COLUMN YOUNG, AFRICAN AND
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE! By Eva Nakto By Eva Nakato
Many Western media houses and their affiliates have continuously been on the spotlight for painting the African continent as one full of problems, diseases and corruption. The youth have not been spared either since they form majority of the total population. There has always been reports of how the young people are wallowing in poverty, their constant involvement in crime and violence, drug abuse, early marriage of the girl child and the subsequent domestic violence stories, amongst others. Whereas the aforementioned scenarios might be common, there are nevertheless millions of other young people on the continent living exemplary lives and being the forces to reckon with. These youths have done phenomenal work to bring about change in their respective communities and countries. They did not wait on their governments or outsiders to run to their aid nor did they wait for others to speak on their behalf. They also did not wait until they had assumed ‘big’ positions in governmental agencies before they could attempt to tackle the most pressing issues around them and their surroundings. They simply decided to be the change themselves. In 2010 at the age of 26, Jamila Abbas, a Kenyan Software Engineer and Computer scientist decided to join forces with her friends in order to do something about the plight of Kenyan small-scale farmers through the use of technology. Together, they founded MFarm Kenya Limited, an internet-based organization that helps farmers find the best farm implements, seeds, access to weather reports and market information. The outcome of this innovation was unimaginable as hundreds of thousands of farmers immensely benefited from it. Douglas Smith, a 21-year-old Ugandan, is the CEO of Sportrise Uganda. The company manufactures soccer balls directly from plastic waste. They do this to help influence a social change for disadvantaged children and youths through playing football to help take their minds off distractive engagements and instead occupy their time with a meaningful and healthy activity. In Nigeria, Godwin Josiah and his cousins commonly known as ‘Critics’, broke the internet when they went viral for shooting a Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) movie with just a smartphone. They
spent sleepless nights on YouTube watching tutorials on how to make visual effects. After saving some little money, they bought a green cloth in order to achieve the green screen effect. They then used their old and broken equipment to shoot their first project, a short sci-fi movie. Godwin maintained that their intention was to not go viral but to let the world know that kids like them could do something different. They have since then shot a number of awesome movies even with the limited equipment at their disposal. Moving on to Burundi, Dieudonne Nahimana’s vision for a national development arose after his father and other family members were brutally murdered in cold blood due to the tragic devastating war in Burundi in 1993. He was consequently unable to complete his education and hence ended up sleeping on the streets as his new home and also as a way of survival. Uncertain about his future, young Dieudonne was left with nothing but hope, perseverance and a vision. On a fateful Christmas Eve, he decided to share his meal with fellow street children. This brought a glow on their faces stirring up a vision within him. This act of kindness led to the birth of ‘New Generation Burundi’, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing street connected children and cultivating them into a new generation of servant leaders. Nahimana’s ability to equip, inspire and mobilize the youth has brought a tremendous healing, hope and dignity to thousands of youths and children in Burundi. Now, the aforementioned youths are not the only ones bringing about change in their respective communities on the African continent. We could actually spend several weeks mentioning all of them. Just like these change makers, there is so much that youths can put on the table in this day and era if given the chance to showcase their ability. We are neither too young or too old, too rich or too poor to make a difference in this world. We all can collectively and effectively make the world a much better place not only for ourselves, but also for the generations to come. The ultimate goal is to not leave anyone behind. Adios!
Eva Nakato is a Ugandan based writer and she wants to read from you so write her through info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com
www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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