DIA (Debate Institute Africa) has had several names (Abba Forensics, Debate Rangers, Africa Debate Institute) in the past, but it’s heart has never changed. The heart is simple: How do we create an ecosystem that builds globally competent public speakers and debaters from Africa? That’s the question we seek to answer.
At the beginning, we didn’t think of ourselves in terms of “Africa.” It took the inspiration of one student in our program, who, during a training session, dared to ask: “What’s the point of these skills we’re learning? How can they help us shape our motherland from the ruins she’s in” Suddenly, we realized that these skills could be transformative — if weaponized to create change agents capable of turning the African story (and dream) around.
That’s how we came to link the dream of the organization to the broader vision of the African Renaissance.
The student who sparked this realization is Hermela Debessay Tekie, an Eritrean-Ugandan currently based in Canada, where she’s pursuing a degree in Political Science. She remains a firm believer in the African Renaissance.
The way we work toward this vision is by planting and reawakening African consciousness: nurturing self-love, the belief in renewal, skills enhancement, and change agent mentorship — all through our speech and debate programs.
This year, we turn 5. Like any other 5 year old, there are some old things we’ll stop doing and try and do other things and consolidate what we have and reach out for the horizons ahead of us.
So, why educational materials? At the start of the founder’s speaking career, they lacked access to high-quality training resources. The first time they encountered good material — from the Monash Association of Debaters — it felt like a lost traveler in a desert landing at a well. They savored every drop.
Today, we believe there are countless young Africans who, in this information age, need well-curated, well-organized, and well-choreographed thoughts from experienced mentors. That’s where Debate Institute Africa comes in.
What does the future look like? We say the future looks like self directed learning .
That’s why we have, in addition to our rich online library of hundreds of educational resources, in the works a handbook has been named “Ye-Yombeke”, a new WSDC comprehensive manual and several gamification initiatives. The term comes from a Bantu dialect and means “Build Yourself.”
We want to pioneer and catalyze a self-directed learning revolution, where enough directive resources are available for anyone with ambition to teach and train themselves to achieve greatness.
We believe it is vital to decolonize the way Africans learn, and that starts by decentering the teacher and taking charge of our own learning.
The ordinary African student rarely studies independently; most are immersed in teacher-centered learning.
But the teacher already knows their material — learning should be an extension of a student’s natural curiosity.
We often use this analogy:
If one person goes to a well to get water and brings it back home, they can only share small portions with others. But if everyone goes directly to the well, they each get their full share.
We believe learning should work the same way: let the student be closer to the “well of knowledge” — that is, books and resources — rather than rely solely on the teacher as the intermediary.
The idea that students need teachers to understand is true — but not in all circumstances. A teacher should guide students to the well, not be a roadblock preventing them from reaching it.
This is the learning revolution we seek to inspire.
In every young African mind lies the spark of greatness — it only needs fuel.
“Ye-Yombeke” is not just a handbook; it is a call to arms for a new kind of learner — bold, self-driven, and unstoppable.
We believe the future of African education lies in empowering students to become their own teachers, their own guides, their own architects of destiny.
Not by rejecting the wisdom of teachers, but by standing on their shoulders to reach even higher.
It’s time we reimagine learning not as a passive act of receiving, but as an active pursuit — a journey to the well of knowledge itself.
We are not just teaching debate or public speaking.
We are building a movement:
- A movement that decentralizes authority over knowledge,
- Democratizes access to intellectual tools, and
- Declares that every young African has the right and the power to build themselves — Ye-Yombeke.
This is not just a handbook.
It is a revolution written in ink and paper — ready to be lived.
