The Queen’s Young Leader Award recognises and celebrates exceptional people aged 18 to 29 from across the Commonwealth, who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives. Winners of this prestigious Award receives a unique package of training, mentoring and networking, including a one-week residential programme in the UK during which they collect their Award from Her Majesty The Queen.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!
GHANA
Alimatu Bawah Wiabriga
Derick Omari
Derick is working to raise levels of IT literacy within his community. He is the founder of Tech Era, a programme which introduces underprivileged children in Ghana to technology. To date, it has trained 80 students to use computers and solve problems with robotics. His team is also working with visually-impaired students at one school, where the aim is for half of the learners to be able to use a computer and mobile phone within a year.
Shadrack Frimpong
Shadrack is the founder of Cocoa360, which runs a free girls’ school and medical clinic in his community, funded by proceeds from a community cocoa plantation. With 17 paid staff members, 90 students and an annual reach of 2,500 patients, the Cocoa360 model has already benefitted many lives in rural Ghana.
KENYA
Douglas Mwangi
Douglas works to reduce illiteracy and poverty in his community in Kenya through education and skills-training. He founded Oasis Mathare, which offers entrepreneurial and IT skills to unemployed young people, including teenage mothers. Douglas now leads a team of five staff and 10 volunteers and has so far helped more than 2,000 teenage mothers, young people and children in the Mathare slum. The centre also has a community library, where students can do their homework, or those who lack the money to attend school can study. There is also an early childhood development space, which allows children to play and, in turn, develop physical and social skills.
LESOTHO
Reekelitsoe Molapo
Reekelitsoe enables and encourages young people in Africa to become entrepreneurs. She is the founder of an initiative called Educate Your Peer Foundation, which encourages African young people studying or working abroad to fund the education of one of their peers back home. Reekelitsoe works closely with the Lesotho Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports and Recreation to raise awareness among young people of the opportunities available to them, and to develop creative solutions to tackle challenges such as unemployment.
MALAWI
Chikondi Violet Mlozi
Chikondi is finding new ways to improve the lives of women and children within her country. As a district coordinator for Youth Net and Counselling in Malawi, she helps to free girls from forced, early marriages, supports victims of abuse and provides women with mentoring opportunities. Chikondi’s work also involves using theatre and roadshows to raise awareness about children’s rights. In addition, she coordinates an initiative to increase access to healthcare for people living in rural communities and has set up 17 support groups for people living with HIV.
Pilirani Khoza
Pilirani is working to provide disadvantaged young women in Malawi with an education. After becoming the first woman in her community to attend the University of Malawi, Pilirani founded the Bunda Female Students Organisation (BUFESO) in 2012 to help young women and girls to become involved in the fields of science and agriculture. As well as offering scholarships to those who are unable to afford school fees, BUFESO employs students as interns during academic holidays and trains them on topics such as sustainable agriculture and climate change. Interns are also paired with mentors with agricultural experience. So far, 110 university and secondary school students have been supported by scholarships, 360 women farmers have been trained and six agribusiness projects have been implemented.
NAMIBIA
Mavis Elias
Mavis is a young philanthropist who is committed to helping underprivileged people in her community. She is the founder of the EM Love Foundation, whose work ranges from providing donated food and clothing to low-income families, to hosting fundraisers to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Mavis now leads a team of seven directors, and has more than 40 volunteers working with her. She and her team have hosted a charity pop-up shop in collaboration with Street Store, a pop-up store that can be created in any community to enable the homeless to shop for free. In recognition of her community work, the First Lady of the Republic of Namibia invited Mavis to serve on her One Economy Foundation, which works to promote inclusivity between different communities, via programmes focused on education, violence and health.
NIGERIA
Hauwa Ojeifo
Hauwa is dedicated to overcoming the stigma around mental health in Nigeria. She runs a women’s support group called She Writes Women, which focuses on mental health support and outreach among some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Through this organisation, she set up the country’s first 24-hour mental health helpline, which has so far assisted more than 200 women to gain the support they need. Hauwa also operates ‘Safe Places’, free monthly support groups for women, which include therapy and help from counsellors, coaches and physicians and carries out ‘Hope Visits’ to people in psychiatric hospitals who have not had visitors for a long time.
