Umuko
A tree indigenous to East Africa is a perfect symbol for the magic of Sidecar Summit Rwanda.
A tree indigenous to the rolling hills of Rwanda is the Umuko. Characterized by fluffy red flowering blooms and a sturdy trunk, the tree carries a historical reputation of being a protecting and healing tree.
What more appropriate location to host Sidecar Summit Rwanda 2024, a gathering of 16 daring women leaders in international schools from across the African continent, than Umuko Lodge, perched on the shores of beautiful Lake Muhazi in eastern Rwanda? The Lodge provided the perfect blend of protection and healing, which are essential ingredients for exploring what serving as a woman in leadership entails in this era in international school history. We were supported and cared for by an all-male staff, an irony not lost on any of us. Their attentive, professional and respectful service added to the atmosphere of psychological safety that allowed the summiteers to let their nervous systems relax and to participate open-heartedly in conversations about the adventures inherent in leading-while-female.
Over our 3 days of reflection, conversation, and adventure we practiced active listening techniques, which allowed summiteers the rare gift of feeling heard. We mapped our leadership journeys and shared them aloud, an opportunity to mark our achievements, identify our leadership strengths, celebrate these and practice speaking about them to an appreciative audience. We equipped our leadership toolkit with essential skills, strategies, and tools that will serve our continued growth and success - with a female lens! We took advantage of our natural surroundings by focusing on the lessons nature has to teach about effective leadership, harmony, connection, courage and self-care. We were treated to a coffee tasting session by a woman-owned coffee enterprise called Kula Coffee, which is helping eradicate poverty in Rwanda through the development of women entrepreneurs in the country’s coffee communities.
As we wound up our time together we discussed our legacies: what we’d like to leave behind as we continue to practice our leadership strengths. Appropriately, I’ve since learned that Umuko branches were used by nomadic herders to kindle fires and when they were ready to move on, they would leave the banked embers nestled in the roots of the tree, ready to aid those who came along after. What a lovely lingering image of Sidecar Summit Rwanda 2024 and its courageous summiteers: bright red Umuko branches burning bright, then leaving their legacies for those fortunate enough to grow in the soil they’ve nurtured.
