Reclaiming Roots Through Agritravel & Storytelling: A Powerful Gathering of African Diaspora Voices
Yesterday evening in our ongoing conversation Agritravel, travel & Hospitality we brought together voices from across continents, under the theme: “The Story of Destinations.” Organized by Obehi Ewanfoh, founder of AClasses Academy and WeDiasporan, and author of The Storytelling Mastery, this session was more than a webinar. It was a reclamation. A reconnecting. A call to remember.
Learn How to Leverage Your Story through our Story To Asset Framework.
Featured Speaker at the event:
- Jay Pascua – The Storytelling Strategist
- Dr. Enolia Foti – Transforming lives through Self-Mastery,
- Ikechi Agbugba, PhD: Pioneer & Author of Brain Re-engineering Strategy
- Yahsonn Tafari – Global Organic Agripreneur
- Don Hough – CEO at Enterprise Transformers, Inc
This entire diaspora-informed travel initiative is rooted in Obehi Ewanfoh’s decade-long research on the presence and experiences of Africans in Northern Italy.
What began as a localized inquiry evolved into a global exploration of the African diaspora. Through The Obehi Podcast, he has conducted over 1,000 interviews with professionals, creatives, and everyday people across the diaspora, gathering powerful stories, insights, and lived experiences.
After years of listening, documenting, and analyzing this wealth of perspectives, creating a platform to reconnect the African diaspora to their roots was not just a natural next step; it was a necessary one.
The SANKOFA: Retracing My African Roots is that platform: a space where data meets identity, and storytelling becomes a bridge home.
At the core of the gathering yesterday was a powerful question: What if we viewed our destinations not merely as points on a map, but as living stories, ancestral narratives waiting to be felt, remembered, and shared? This question lies at the heart of SANKOFA: Retracing My African Roots, a signature project by AClasses Academy that seeks to reconnect members of the African diaspora with their roots.
Through strategic partnerships with travel and hospitality agencies across the African continent, AClasses Academy curates immersive, culturally rich travel experiences designed to offer diasporans a firsthand encounter with Africa’s heritage, its people, its traditions, and its spirit.
DTE isn’t just about travel; it’s about return, reconnection, and the restoration of identity through story-driven travel.
Storytelling as Strategy: The Power of Emotional Connection
Obehi Ewanfoh opened the dialogue by highlighting how storytelling transforms travel from transactional to transformational.
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In his words, “When we understand the story behind a destination, we move from visiting a place to belonging to it.” This approach resonates deeply with people of African descent who seek not only vacation spots but reconnections to heritage, history, and identity.
Ewanfoh emphasized that travel, particularly agritravel, should be a tool for healing, economic empowerment, and cultural education. It is through narrative, he stated, that destinations can become strategic assets, not just for marketing, but for legacy-building.
A Vision Quest to Africa: Dr. Enolia’s Spiritual Pilgrimage
Among the most moving contributions came from Dr. Enolia, a transformational leader and wisdom keeper who blends ancient knowledge with modern leadership.
She shared how her first call to Africa, or what she described as (the destination called me) came not through a travel brochure but through a vision quest during a women’s retreat in Chile.
A conversation with an elder led her to embark on a journey to Kenya, where a 100-mile walking safari became more than an adventure; it was a spiritual homecoming, still leading her on a fulfilling mission today in Africa.
That journey ultimately transformed her life. Leaving behind the fast-paced world of New York City, where she was born, raised, and spent over 20 years in the corporate sector, Dr. Enolia Foti now calls Africa home.
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She spoke powerfully about the deep emotional and cultural healing that takes place when members of the African diaspora return to the continent, not as tourists, but as returning kin, reclaiming a connection that transcends borders and time.
This, once again, is the essence of SANKOFA: Retracing My African Roots by AClasses Academy, a bridge between continents, stories, and souls. For every one of the over 200 million people in the African diaspora, there are countless others across Africa ready to welcome them home, to reunite, reconnect, and remember.
Agriculture, Empowerment, and Pan-African Unity
Dr. Ikechi, an academic raised within the storied halls of the University of Nigeria, spoke passionately about the socioeconomic potential of agritravel across Africa’s geopolitical zones.
Drawing from his background in agriculture and social sciences, he emphasized how agritravel isn’t just about showcasing farming, but about building systems of empowerment, education, and sustainability.
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He noted the profound impact of African Americans visiting Nigeria when he was still a youngster, describing how shared ancestry often brings unexpected emotional depth to these exchanges. “These visits spark something deep and ancestral,” he said. “A connection to the land and to each other that can’t be explained, but only felt.”
Intercontinental Insights: Caribbean, Native American & African-American Contributions
The conversation underscored the need for inclusivity within the global African diaspora of hundreds of millions of people.
Yahsonn Tafari, an organic agripreneur currently working from Cutler, California, emphasized the importance of recognizing the Caribbean in pan-African travel narratives.
Sharing updates from his work in Saint Kitts and Nevis, he highlighted efforts to weave agritravel into food security strategies while ensuring the Caribbean voice remains central in global conversations about African heritage.
Echoing the theme of ancestral wisdom, Jay Pascua, a storytelling strategist of Native American heritage, reminded attendees of the importance of returning to indigenous knowledge systems.
“If our ancestors cultivated this land for thousands of years before colonialism, we too must reconnect with those systems, through land, through food, and through story,” he said.
From Los Angeles, Don Hough, CEO of Enterprise Transformers and founder of the Grow Mobile Agribusiness App, brought a spiritual dimension to the discussion. Agreeing with Tafari, he urged participants to consider not just the economic but also the spiritual nature of travel.
“Agriculture is not only about feeding the body,” he said. “It’s also about feeding the soul. There’s healing when we step onto ancestral soil and reconnect.”
A Movement, Not a Moment
As the session drew to a close, Obehi Ewanfoh reaffirmed the importance of consistency in this work. This wasn’t a one-off event, but a chapter in an ongoing story. “We are committed to meeting every 14 days to deepen this conversation and unify the African diaspora through travel and agritravel,” he announced.
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This virtual gathering, diverse in geography, discipline, and experience, was a living example of what happens when storytelling meets intention: When travel becomes a means of return. And when people of African descent around the world choose not just to visit but to reclaim.
Key Takeaways:
- Storytelling is essential in transforming destinations into emotionally resonant experiences.
- Agritravel is a powerful tool for cultural education, economic empowerment, and ancestral reconnection.
- Inclusion of all diaspora voices, especially from the Caribbean and indigenous communities, is critical for a holistic Pan-African future.
- Spiritual and emotional dimensions of travel deserve equal focus as economic ones.
- Ongoing dialogue and collaboration are crucial for sustaining this global reconnection movement.
Next Webinar: Join the conversation every 14 days as we continue to explore heritage, hospitality, and healing through the power of agritravel. For more, visit https://aclasses.org/ or follow The Obehi Podcast.
Learn How to Leverage Your Story through our Story To Asset Framework.
