beginnings: 1. The 1st Spot was hit by a big storm a year after its creation. Remarkably, this led to the rebuilding of the school, and a much bigger Spot within it, all through the support that grew from seeing the disaster. 2. During the Covid years, we went through an 'internal storm' of being unsure of EduSpots' direction, making me (and likely others!) feel a deep sense of anxiety; this led us to clarifying the Spot model, bringing Catalysts across the network together. When Covid cleared, we were reborn! 3. Being hit by severe illness in 2021 and moving through a long period of genuine hopelessness - the biggest storm I've been through - led to me quitting my UK job and going all in with EduSpots, a decision I never regret, not even a tiny bit; my energy is now returning, and today I feel a sense of rebirth. And a fun fact - I was born during one of the biggest storms the UK has faced! Hopefully I played a role in clearing the skies 😊. 🤗 And the advice? Reach out and tell others about the weather that is passing through you. 🌩️ They can’t help you until you let them feel the thunder bolts. 🙏 And we can only hope that the turmoil the world is moving through today, will lead to some kind of reset. How have you used a storm to rebuild? Comment ⬇️ 📸 Rain clap @ TEDxAcademic City University #tedtalk #education #community