Isaac Ezirim
Isaac is a computer programmer who teaches coding to teenagers in low-income areas. He is the founder of Teens Can Code, which is currently training 200 teenagers from the Ajegunle, Alimosho and Ejigbo communities of Lagos about computer coding and how to build web and mobile applications using the same tools that are used by professionals in the tech industry. In addition, Isaac organises a Teens Code Conference for students aged 11-18 to provide an opportunity for people in rural areas to learn how to code. Through the conference and career day events, Isaac and his team have reached more than 3,500 teenagers.
Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph
Kennedy works to promote women’s rights in Nigeria. He is the founder of the Calabar Youth Council for Women’s Rights (CYCWR), which supports the rights of women in the areas of female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic abuse, forced child marriage and access to education for girls. The CYCWR works with rural community members, to educate them on the dangers of gender-based violence. CYCWR has worked with The Girl Generation to end the practice of FGM in over 200 communities and has worked with the government to run safe houses for victims of FGM. Kennedy is currently working with the government to introduce anti-FGM laws in his state, and anti-FGM and gender-based violence education into the curriculum of all secondary schools.
RWANDA
Priscilla Ruzibuka
Priscilla is an entrepreneur who helps women gain employment. She has created Ki-pepeo Kids Clothing project, a children’s clothing line, which employs women from underprivileged communities. Priscilla trains them as tailors and uses the profits from the sales of the clothes to pay fair salaries. Priscilla also offers the women microloans if they need help supporting their families and advises them on how to look after their money. She is a board member of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Rwanda, a membership-based organisation that empowers youth in the community in areas such as entrepreneurship and leadership and connects them with mentors and investors.
SEYCHELLES
Anael Bodwell
Anael teaches young people about their sexual and reproductive health. In 2012 she co-founded Youth Action Movement (YAM) of Seychelles, the first youth group in her country to discuss these issues. The group was recognised by the International Planned Parenthood Federation for the campaign it led to improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services for young people, to help girls to understand their rights and for the contribution it made towards national policy on adolescents and reproductive health. In 2015, Anael was elected as a board member of the Seychelles National Youth Council for a two-year term. During this time, she advocated for the opening of youth health clinics in the inner islands. In 2017 she attended the World Economic Forum on Africa to call for the inclusion of young people in the decision-making process on legislations which affects them. Anael is also the co-founder of SYAH Seychelles where she advocates for the sustainable development goals in line with her passion for youth empowerment.
SIERRA LEONE
Brima Manso Bangura
Brima is an inventor, solving problems in his community through entrepreneurship. Having grown up in a slum in Sierra Leone where there was no access to a stable electricity supply, Brima invented a bicycle-powered generator to provide clean, environmentally-friendly and affordable electricity to power household appliances. His invention benefitted not only his own family, but also his neighbours and the wider community. He recently won an award for inventing a substance made from coconut shells which can absorb carbon monoxide in enclosed areas. While studying at the African Leadership Academy, Brima started a Creativity and Innovation Club to encourage a culture of innovation among young people and to enable them to create practical solutions to problems facing their communities.
SOUTH AFRICA
Siposetu Sethu Mbuli
Siposetu is developing new ways to end the stigma of albinism in South Africa. Growing up with albinism herself, and mindful of the misconceptions that still exist around it, Siposetu co-founded Love, This Skin. The organisation assists, supports and educates young people with albinism and their families. It currently works with over 100 people, the majority of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and provides them with necessities like sun protection and eye care. As a broadcaster, Siposetu regularly tells her story and encourages other people to share theirs. Love, This Skin runs an online series which, through interviews and conversations, reports on some of the challenges people with albinism have faced. The group also works with organisations like the Western Cape Albinism and Hypo-pigment Foundation to host community initiatives focused on educating the public about albinism and eradicating misconceptions about the condition.
Thamsanqa Hoza
Thamsanqa is helping young entrepreneurs and innovators to achieve their goals. In 2014, while studying at the Lawhill Maritime Centre, Thamsanqa and a friend developed the ‘Hot Nozzle’, a portable battery-operated shower head which heats up water. As a result, he was recognised by the African Innovation Foundation as one of the top ten young innovators in Africa. He has since co-founded HN Innovate, an organisation which seeks to encourage and inspire young people to explore entrepreneurship.
