When I found out I was going to be a mother, everything changed. I had always been introspective, a thinker asking questions about life - but silently. My journey to motherhood became an amplifier - forcing every question I had ever had to the surface. Questions about nature and nurture, identity, and the place of children in the world rose to a roaring crescendo. 

When I finally held my son in my arms 9 months later - his beautiful, tiny body squirming in my arms, his breath sweetly smelling of milk - I began to imagine the world I envisioned for him, and how to do what I could to make that world possible.

Two years later, my daughter was born, a whole pound less than her brother’s birth weight, beautifully wide-eyed and taking in the world. I didn’t think it was possible, but my heart doubled even more in size. I now had a son and a daughter, two hearts and spirits to guide and nurture through this world, and I wanted nothing more than to get this right.

As I made my journey through motherhood, I zeroed in on the two elements most central to children’s lives: how they are treated by their parents, and where they go to school. The first was largely up to me, but the second element led me down the rabbit hole of yet more questions and more introspection.

What is Education, really? What is its purpose? What is the impact of conventional educational systems on children’s bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits? Is it possible for children to be active, hands-on participants in a joyful education? Are there any viable alternatives?

Through years of research and discovery, I learned that there were, indeed, viable alternatives. Alternatives that centered children’s voices and interests, that created learning environments where children were actually excited to be, to learn, and to explore. I wanted my children to be part of a learning community like that - able to show up as themselves, discover their interests and passions, and use the community as a laboratory to have limitless learning experiences. I had found so much of what I was looking for!

However, there was one piece missing - one that was really central for me: the study and exploration of African peoples and cultures, both traditional and contemporary. 

As an African woman who grew up in Nigeria, with children born and raised outside the continent, this piece is pivotal for me. There is still so much missing from the conversations that people have about Africa. Much of that conversation is the result of honest ignorance without malicious intent, a genuine lack of knowledge about the continent. It led me to imagine what might happen if children, still in their formative years, could get a more comprehensive view of Africa - one that showcases the rich diversity, vibrancy, genius, and potential of this second-largest continent, in a balanced and nuanced way.

When I was 13, I had the privilege of traveling to Pretoria, South Africa to participate in the Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad with three other school mates as representatives of Nigeria. It was my first real introduction to the vastness and diversity of the African continent, and my first time meeting other Africans outside my country. That experience shaped my interest in other African cultures, piquing a lifelong interest and culminating in my becoming the founder and president of my university’s pan-African organization, the African Heritage Society. I believe that experiences shape people profoundly, and I believe that to be particularly potent in childhood.

Now that I had identified what I was looking for, it was time to create it. I just needed the most fundamental ingredient of them all: courage.

So, I mustered up all the courage I had, and took a life-changing course on starting a school or learning center based on alternative education and child-centered principles. That course introduced me to amazing teachers, mentors, and world-renowned practitioners, some of whom have walked this path for decades. Through the months of learning and introspection, the idea for the learning center was born. 

I am so excited to present the Heart & Heritage Center.

Welcome!

- Founder/Director, Chioma Onyewuchi