David Moinina Sengeh was seemingly at the peak of a great career triumph. Educated in America at Harvard and MIT, he was now a governmental cabinet member of education in his home country Sierra Leone. However, at the very beginning of his president’s term, the president – his boss – said that he would maintain the previous regime’s policy of banning pregnant girls from school. To most, this move seemed to make sense. However, to Sengeh, it did not, and he considered resigning. A ban makes an already hard situation worse. Many of the girls had experienced domestic rape, so a ban would keep them permanently from becoming productive citizens. So Sengeh’s sense of calling was excited, and this book’s real-life plot was begun.
Of course, many experience a moving sense of calling; few maintain it to execution. This story, more of an inspirational memoir than anything else, tells how he organized his own mind, then his own government, and then his country to implement the idea of “radical inclusion” that animated his passion. He changed the president’s mind and the country’s hearts. He did so in a very brainy way and used wide learning to tear down social, religious, and ethnic barriers.
Many pursue education in the hope of changing the world. Certainly, Sengeh did by pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering. Yet maintaining momentum to adopt changes, even if they’re different from the ones you started with, is an arduous task. Sengeh’s words can inspire people by training their hearts and minds to fulfill their dreams and make a difference in the fate of humanity. His story is a good lesson in intense, focused work.
This book is short but power-packed. It enlightens because it did not occur in a “developed” country but rather mostly in western Africa. It provokes hope because Sengeh taught an entire nation one powerful principle: what he calls “radical inclusion.” It teaches us how to apply such powerful lessons in our lives. Its only shortcoming, which is minor in the book’s scope but common among politicians, is that his ego sometimes pedantically stalls in communicating the essential storyline. Overall, though, he conveys his tale with passion, brilliance, and force.
This book can garner a global audience, particularly those of us whose jobs it is to implement change. It inspires and instructs at the same time. It can also propel students forward to seeing their transformative visions of the future put into effect. He avoids hyperbole and fluffiness that is too common in heartwarming tales. The fact that this impact was achieved by an African, albeit with a privileged education, shows that any world citizen can institute meaningful impact.
Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home, and World
By David Moinina Sengeh
Narrated by Dion Graham
Copyright (c) 2023
Macmillan Audio
ASIN B0BFFJJLZH
Length: 5:23
Genre: Memoir, Politics
www.amazon.com