Some readers may remember an article published in the Autumn 2023 edition of Center and Periphery describing my meeting with Janet Manoni from Tanzania during the April 2023 World Teachers’ Conference: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A Chance Encounter that Was Not by Chance.  As described in this article, following this fortuitous meeting I swiftly made a visit to Tanzania, and what I experienced there was nothing short of remarkable – local children from the village attending classes with children facing the challenges of living with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and hydrocephalus. Through heartfelt conversations in which Janet shared her hopes and vision, the dream of founding a training for teachers who work with fully inclusive Waldorf classrooms in East Africa was born. It’s hard to believe that the stars were aligned such that since that meeting in April 2023, and my visit in August of the same year, a group of colleagues met to outline the vision and structure for a training program, and the first pilot module of the program known as Camphill Academy Afrika was held in August 2025 in Vikindu, Tanzania! 

Following my initial visit to Janet’s school in Tanzania in August 2023, it was clear to the two of us that a larger circle of colleagues was needed to make this dream of providing training for the teachers at her inclusive Waldorf school a reality. It was also clear that this dream needed support from both the Camphill movement and the Waldorf movement. By connecting with Jan Göeschel of Camphill and the Goetheanum, we learned of a parallel dream for a program in Rwanda, and our two groups were soon joined by colleagues from Botswana with a similar dream. Thus, in February 2024, eight colleagues from five organizations [Ubumwe Community Center (Gisenyi and Mwogo, Rwanda); Mwanangu Development Tanzania (now Mama na Mwana Foundation) (Vikindu, Tanzania); Camphill Community Trust (Otse, Botswana); Center for Anthroposophy/Antioch University (Wilton, NH); Camphill Academy (USA and Switzerland)] met for a week in Rwanda to outline the mission, vision, and structure of a three-year training program for teachers working in inclusive Waldorf classrooms in East Africa. 

February 2024 – Core planning faculty for Camphill Academy Afrika in Rwanda: Zacharie Dusingizimana: Ubumwe Community Center (Gisenyi, Rwanda); Mpho Makutu: Camphill Community Trust (Otse, Botswana); Marc Blachere: Camphill Academy (Copake, NY); Carla Beebe Comey: Center for Anthroposophy/Antioch University (Wilton, NH); Jan Goeschel: Camphill Academy (Beaver Run, PA) and Goetheanum (Dornach, Switzerland); Janet Manoni: Mwanangu Development Tanzania (Vikindu, Tanzania); Viateur Uwambajimana: Ubumwe Community Center (Mwogo, Rwanda); Not pictured, Justin Nshimiyimana: Ubumwe Community Center (Gisenyi, Rwanda).

The Eight Core Faculty and Coordination Group members reached the following agreements: 

Core agreements:

• The five organizations represented will partner and collaborate to develop and implement an anthroposophic training in inclusive Waldorf education, supporting persons with disabilities and community-building, including social agriculture and biodynamics, which is inspired by Camphill and the cultural and place-based contexts in which the three African partner organizations are embedded.
• The individuals listed above form the Core Faculty and Coordination Group responsible for all aspects of this project. They also represent this project within their respective organizations. (Others may be added to this Core Group in the future.)
• The initial project period is for a three-year program cycle (9 in-person modules), with an open-ended outlook for extension, based on joint evaluation.
• At least one Core Group member from each of the three African partner organizations will attend each in person module.

The Program will address the following objectives:

• Curative/special needs/inclusive capacities will be built throughout all curriculum strands.
• Cultural and place-based resources and practices from the contexts of all three African partner organizations will flow into all aspects of the curriculum, and participants will be encouraged and empowered to research and contribute to this discovery process.
• Artistic processes and ways of working will be built throughout all curriculum strands.
• A strong emphasis on learning by doing, and on the phenomenological method, will create the foundation for real (not just abstract) insight and free, creative thinking and action.
• The program will support participants in ‘reaching the heart’: Becoming able to allow, perceive and express inner feelings, and work with them: Thinking, feeling and will are all addressed in the process.
• The program will create an experience of empowerment – participants will build confidence and learn to work creatively, with full ownership of their own professional practice.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the five partner organizations was signed in the following months, and fundraising efforts yielded enough support for the first pilot module to begin in July 2025. The first in-person residency took place in Vikindu, Tanzania a month later, with 13 faculty members and 31 participants, including two participants who joined us from a Camphill community in South Africa. 

