Lea Komba

Lea arrived at RCN as a passionate public speaker and left knowing exactly what she wanted to do with it. During her second year she co-developed LEAF, a digital platform for environmental education in low-income communities, and spoke at TEDx UWCRCN in 2023. Three months before graduation she began planning a literature festival in Namibe, a province in southern Angola far from the capital where access to books and cultural events is sparse. She secured funding from the Goethe Institut, assembled a volunteer team, and in June 2024 Festival Akwendge ran for two days with around 4,000 children and teenagers from seven schools. Street libraries, storytelling, debates. It was the first event of its kind in Angola. Lea was invited onto radio and television to talk about it. She is now studying at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and plans to take the festival to other Angolan cities.