Youth in Action. Grounded in wisdom; for good
Bao.Bab Africa is a platform for climate action and sustainable development rooted in African wisdom, youth leadership, and the power of story sharing.
Inspired by the baobab tree; a place of memory, resilience, and gathering. We bridge science, community experience, and storytelling to shape solutions that grow from the ground up.
Africa is not starting from nothing.
Africa is remembering its magic.
WHO WE ARE?
The story of Bao.Bab Africa.
Bao.Bab Africa is an initiative of Writers Guild Kenya, founded on 16 June 2014.
For over a decade, Writers Guild Kenya has empowered young people and communities across Africa to tell their stories — through words, performance, culture, and memory. Thousands of voices have been nurtured; 400+ books published, 3,000 vibrant writers grown and nurtured, 1000+ training sessions. Unlimited impact. Stories have travelled across villages, cities, classrooms, festivals, and homes.
Like a seed germinating, Bao.Bab Africa grows from this heritage and experience.
As climate change and need for sustainable development reshape lives, livelihoods, and landscapes across Africa, we recognised the need for a dedicated space where these stories and actions could be showcased truthfully, creatively, and from within communities themselves. We call this the grassroots magic fuelling youth action.
Bao.Bab Africa exists to champion climate action and sustainable development through an African lens ; one that values science and research, while grounding them in grassroots magic, youth vibrancy, and caring story sharing.
Like the baobab, we stand rooted in the past, alive in the present, and reaching toward the future.
The Changing World Around Us
We live in a time of deep and rapid change.
Across the world, climate change is reshaping weather patterns, food systems, water access, cities, and economies. Inequality is widening. Biodiversity is declining. Conflicts and crises are becoming more frequent and interconnected.
Science tells us this clearly: the challenges we face are no longer isolated. Climate, nature, livelihoods, and justice are woven together like roots beneath the soil. What happens in one place echoes across the world.
At the same time, there is powerful knowledge, emerging from research, innovation, and global cooperation. The task before us is not only to generate solutions, but to translate them into action that people can live with, understand, and own. And this is where Bao.Bab Africa comes in. Let’s show you how.
‘WHAT’S THE TROUBLE WITH AFRICA?”
The African Story Today
Africa carries both deep vulnerability and adorable possibility.
Climate change is already felt in everyday life; through droughts, floods, rising food prices, disappearing livelihoods, and changing seasons. Rural communities feel it first. Urban communities feel it fast.
Africa is also the youngest continent in the world. Imagine that. Millions of young people are searching for opportunity, dignity, and a future they can believe in. Their energy is immense. Their frustration is real. Their creativity is undeniable.
Across the continent, communities are adapting every day — quietly, creatively, collectively. Farmers read the land. Elders remember old seasons. Young people remix tradition with innovation. Songs, dances, and stories carry knowledge that never made it into reports.
The challenge is not a lack of wisdom.
The challenge is listening and connecting.
THE BAO.BAB EXPERIENCE
First, let me tell you the story of the Baobab tree
Across Africa, the baobab tree stands as more than a plant — it is a living archive of memory, resilience, and community. Often called the upside-down tree or tree of life. Myths say it was planted roots-first by the Creator or the gods, a story born from its strange beauty and a reminder that wisdom does not always look the way we expect. For centuries, the baobab has been a place of gathering; elders meet beneath its shade to make decisions, children learn stories at its roots, travelers find shelter in its vast trunk. It stores water in times of drought, feeds communities with its fruit, heals with its bark and leaves, and endures fires, floods, and centuries of change. Some baobabs are said to house spirits or ancestors; others have served as classrooms, granaries, meeting halls, even homes. In African thought, the baobab teaches a quiet lesson; that survival is communal, that strength comes from deep roots, and that what lasts is what gives. It is a tree of patience and generosity; a symbol of how Africa has always adapted, remembered, and flourished, even in the harshest seasons.
The Bao.Bab Africa’s Contribution.
