My name is Anne-Gaëlle Carré and I am from the wonderful island southeast of Madagascar known as Mauritius. For the past two and a half months, I have proudly been a member of the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is a flagship program of the U.S. government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). It brings young African leaders to the United States for academic coursework, leadership training, and networking to support their development and promote positive change in their communities.

During my first six weeks, I was in Baton Rouge Louisiana, residing and attending courses at the outstanding Louisiana State University (LSU). My experience as a LSU Tiger was extraordinary! Discovering the food, the music and the culture of this southern state was simply heartwarming. From our amazing facilitators to the diverse hosts throughout the program, and the groundbreaking fellows who were also part of LSU’s inaugural cohort, this institute was a real growth journey for me.

We then traveled to D.C. for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit 2024, where all 700 fellows from other institutes around the US convened. While it was overwhelming at first, it was beautiful to see the power and impact of even more African Leaders. Following the summit, a select few were chosen for an immersive experience within different organizations around the US. Selected for this next step, I landed at the George Washington University’s (GW) project, Planet Forward.

As a socio-ecological activist, and with my experience in both the environmental and storytelling fields, it was an honor to meet this wonderful team and to learn about Planet Forward’s mission to use media and storytelling to drive dialogue on innovation and sustainability.

Through interesting group discussions, mind-blowing training sessions and mesmerizing site visits, my experience at this organization has been nothing short of unique. The team members are so supportive and it is always inspiring to work with people who are so passionate about what they are doing and working towards a cause as beautiful as environmental advancement. As a PDE fellow here, I had the opportunity to refine my multimedia skills and create meaningful connections. Additionally, I got the chance to work on the project that I would like to establish once back home. The project – which is called “Zenfan Patrimwann” and means Youth of Heritage – is a series of workshops for the youth aiming at mitigating the loss of cultural and natural heritage loss through the years.

Beyond these professional endeavors, I had the extraordinary opportunity to be a fellow in Washington, D.C. this summer. The city’s vibrant energy and rich history made every moment an unforgettable adventure. It was a thrilling experience, and I can absolutely see myself returning to D.C. to relive the magic. Each and every person I met here and each place I visited have created a life lasting imprint on my heart and mind. Strolling through the story-filled streets in my free time often resulted in me spending hours admiring the murals, or simply enchanted by the monuments and architectural masterpieces.

One of the best moments from my time here was during my day at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. As someone who once dreamt of becoming a primatologist, I was filled with emotions when I came face to face with the orangutans and the gorillas.

I remember it vividly – goosebumps were all over my body and my heart was hammering in my chest. As the happiness took over, my tears rolled down my cheeks as a smile made its way to my face. I believe those moments in life are really limited so I decide to embrace it fully. 

While I originally felt sad that I could not get a better picture because of the reflection in the glass of the indoor enclosure, the blurry picture of a gorilla actually captured one of the purest and happiest moments of my life.

Coming to the US was a dream of mine, but none of the millions of expectations came close to reality of this wonderful experience. So my biggest take away from this trip is: Never be afraid to dream big.

As the well known Ghanaian author Lailah Gifty Akita once said, “The excitement of dreams coming true is beyond the description of words.”