Seeing the ecosystem: the power of Amala’s invisible connections
A blog by Lizzie Bray, Director of Education Programmes at Amala.
This blog was first published on Linkedin on 31 March 2025. You can follow Lizzie on Linkedin here.
In her book Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (2021), ecologist Suzanne Simard writes about her research to show that trees share information that is important to the health of the entire forest. They even share nutrients at critical times to keep each other healthy and are often linked to each other through an older tree she calls a “mother” tree. Personally, the idea that an invisible web of connections sustains the life of the plant kingdom comes as no surprise, because why not? The animal kingdom has relied on this survival mechanism for millenia.
As I reflect on my week working alongside Amala's web of students, alumni and educators as well as our partners across Kakuma refugee camp and the Kalobeyei settlement; it feels like I have been gifted with a mini-superpower allowing me to see the invisible Amala connectors that have grown across this corner of Kenya over time.
In our definition of a transformative education Amala describes the ecosystem of people, relationships and experiences that nurture the potential and power of learners, leading to significant shifts in their ability and mindset to positively impact their own lives and the world around them. Over and over again this week, I observed the strength and impact of this ecosystem. Amala’s alumni take the projects they created as students and turn them into a start-up or livelihood that makes a difference in their community. They are photographers; artisans; singers; writers; teachers; coordinators; managers and leaders in a corner of the world that is too often forgotten by those within power structures. They have created their own web of connections to sustain life under harsh conditions. These talented youth are quick to point to the influence of Amala’s educators, who are similarly displaced, in helping them to build the competencies and confidence to take their ideas through to implementation. They speak about their Amala education as something different, something they had not experienced in their previous educational journeys. They describe the learning as challenging but always relevant and practical.
Amala’s fourth cohort of Global Secondary Diploma (GSD) students graduated this past weekend. It was a noisy, emotional celebration with family and friends joining each graduate on the stage. There were tears in my eyes that I could not blame on the dust in the air, as I watched one young woman walk onto the stage, introduced as a mother, a wife and an Amala GSD graduate. I was glad I had remembered to bring my tissues. However it was during a speech to the graduates from Amala’s partner, Samuel Binja Cimanuka, founder and director of the refugee led organisation Ki4BLi in Kalobeyei Settlement that I experienced my biggest “aha moment” of the week. In his message to the students he spoke about the impact of their GSD education by referencing a statistic, saying that in Kalobeyei 60% of the refugee led organisations are either founded or led by an Amala alum. All the invisible connections turned neon in my brain!
“Global instability” is the term being used by media analysts to describe the current political landscape as power and resource allocations shift, often in alarming ways. Uncertainty creates its own web of fear but for me the best counter-punch is to double down on Amala’s efforts to amplify the talents of our students - each one is a future peacemaker and leader - we need them to be at those tables of power to widen their positive influence on their community and the world. So perhaps the powerful web of Amala connections is not invisible. Just like Suzanne Simard’s trees, the connections are visible when you know what to look for. Strengthening, amplifying and celebrating these connections is an essential ingredient for a safer and sustainable world.