On the opening day of Camphill Academy Afrika, July 7, 2025, Janet Manoni told our story: 

The journey of Camphill Academy Afrika began not with policy or paperwork, but with a dream—a vision deeply rooted in the soil, soul, and spirit of Africa. It was a yearning to cultivate a truly African-based Waldorf inclusive education—one that honors the genius loci: the sacred essence of our land, our people, our animals, plants, and minerals. This impulse was first stirred in a moment of grace: two women, strangers until they shared a seat at a workshop, recognized each other not merely as kindred spirits, but as long-lost soul sisters. Reunited by a divine current, they saw the shape of a shared destiny—a mission to awaken African wisdom through education. In beautiful synchrony, this same pulse was felt in Rwanda, where three brothers came together with a mirrored aspiration. Though their paths had been separate, their hearts were aligned—each carrying a piece of the same cosmic blueprint. From that convergence of souls—eight flames across nations—a movement was born. Not simply a training program, but a living impulse: to weave anthroposophy with African wisdom, and create an academic journey that does not impose, but emerges organically from African realities. Today, Camphill Academy Afrika stands as a testament to unity, intention, and ancestral guidance. It is more than an initiative—it is a homecoming for those called to serve humanity through healing, inclusion, and transformation rooted in Africa’s cultural soil. So we are a consortium of African and international partners working under the Camphill Academy’s Continuing Education Program.

(Full text of Janet’s opening address can be found on the Camphill Academy Afrika homepage, where additional information about the program can also be found.)

Upon arrival in Tanzania, each person and group was greeted with a warm welcome and celebratory song.

Janet Manoni welcomed everyone to Vikindu, Tanzania on the opening day of the residency.

Faculty members of the August 2025 Camphill Academy Afrika pilot module in Vikindu, Tanzania clockwise from top left: Janet Manoni, Richard Blake, Marc Blachere, Justin Nshimiyimana, Becky Rutherford, Jan Göeschel, Stephen Chambo, Ruth Thiongo, Carla Beebe Comey, Mpho Makutu, Gleice da Silva, Joan Sleigh, Viateur Uwambajimana.

We began each day with a celebratory gathering to hear our opening verse read in four languages (Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Setswana, and English) and to sing and move together. We even explored, in a true collaborative spirit, how the elusive Ubumuntu spoken in Kinyarwanda might be moved in eurythmy. 

Reading of the morning verse in four languages.

Moving and singing together.

The three courses for all participants were Inner Development, The Development of the Human Being, and Inclusive Community Building. Participants brought their own experiences to share as they learned of Rudolf Steiner’s picture of the first three 7-year stages of development, and then took a deeper look at the first 7-year phase. The Inner Development Course introduced Steiner’s seven conditions and the relationships of these conditions to African wisdom such as that found in Ubumuntu, Hekima, and Akaretsa – the three African ideals included in the Camphill Academy Africa logo and mission. 

Photos from classes 

The third course for all participants, Inclusive Community Building, was given over the course of a full day. We began with a drive through the bustling city of Daar es Salam to visit a local hospital where children receive treatment for spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and then returned to Vikindu to hike through a local forest in the afternoon. The day culminated with a traditional meal served on community plates as we sat together on traditional mats.

Each afternoon participants attended course strands related to their specialty – early childhood, primary education, vocation and livelihood, or biodynamics and agriculture.

Early childhood participants making dolls.

Agriculture and biodynamics course participants.

Each evening, all participants and faculty shared a communal meal before gathering around the fire, where we sang and danced with contributions from all cultures, and much joyful laughter was heard!

The residency culminated in an evening celebration where the four strands offered presentations from their work, each participant was presented with a continuing education certificate, and three participants taught us a song entitled, “Hekima, Akaretsa, Ubumuntu,” which they had been inspired to write especially for the program. 

Sharing of our program song.

Sharing from the early childhood course strand.

Each participant received a Certificate.

All participants and faculty with children from the Vikindu community.

Reflections from participants:

Strangers became family through shared purpose.

Translation gave everyone a place in learning.

Away from the familiar, every day became a step to transformation.

Seeing how differently we live became a lesson in humility and growth.

I also understand a little bit the history and background of Waldorf education and where it comes from as well as the purpose of education.

Since the first residency in August, participants and faculty have continued to meet weekly, alternating between local gatherings of participants, online meetings for the course strands, and online gatherings for all faculty and participants. Following the great success of this first residency and the continued enthusiasm expressed in our weekly meetings, we are joyfully looking forward to our next residency this coming January in Rwanda!

If you would like to support this program, you can do so by making a donation to the Fonds für Heilpädagogik und Sozialtherapie Dornach or the Camphill Foundation (US) for the benefit of “Camphill Academy Afrika”.

Carla Beebe Comey, on behalf of the Camphill Academy Afrika faculty