[In this blog from the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative, Denise Bonsu, a program associate at R4D, shares a few highlights from the African Early Childhood Network (AfECN) Conference in Nairobi.]
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the African Early Childhood Network (AfECN) Conference in Nairobi with my colleague, Kavita Hatipoglu. The event was monumental, not just because it was the largest international conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD) to take place in Africa but also because it was my first work related travel with R4D. As someone with a growing interest in ECD, I was ecstatic to find out that I would be setting foot on African soil after a four-year hiatus and attending an event that would provide me with a crash course on ECD.
The beginning of the conference was nerve-wracking. I had just arrived in Nairobi and was extremely jet-lagged following many hours of travel. Upon entering the conference room, I was swallowed up by a crowd of over 800 people including government officials, researchers, funders, and many other experts in ECD from different corners of the world. Although initially intimidated at being surrounded by well-known experts in the field, my fear quickly dissipated as I was sucked into the buzz and excitement of the crowd and began conversing with the other participants.
To read the full blog, click here.
Photo: Nairobi, Kenya. © Ninara
