Dalai Lama Fellows
Mansi Kotak (Mentorship Fellow ’22)
Leadership Vision
Through the lens of compassion and long-term sustainability, I will work with local, vulnerable communities in Africa to co-create programs to empower them with the tools and resources they need to access good quality education as an instrument for social equity for the next generation of children.
Project Description
Kitabu Changu Haki Yangu (Swahili meaning My Book My Right) is a project that aims to improve both the rate and quality of literacy across communities living in abject poverty in slums and rural areas. The project will see resource centres established that will open the door of opportunities for current and future students by giving them access to a variety of books, workshops and technology. These resource centres will not only set a standard for the quality of education students should receive, they will also inspire a generation of children to dream big. Coupled with access to regular meals at school, this project will reduce absenteeism and drop-out rates and make good quality education the norm within these communities that will help an entire generation break out of the cycle of poverty.