Bao.Bab Africa responds by doing something simple, and radical:
We bring science home.
We work to ensure that climate and sustainable development knowledge:
We do not replace science.
We re-ground it; in people, place, and culture.
Our Origin & Heritage
Bao.Bab Africa is not a new idea appearing suddenly.
It grows from 12+ years of experience through Writers Guild Kenya — working with youth, communities, artists, writers, and educators to unlock the power of storytelling as a tool for learning, healing, and change.
This heritage shapes everything we do:
Our Core Principles – The Bao.Bab Way
Care for Our Common Home
We see the Earth as a home, not a dumpsite.
Like the baobab that gives shade, fruit, and water without asking in return, we believe the land, water, air, and life around us must be cared for not consumed, abused and discarded. To protect nature is to protect ourselves.
Everything Is Connected
Nothing grows alone.
People, land, climate, culture, and economy are woven together like roots beneath the soil. When one part is harmed, the whole feels it. We work for solutions that heal the whole not just one branch, or the privileged.
For Those Who Come After Us
The baobab grows slowly, knowing it will shelter generations it will never meet.
We act with the youth of today and the children of tomorrow in mind. Our choices honour ancestors, empower young people, and protect the future of those yet unborn.
For the Common Good
Under the baobab, decisions are made for everyone, not just a few.
We believe climate action must serve people, communities, and life itself, especially those most affected. Progress only matters when it is shared.
Walking Together
No one holds the whole wisdom alone.
Change grows through listening, participation, and shared responsibility. We move forward in solidarity — youth, elders, communities, institutions — each bringing their voice, their story, and their care.
In Practise these principles mean:
We listen before we act.
We include before we decide.
We care before we consume.
We think beyond today.
We walk together.
These principles guide how Bao.Bab Africa works, from the ground up, with love for people, land, and the future we share.
OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION
The Bao.Bab Way
Our strategic direction is simple:
To move climate action through learning, doing, and telling.
We operate as a bridge:
We believe transformation happens when people see themselves inside the solution.
OUR 3 STRATEGIC PILLARS.
Africa’s youth are not waiting to be invited.
We work with young people as leaders, translators, researchers, storytellers, and implementers. They carry ideas across generations and spaces; from community meetings to global conversations.
Youth action is not a programme.
It is a movement.
Communities have been adapting long before adaptation had a name.
We work with rural and grassroots communities as co-creators of climate action — recognising indigenous knowledge, lived experience, and everyday practices as essential sources of insight.
Development becomes meaningful when it feels familiar.
Stories are how humans cooperate.
We believe in data that tells a story, and stories that carry evidence. We listen in local languages. We honour songs, dances, rituals, memories, and quiet conversations.
Story sharing is our method — not decoration.
HOW WE WORK
What We Do
Bao.Bab Africa works across the full cycle of climate action:
We work with institutions, researchers, communities, and young people — always starting with listening.
VISION & MISSION
Our Vision
An Africa where climate action and sustainable development grow from the ground up — shaped by youth, nourished by community wisdom, and carried forward through stories that connect science, culture, and lived experience.
Our Mission
To champion climate action and sustainable development in Africa by bridging science, youth leadership, and grassroots experience, and by using the power of stories to translate knowledge into action that is locally rooted, culturally meaningful, and deeply human.
Our Call to you.
Come, sit under the baobab with us.
Let us listen. Let us learn. Let us act — together.
Whether you want to experiment with writing for yourself or you’d wish to
publish professionally, we have worked with writers from both extremes and we
have carefully packed this course to suit your needs.
More reasons to choose us:
A Flagship Lifelong Learning Initiative by Writers Guild Kenya The Keep Learning Program is a
What It Is The Writers Guild Kenya Lifelong Learning Club (WGK LLC) is a community
A Self-Paced Course Course Summary Foundations of Reading and Writing is a self-paced introductory course
Become the sought-after editor for all works writing Program Info: Course Duration: 6 Weeks Intakes: