Noel Alumona: Founder of Hope for African Children

Recognised by Nkuzify as Leading Teacher and Educator of the Year.

World Teachers' Day
Happy Teachers' Day from all of us at Nkuzify.

There was a time when Noel Alumona was out of school for two years. Violence in the part of northern Nigeria where he lived had driven families away and destroyed many schools.

He went on to study special education at a leading American university, and to build organisations that carry books and teachers to children who might otherwise be left behind.

He is from Udenu, in Enugu State.

A first-generation student

He comes from a humble background and is the first in his family to go to university. He taught in his community for more than five years. He then became the first Nigerian, and the first African in nine years, to be admitted to a master's programme in special education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College with an annual scholarship of 88,000 dollars.

Hope for African Children

In October 2013 he founded Hope for African Children in Abuja. It provides books and learning resources to children in rural community schools and camps for displaced people, offers tutoring and literacy support, and works to widen access to education for children with disabilities. He ran it until 2018, mentoring vulnerable children and organising teacher development programmes.

Boys Champions

In 2018 he started Boys Champions, which teaches boys and young men healthy masculinity and respect for women. In August 2022 the work earned him the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens, worth 10,000 dollars, presented at United Nations headquarters in New York. He was the first African to win it since the award began in 1914.

A meeting in India

He joined other young leaders on a pilgrimage of peace and met the Dalai Lama, sharing the vision behind Boys Champions. In 2023 he was one of 50 finalists for the Global Student Prize, worth 100,000 dollars. Vanderbilt University and his two organisations also joined forces to train 100 teachers at a new centre in Enugu.

Why Nkuzify celebrates him

He reminds us that you do not have to wait to be a teacher of others. Even while he was still a student himself, he was teaching and building. That belief runs through Nkuzify: knowledge is meant to be passed on, and the person who passes it on can be any age.

Read more in Nkuzi: The Igbo Pillars of Education, or make a free Thank You card for your own teacher.