TANZANINA
Alice Ahadi Magaka
Alice educates girls about menstrual hygiene and provides sanitary care provisions for students who cannot afford to buy their own. After discovering many girls were absent from her school due to having their periods, Alice set up The Pink Box Project. The scheme encourages those who can afford to buy sanitary provisions to make donations to those who cannot. At its launch, 100 packs of sanitary towels were donated to women and girls and Alice now runs a monthly collection and distribution service. The scheme also hosts forums to educate girls about menstrual hygiene. Since starting the project, Alice has noted a reduction in the number of girls and young women who are absent at her school. She would now like to expand the scheme to rural areas and to introduce reusable menstrual products to girls living there.
Isaya Yunge
Isaya uses mobile software to address the needs of African communities. He is the founder and chief executive at SomaApps Technologies which created SomaApp, a mobile app which is revolutionising how scholarships are offered in Africa. Isaya and his team came up with the idea after seeing how many domestic and international scholarships go unclaimed each year because young people are simply unaware of them. The app enables students to enter their academic qualifications and the SomaApp search engine then matches them with scholarships they qualify for. More than 2,000 students are currently using SomaApp daily. Since the beta (test) version was launched in February 2017, 450 scholarships totalling more than $850,000 a year have been won by students in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
UGANDA
Bazil Mwotta Biddemu
Bazil is dedicated to helping farmers in his community thrive. He is the founder of AgroDuuka, which helps farmers in Uganda access information about market prices for produce in their region. It is designed to act as a low-cost SMS platform to connect smallholder rural farmers directly to buyers, before and after their harvest. To date, Bazil and his team have helped more than 800 farmers from 36 villages in Western and Central Uganda to gain a fair price for their produce. AgroDuuka has recently partnered with the Uganda National Farmers Federation, which is enabling almost five million farmers to have access to AgroDuuka.
Elizabeth Kasujja
Elizabeth uses technology to transform the lives of people living with mental health issues in Uganda. Her inspiration came after witnessing the stigma surrounding mental health in her community, and discovering that many mental health problems went undiagnosed due to a shortage of trained professionals and resources. This led Elizabeth to co-found Clear Yo Mind, which creates secure online platforms for people to express their feelings and access free help from mental health professionals. Clear Yo Mind also offers a text message service, where users can request help, and secure one-to-one appointments with professionals outside of a hospital environment. Elizabeth is currently studying towards a Diploma in Psychology to further support her work.
Stephen Katende
Stephen works to ensure that children in rural areas of Uganda are able to complete their education. He is the founder of Kisoboka Africa, which runs School Community Banks in the rural districts of Lyantonde and Lwengo that allow parents to save, borrow and invest for their children’s education. In addition, Kisoboka Africa equips parents with entrepreneurial and agricultural skills to help start and run their own businesses. The parents are also encouraged to engage with teachers to address any challenges their children are facing at school. Stephen and his team now work with 150 parents in two schools, and have helped over 400 children to acquire an education. The organisation is also starting to operate Young Savers and Investment Clubs in rural primary schools so that children can learn how to save money and boost their leadership skills.
ZAMBIA
Gift Chansa
Gift uses his skills as a circus performer to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people in Zambia. After training at Barefeet Theatre, an organisation seeking to engage and educate at-risk youth in the country through theatre, Gift went on to co-found Circus Zambia. The circus company provides participants in the township of Chibolya with circus, academic and life skills. As the artistic director, Gift and his team currently train 80 young people on a weekly basis who perform to more than 5,000 children in the community. By using circus skills, the Circus Zambia members are able to provide information on issues, such as HIV awareness and sanitation. They also organise events such as ‘A Day of Learning’, which encourage young people to develop their own entrepreneurial business ideas.
Sela Kasepa
Sela explores how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) can help solve some of the challenges faced by her country. Applying knowledge gained from her own engineering studies, she is the founder and teacher on Zambia’s first robotics development team. Sela has been instrumental in enabling the team’s participation in the 2017 FIRST Global Challenge in the USA, an international robotics competition which aims to inspire young people across the world to engage with STEM. Sela is now working with the Zambian Institute for Sustainable Development to popularise and broaden research into robotics, and to train the next team that will participate in the FIRST Global Challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment