Future African leaders nominated

 

The finalists in the 2020 edition of the Future Africa Leaders Award, a youth initiative of the Pastor Chris Oyakhilome Foundation, will soon honor the top 10 winners out of the 30 entries shortlisted across Africa.

The awards, backed with cash prizes, will enable the winners to do more of leadership and development projects that are already shaping Africa.

Below is the shortlist of the finalists.

GWEI MICHAEL WAWA

Gwei Michael Wawa is a 22-year-old social activist, very passionate about scientific and technological solutions for Africa’s development and advancement. Despite the recent Anglophone crisis rated as the worst socio-political conflict Cameroon ever witnessed in Africa, he courageously started an NGO called “Youth Empowerment through Science and Technology”. The organization organized 34 Conferences and 14 Seminars that directly impacted over 18,000 young people cumulatively.

In collaboration with the College of Technology, Gwei Michael organized a mega technological trade fair where several professors and senior academic staff from prestigious universities in his city participated. They reviewed over 15 different new technology inventions, and sensitized over 2000 students from secondary schools around his locality.

In an attempt to create a sustainable tech ecosystem, he partnered with NERVTEK to sponsor and organize a Teck Community Challenge. More than 200 students from 5 different tertiary institutions in Cameroon had the opportunity to showcase their skills through the design and implementation of innovative hardware solutions such as – power banks, soil moisture detector sensor, smart dustbins attached with hand sanitizer, multi-functional circuit, automatic temperature/humidity regulator, a robotic arm and a metal detector.  At the end of the event, the top three winners received incentives worth over $1000 each, some robotic materials and other related accessories to scale up their innovative works.

It’s also estimated that about 8 million liters of blood is donated in Cameroon every year, yet it doesn’t meet half the annual demand for blood. In 2014, Cameroon’s ministry of health estimated that 2 out of every 10 death in Cameroon were caused by blood-related issues. Challenged by these statistics, Gwei Michael created a Digital Health Service platform called the YEST-IN DHS. The Tech program provides 24 hours online free consultation and supports services for hospitals, health centers and non-profit organizations to organize and manage their entire blood donation process digitally. The platform has built a free, unified and centralized national support system for blood donation by networking blood donors, hospitals, blood recipients and health care workers. Over 10,000 blood users (donors/recipients) have registered on the website, with more than 2400 liters of blood donated in just 5 months of operations.

The impact of the program is so profound that it got the attention of the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health, and has been adopted by more than 100 hospitals and health centers and more than 18 health organizations.

As a result of his inventions, Gwei Michael was invited by the Prime Minister of Japan to participate in the Tokyo international conference for technological development. He is also the only African that was nominated for the 2020 edition of the Global Entreps Award jointly organized by the European Union, the World Bank and the United Nations in Seville, Spain.

During Covid-19 pandemic, the schools in Cameroon witnessed complete lock-down for 6 months, with the teaching and learning process coming to a standstill, and a vast majority of students indulging in criminal and fraudulent activities. Concerned about these events, Gwei Michael instituted a 3 months training project called ICT4Teens. Through this project, 150 teenagers were trained and equipped in media &information literacy, robotics, web development, programming and computational literacy. The training program was so impactful that the teenagers were able to immediately implement the acquired skills learned. Some of the teenagers produced toy cars that are remotely controlled by mobile devices, others were able to write computer programs used by thousands of children to learn letters of the alphabet during the quarantine season. Some teenagers developed an automated traffic light system which is currently being used by the Mayor of the same city while another team produced an automatic high-tech hand sanitizer among many other inventions.

Michael took a keen interest in a 14-year-old teenage boy who was very outstanding during the training program and further trained him on programming after the 3-month training ended. The 14 year-old-boy was able to make a machine which cracks “Egusi” with domestic materials such as cans, plank, rope and cartons.

His zeal for resilient Agriculture and food supply triggered Michael to establish an Agricultural Value Chain Project. Through the project, Michael established a 2-hectare plantain farm that actively engaged over 85 University students. He worked with the students to create a multi-crop flour making machine. The machine won Cameroon’s Best Innovative Prize of the Year in 2019 and was also the Best University Students’ Innovation in the same year. The program is currently being used as an internship site by most universities for their agricultural and technological interns. As a result of this noble course, he received more invitations from the President of the World Bank, African Development Bank, and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to inspire other youths in developing countries.

In commemoration of the International Youth Day, Michael mobilized over 200 young people and also partnered with a local dirt handling company HYSACAM to carry out the biggest cleanup campaign his city.

In an attempt to foster economic growth, Michael increased online visibility and accessibility of companies, schools, hospitals and other vital institution on Google resulting in more than 5000 points on the google map. He received a recommendation from Google, applauding his efforts and incorporating him as a member of their mapping cluster.

Michael’s exemplary accomplishments have earned him numerous notable commendations by the Government of Japan, Brazil, Rwanda, Kenya, Chad, Saudi Araba and Ethiopia.

He was Cameroon’s Innovative Youth of the Year for two consecutive years; winning 4000 US dollars in cash prize.

Michael represented Cameroon and Africa during the 7th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) in Yokohama Japan. He also won the “Koshin Crane” Youth Technological Initiative of the year and received 5000 US dollars in cash prize. He was the selected delegate that represented Africa during the Digital Economy Working Group of the Civil-20 of the G20 meetings in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

CHRISTIAN MAJEED KWESI

Christian Majeed Kwesi is an inspiring 23-year-old leader with a passion for transforming the mindsets of youths in Ghana and Africa at large. He established Young African Great Mind, an organization empowering the youth for success geared towards societal change, national development and global impact. Through this Initiative, he has collaborated with the National Youth Authority (NYA) to organize Success Motivation seminars throughout the 5 Northern Regions of Ghana and Brong Ahafo, in 8 different locations, where he has inspired over 10,000 young people through motivation, capacity building, and mentoring.

As a promising advocate for gender equality, he masterminded the planning and execution of the “GLOW PROJECT” (Girls Leading Our World), in partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and US Peace Corps, where he facilitated a series of programs aimed at creating awareness for marginalized young girls as well as empowering them to take up leadership roles and effectively participate in decision-making. Furthermore, he organized the Youth Peace Festival, which was broadcast live on a national TV station, to advocate for peace before, during, and after the general elections in Ghana. Through his annual WASSCE Project, he inspired high school candidates for excellence, not only in their final exams, but in life after school; they were also trained on entrepreneurial skills to enable them to establish their own businesses.

As part of his role in climate action and environmental sustainability, he partnered with Forestry Commission (FC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other organizations to plant 400 trees of different species in the ‘Plant One Save One’ and ‘Greening UDS Project’ on the UDS Wa Campus, where 30 volunteers were recruited to help implement the project, with each of them receiving a certificate. His clean up exercise saw the tidying up of the entire city center of Tamale and a sensitization of community members on personal hygiene and the need to keep the environment clean.

Extending his impact to ‘women farmers’ in rural communities of Northern Ghana, he partnered with PRONET North for the ‘Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) Project, to engage and provide the necessary support for 150 women farmers to be acquainted with best farming practices, and for them to have access to subsidized farm inputs and equipment to boost their production and sales. He also linked these women with agents and ready buyers within and outside the region. His organization also partnered with SG Mobile Health to organize a free health screening for women in the city of Wa, creating awareness for World Breast Cancer day. Through the ‘Every Girl A Leader’ and the ‘SMART Girl’ Projects, he inspired over 2,500 girls to be Leaders and Agents of Change in their communities, of which 30 received special awards for outstanding performances.

He has also embarked on several outreach programs such as Teevo Outreaches, Moment of Bliss, Strategic Leaders for Change and Radio programs which reach young people on a weekly basis. Moved by the plight of school drop-outs in his community who are beset with crimes and substance abuse, he established the LoveWorld Soccer Academy, where children are taught the Word of God and trained on a weekly basis, and provided them with jerseys and other training gear.

His contribution to Quality Education through the Read 2 Lead Campaign saw him distribute 200 books to a rural community school in the Upper West Region, and he established a library and set up reading clubs. In addition to that, through his BECE Project, with support from United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Ghana Education Service (GES), he distributed 400 mathematical sets and pens to needy candidates who had no access to educational materials in rural communities across the Northern, North East & Savannah regions in Ghana. The beneficiaries also received guidance on the selection of their schools and courses. This resulted in a 95% retention of candidates in all the 9 schools. Furthermore, due to the impact of Covid-19 on education in Ghana, he provided free tuition services for over 200 students from basic to the junior high level, as well as employment for 5 teachers who are paid on a weekly basis. Through this ‘Covid-19 School’ Project, he organized a Quiz Competition and Art Exhibition, where the best performing students were awarded with stationery.

Most notable amongst his achievements is the hosting of Dr. Mohamed Buheji (Founder of the International Institute of Inspiration Economy-IIIE) from the Kingdom of Bahrain, for a week-long activity in Ghana.

Christian’s undeniable impact in Ghana has caught the attention of the National Youth Authority where his organization was honored as the Best Student Youth Group, and the most Inspiring Youth Leader by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), and other recognitions by his campus. Besides that, he was selected to be the Campus Director for the Hult Prize Foundation, for an on-campus event where he received a certificate of honor with signatories such as the former President of America, Bill Clinton.

Christian was also selected by the Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES) to participate in the Youth Policy Dialogue, which brought together various youth leaders from different parts of the country for the formation of a national youth policy document. Following the attention and recognition given to his exploits, he has had the opportunity to meet and interact with high profile personalities including the GFA President, the First Lady of Liberia, the Former President of Ghana, the US and Italian Ambassadors and the current President of the Republic of Ghana. His Organization (Young African Great Mind) has honored the President of Liberia, US Ambassador to Ghana, the President of Ghana and other outstanding entrepreneurs in the country. Through his organization, he envisions raising 10,000 leaders and impacting the lives of 10 million youths across the continent of Africa by 2025.

Indeed, Christian is an exceptional Future African Leader igniting dreams, inspiring generations, and transforming lives.

ELSA CETHIA MILANDOU

Elsa Cethia Milandou from Congo Brazzaville is a passionate humanitarian with an unquenchable zeal to end the suffering of youth and children in her nation. The effect emanating from the southern Congo Brazzaville civil wars, communal clashes, and insurgencies propelled Elsa to taking actions for change and better the society through her humanitarian efforts.

Elsa co-founded “Perfection Home Brazzaville,” a mini beauty factory where she has tutored and instilled entrepreneurial skills in 47 youth in Congo Brazzaville and gainfully employed 13 of them. Through the exhibitions and youth empowerment initiatives, Elsa’s products from the mini factory have gained ground in the international market, providing even greater motivation for the youth she mentors.

As a women’s right activist, Elsa mobilized Leadership Initiative Award (LIA) influencers across her city to organize a symposium for 172 attendees, comprising of young women; here, she educated them on the dangers of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Elsa and her team were instrumental in the provision of palliatives, hand sterilizers and beauty products to 48 young women. She worked tirelessly, collaborating with major tailoring companies in her home country, in the production and distribution of 5,000 customized facemasks to various communities and villages free of charge, exempting thousands of people from police arrest during the lockdown. She distributed food items to over 520 households in Kinsoundi communities, impacting 1360 people. She donated 600 hand sterilizers, 300 hand washing gels, mostly locally produced by herself. Elsa impacted 5 major markets in the southern pool and organized hand washing symposium, reaching over 7,000 beneficiaries. She also donated 15 handwashing buckets to the police, markets and power supply companies in PEKA community in commemoration of Africa Day 2020.

Elsa has mentored over 23 Leadership Initiative Award (LIA) influencers in her nation and through her league of influencers, she has organized various workshops ranging from education orientation, to personal development and skills acquisition, impacting over 500 youth. She also conducted health awareness program in 8 high schools, reaching over 12,000 students using the book “Power of your Mind” during school resumption after the lockdown. Elsa, with the permission of the police authorities, impacted ten 10 police cells and the central prison in Brazzaville, reaching over 847 inmates with food items, hygiene kits and Christian Materials.

Elsa oversaw the renovation of Government High School BARRAGE that was dilapidated and abandoned for over 47 years. She renovated the administrative block, painted all the classrooms, repaired 82 broken benches, installed electricity, donated a water tank, and repainted up to 10 green boards. This praiseworthy project has impacted over 3,800 students and the entire Community. In recognition of her efforts, she was awarded with certificate of appreciation by the Ministry of Education on the day of the inauguration.

Through her NGO ‘’Avenir Maintenant’’, in collaboration with European Union (EU), French Embassy, and Italian Embassy, Elsa catered to 2,253 physically and mentally challenged children in various schools/homes. Elsa received an invitation to an interview from the National Association of Handicap on their National Radio Station (Radio Congo) on the international Day of Child’s Rights to address issues surrounding the abuse and ill-treatment of physically challenged persons in the society. In collaboration with the National Blood Donation Center (CNTS) under the Ministry of Health, she organized two days’ blood donation campaign in two locations where 160 youths and adults were mobilized to donate bloods.

Driven by her unwavering passion for humanity, she assisted local churches in her home country to disinfect their church venues, and donated handwashing buckets and sterilizers to 32 Ministers of the Gospel in compliance to the Government directives during COVID- 19 pandemic. She was pivotal in the donation of bales of clothes, footwear, and emergency food aid to various communities reaching over 603 children in Moungali community.

On the World Environmental day, Elsa and her team, in collaboration with Green Plants Sellers Association based in Diata Brazzaville, volunteered twice a week in various horticultural spots and flower selling outlets, helping them to revive their dying plants after the lockdown. She also collaborated with Caritas International Congo to carry out various humanitarian activities in the city of Brazzaville, reaching out to homes for the elderly and maternity wards.

Elsa is truly a remarkable change maker, a beacon of hope and an inspiration to many young people in Congo Brazzaville. We applaud Elsa Cethia Milandou for her selfless services and commitment to nation building.

MARY MUKEBA JULIUS

Mary Mukeba Julius is an inspiring and innovative 22-year-old with a passion for helping disadvantaged youths residing in refugee camps in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, through a network of young volunteers that she has trained and mentored.

Mary started an agricultural project in refugee camps where she bought two acres of farmland from the camp’s host community. She employs over 20 youths who plant cassava, rice, and maize for the refugees. To mitigate the shortage of planting seeds, she started a Seeds Giving Project for common household crops, which impacted over 540 households in the camp. She also started greenhouses where they planted fruits, vegetables, and herbs whose produce was distributed to the 14,382 households spread across the refugee camps, and which helped them in sustainable development and self-dependence in the community. Upon discovery that there was food shortage because the World Food Program had reduced the food distribution rate among the refugees from 100% to 70%, she started a maize distribution program in Rhino camp monthly and also organized a food relief drive for disabled persons, which supported them during the COVID-19 related lockdowns.

Through her leadership development program, she organized a radio program on how to be a success for Jesus, with over 40,000 youth in the audience. She also organized ‘Arise as a Leader Conference’, which resulted in most of the youths receiving Christ and commencing community service.

Through her participation in the Back-to-School campaign, Mary and her team reached over 7,000 students in different schools in Juba city, South Sudan, by providing career guidance and inspiring contributions to nation-building. She also hosted the ‘Rise of Champions Conference’ with over attendance of 800 students from 5 different schools; as a result of the conference, the Ministry of Youths & Culture invited her for a national talk show during the International Youth Day on the National TV Station in Juba City to speak on nation-building and youth empowerment.

She actively campaigned against forced recruitment of young boys into the army and against forced early marriages in the country. She also championed women empowerment and skills acquisition projects through which many learned craftwork and began selling their products.

Through her work with orphans and other vulnerable children, she reached out to various orphanages, motherless babies’ homes, and teenage remand homes, helping them with food supplies and Christian literature.  She also reached out to the refugee camp in northern Uganda where she provided clothing, Christian materials, and food supplies to the refugees. An organized training for teenage girls on personal hygiene and managing psychological trauma from child abuse had a ripple effect, as it impacted many young girls who – in turn – shared the content with their peers. She organized meetings promoting the protection of human rights and prevention of child abuse and this has helped to reduce the number of child abuse cases.

Mary focused on improving water, sanitation, and hygiene practices in her community by organizing hospital outreaches with her team where they cleaned the local hospitals, handed personal care items to the patients, and ministered the Word of God to them. She also encouraged the youths to carry out a community service outreach at the Juba Teaching Hospital, during which they cleaned the hospital and the water points, and provided handwashing solutions around their community.

With these extraordinary deeds and more, Mary Mukeba Julius of South Sudan has proven to be an innovative Future Leader who will contribute to changing lives across Africa.

VICTOR EMEKA MBA

Victor Emeka Mba is a 22-year-old Innovative young leader, socio-preneur and humanitarian advocate with an undeniable passion for social change. Victor whose early teenage life was replete with diverse challenges that led him to the realization that education is an invaluable tool for creating a better world for young boys and girls like him in his community with similar stories

At age 20, he founded WeBuild Africa, a nongovernmental organization that coordinates and utilizes the creative abilities of rural youth for the improvement of community life. Through this platform, he organized educational campaigns to inspire and mentor hundreds of young people, spearheaded the construction of school libraries, donating over 3,000 textbooks and stationery materials across 10 community secondary schools in Lagos State thus resulting in the active establishment of reading clubs and improvement of academic performances of students. This laudable initiative gained the attention of PEACE FIRST, an American based organization who in turn awarded Victor a mini-grant to scale up and expand his projects.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to the near-total closures of schools, children who were already at risk of being excluded from quality education were mostly affected. Victor developed and launched the “MEV Mobile Tutor Finder Application” to bridge the digital divide between students and teachers. The Application enabled 500 students see available tutors around them, those offering online tutoring, tutors’ subjects, qualifications, availability and it availed them the opportunity to send them messages to arrange sessions for private home lessons and academic support. Recognizing that many children from low-income families lacked access to the internet which has increasingly become indispensable for education, He raised funds to provide data services and educational materials for over 1,000 out of school children who had not received instruction, feedback, or interaction with their teachers during the lockdown. The application is currently projected to have 1 million active users by 2030.

As part of his work to significantly contribute to reducing the impact of the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 such as food insecurity, child hunger and malnutrition in his community, He collaborated with a network of grocery stores, local food retailers and goodwill individuals to embark on a daily food drive project catering for and sustaining 500 vulnerable families over the period of 3 months.

Through his “End Hunger Campaign,” he made available actionable steps and comprehensive strategic meal plans for more than 300 low income earning families, providing them with access to nourishing food daily. He also initiated a 6 months funding campaign in July 2020 in partnership with Sunesis Farms under Nigerian Farmers Association securing 15 plots of arable land for the production of 3,000kg of quality Rice, to provide subsidies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. This ongoing mega Agric project has also gainfully employed over 70 rural youth and is projected to be an advantage over the anticipated food crises by January 2021.

Victor is also committed to seeing that more and more women have access to quality education, excellent opportunities, elevated roles in society and nation-building. This year, He collaborated with organizations such as She Voices Africa, Selflessness Service Foundation providing sanitary pads to over 1,000 vulnerable young girls whose learning activities were altered because of their menstrual flow. His Sanitary Pad drives cut across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon has impacted several with over 5,000 sanitary pad donated.

He organized youth empowerment programs, skill acquisition initiatives for 200 young women and lead campaigns such as “SAVE FOR A KID BOX” where he raised funds to cater for the monthly medical care of orphaned children in his community. Through these programs and initiatives, he reached over 15,000 beneficiaries from East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, Asia and Europe. He was recognized and awarded as an Immunity Ambassador by the UAE-AID under Mohammed Bin Rashid University for his relentless commitment to community service.

Victor has proved himself to be an effective changemaker, inspiring motivator and intelligent young leader setting a fine example of resilience, reliability, dependability and commitment.

TEBOGO MOROE

Tebogo Moroe, 23, from South Africa is an inspiring visionary and a solution to her generation. She has distinguished herself by looking out for various needs in her local and continental sphere of contact and meeting them.

At the emergence of  Covid19 lockdown in South Africa, many people began to encounter extreme hunger and panic. While the government was attempting to find a structured solution around the pandemic, Tebogo responded promptly by raising funds through sponsors and initiated a Covid19 Emergency Food Relief Program. The focus of which was to feed women and children who were not government grant beneficiaries in towns and informal settlement areas. This consistently assisted 100 identified households in different areas of the South Western Towns (Soweto), as well as in the informal settlement area of Kliptown.  Furthermore, in partnership with the Chris Oyakhilome Foundation’s Inner City Missions, she participated in a scheme that assisted 100 ministers of the gospel.

In the midst of the increasing restrictions and closure of schools, young Tebogo rose up to the occasion by providing students with onsite tutorial classes in preparations for examinations on weekdays right in her backyard. The classes grew from 4 students to over 50 secondary school students in different grades. The capacity of these classes grew over the space of the vicinity and began to catch the attention of the local patrolling law officials. As a result, Tebogo built an online teaching and learning site called ‘i-funde’ which means ‘learn it’ in the IsiZulu language. The learning and teaching site catered for many senior class student in different provinces and beyond her city.

Determined to improve the life of the African child in the year of perfection, Tebogo learnt of shortages and needs of children and youth in African countries during the invasion of the pandemic. She was propelled to meet these needs not considering distance or country lockdowns.  In response to this need, she pioneered a limit breaking project called ‘Little Feet Africa’. This project was a reflection of forceful impact, greatly uplifting three African countries – South Africa, Malawi and Kenya.

In the nation of Kenya, the project provided solutions as well as good quality school shoes to mitigate high injuries and chigoe flea parasite infections experienced by school children who walked long distances on barefoot. It also supported families who were unable to afford sanitary materials for their female children by availing funds for some parents and in other cases the sanitary materials. Approximately 100 ‘little feet’ were clothed and protected during these trying times. The project also went over and beyond in South Africa after the re-opening of schools by sponsoring 120 pupils with brand new and quality school uniforms.

Providing more succor to humanity, after Tebogo witnessed the poor toilet conditions that caused infections and led people to use a nearby dam as toilets in a town called Alexandra, Tebogo partnered with a construction company to build adequate sanitary facilities. The partnership built 10 new toilet structures with suitable electricity, sufficient water system and ramps for persons living with disabilities in the community, reducing the rate of toilet infections. Today, these toilets are working efficiently and are well maintained, serving their purpose for the community of Alexandra.

Heavy rain storms in the community of Gladmore in Johannesburg damaged many homes and placed inhabitants at high risk. Tebogo sent a proposal and joined forces with Grand Force Construction Project to assist the city of Johannesburg in rebuilding housing structures that were cracked or in hazardous conditions. After 4 months, the locals finally got to live and enjoy standard homes supplied with their basic amenities

In this great year, Tebogo leaped out of her comfort zone for the purpose of perfecting the lives of humanity. She is a true success, as she looks out for needs and meets them.

MICHELLE MUMBA

Michelle Mumba is a 23-year-old Student of Law at the University of Lusaka and a socio-cultural and humanitarian activist, driven by the need to help less privileged children and empower poor women within various communities in Zambia. This she has done with a vast number of projects such as providing food, clothing, and education to underprivileged children, championing human rights advocacy, and spearheading women empowerment programs.

Michelle was recognized as an Ambassador for Global Peace in Zambia by an international organization called the Global Peace Chain in recognition of her tireless efforts to promote sustainable developments in her country, particularly eliminating hunger, promoting education, advocating gender equality and eliminating inequalities, promoting good health, and promoting peace and justice within numerous local communities in Zambia despite the challenges.

In collaboration with Entheos (a team of American audiologists) and “Fountain of Life Africa (FOLA) (an American based organization), Michelle conducted a program to provide free hearing aids to over 200 people suffering from hearing disabilities; and this program was conducted in Mwachisompola Health Demonstration Zone and Mukalashi Primary School, both in Chibombo District.

In order to tackle the high rates of early marriages and pregnancy among teenage girls in Chibombo District, as well as paucity of health and educational facilities, Michelle commenced the construction of a missionary school, which will contain 10 classrooms, 4 ablution blocks, and 1 kitchen, and will cater to at least 200 children and women. The school will provide free primary education, and house a community development agency that will give the people access to valuable information on reproductive health and safe sex practices, HIV/AIDS and skills development.

Due to the dramatic rise in rape and gender-based violence in Zambia, Michelle established a sexual assault and Gender-Based Violence recovery support group called Mending Hearts. Through this support group established less than a year ago, she has helped over 100 girls and women overcome the personal challenges that they face in society, helped boost their self-esteem, educated them on their rights and how to cope with grief, anger and sadness. Her support group currently consists of 20+ members who are in the process of recovery. Michelle and two of her active recruits managed to raise USD$1,000 to donate to the ‘Hemophilia Foundation of Zambia (HFZ)’ towards the purchase of a mobile coagulation machine for the free diagnosis of hemophilia and other blood cancers in children, specifically in rural areas where people can’t afford or access these facilities.

Michelle partnered with the Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Lusaka to give free legal assistance to special needs orphans and women. Accompanied by a psychologist in reaching over 1,000 individuals through gatherings in schools, she educated children, parents, and other locals on human rights. She also spread mental health awareness to people who were deeply affected by COVID-19.

Through extensive food drive programs held in Kachema Musuma Community School, Kapisha Market of Chingola District, as well as Bauleni Compound of Lusaka District, Michelle managed to sustainably feed over 660 people, including 25 families, underprivileged children, orphans and widows, while encouraging them with God’s Word. Also, in order to improve access to safe drinking water for students of Kachema Musuma Community School, she donated two 200-Liter water storage drums.

A Member of Parliament reached out to Michelle to discuss how best the Government can help in tackling health and hygiene in Zambia. She proposed a mass health cleaning project under the “Keep Zambia Clean Campaign” in areas that were previously affected by the Cholera outbreak and had the highest records of infections and deaths. Michelle conducted a voluntary community clean up in PHI area of Lusaka to abate the illegal piling of waste along a roadside in that area. They also donated bins to promote appropriate waste disposal, for which they earned a commendation and the gratitude of local residents and the council.

Michelle also founded “The Change Motus”, whose objectives are to tackle hygiene, health, education, human rights advocacy, and youth and women empowerment. Above all, the aim is leadership; through this organization, she aims at raising leaders like herself. One of her active recruits begun to raise awareness of the seriousness of Climate change by conducting and promoting tree planting. A video of her, captioned “#globaltreeinitiative #thechangemotus”, went viral and even got government officials and various universities to take action by planting trees. Michelle’s organization already has over 30 active youth members and has impacted over 5,000 individuals across Zambia.

Michelle has proven to be an exemplary leader through her tireless endeavors to improve lives in Zambian communities and will certainly impact multitudes through her hard work, passion, and love.

AVANTE SUSAN MAFUSIRE

Avante Susan Mafusire is an innovative 23-year-old leader from Zimbabwe who has provided solutions that transformed millions of lives in Africa. Her focus is on achieving quality education by eliminating factors that hinder successful learning.

In response to the adverse effects of Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe, she organized a special impact initiative called Revive Education, which provided affected communities with much needed educational resources, including libraries, tables, chairs, as well as thousands of textbooks, exercise books, and other materials. Over 1 million residents in these communities benefited from this project.

Contributing to achieving the Zero Hunger and No Poverty SDGs in communities across Zimbabwe, she organizes food and clothes drives to orphanages and the homeless, reaching over 3,000 orphans and homeless people monthly. Also, she impacted many in prisons, as she donated free sanitation and educational materials to 4 prisons in Zimbabwe. Notable amongst these is the donation of over 600 textbooks, which helped the inmates study and write their final exams while serving time in prison.

In partnership with the American Embassy, she hosted career guidance seminars and skills acquisition programs in several schools, with over 30,000 beneficiaries. She organized free scholarship for 5 beneficiaries.

She has reached out to over 3 million listeners and viewers through her radio and television talk shows, creating awareness on the plight of disabled persons and spurring her listeners to action. She organized an SDG summit and Youth Celebration Convention, which was attended by the Minister of Industry and Commerce and the Minister of Youth. She also raised awareness on gender-based issues, advocating for the fight against breast cancer.

Towards the achievement of Good Health and Wellbeing, she provided free grooming and etiquette lessons to hundreds of youths, and hosted a blood donation drive, in partnership with the National Blood Donation Services. She advocated for a clean learning environment at the University of Zimbabwe by partnering with Loveworld Campus Ministry to donate waste bins to the University. She also hosted a tree planting program to raise awareness for her cause.

As a Zimbabwean national representative, she volunteered with the United Nations and African Union, where she contributed to decision-making on youth affairs. She volunteers at POSITIVE LIFE KENYA, a partnering organization of three embassies – French, Dutch and Kenya – with a vision to aid victims of societal ills in the forgotten slums in Kenya. In collaboration with this organization, Avante built a school in one of these slums, organized food distribution drives, and hosted mentorship programs and skills acquisition programs, with over 50,000 beneficiaries.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, she produced a booklet, which contains lessons in mathematics, science, and English, to help less privileged children have uninterrupted access to classes. Thousands of students in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Gambia, South Africa and Nigeria benefited from this study booklet. In partnership with the leading telecommunications company in Zimbabwe, she helped provide data for hundreds of students to access online classes during the lockdown. This project received a special commendation from the Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Kenya

In partnership with PAD UP organization, she distributed free reusable cotton pads to girls in the rural parts of Southern Africa. In celebration of the International Youth Day, she hosted a symposium where the minister of Education in Zimbabwe attended and addressed the challenge of education in Africa.

As the youngest board member of THE MESH, she contributed significantly to the decision-making process, which has offered opportunities to young entrepreneurs in Africa to start and register over 300 new businesses, granting them exhibition openings around the world.

As the editor of OMUHLE Magazine, which addresses problems faced by African Youths, she has impacted many in 31 countries across the globe, through her periodic publications, which is being translated into 11 languages.

Avante has also received awards and certifications from international organizations, including the Young African Leaders Initiative.

BAKAKI YUSUF

Bakaki Yusuf is a 23-year-old Ugandan, who has contributed to the socio-economic well-being of many in rural communities in Uganda through community service. He founded the Young Leaders East Africa Organization (YOLEA) with a purpose of bridging the gap between young people and leadership, by providing mentorship services.

In Education Empowerment, he headed a team that reached out to 250 pupils and 10 teachers, raising awareness on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This led to the initiation of Teachers’ SDGs Fellowship in one secondary school, and the formation of Village Saving Loans Associations (VSLAs) to tackle the challenge of poverty in his community.

In the Distribution of Community Food Relief Aid, he facilitated the feeding of 200 destitute children and vulnerable women that could not afford to get food during the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through the Home Construction Campaign, with support from donor sympathizers, he built a permanent five room bungalow, worth $14,000 for a family of 2 elderly women and 16 destitute children in his community.

Bakaki also ran a Sanitation Project, in partnership with several communities, where he helped 500 households by clearing a thick bush that harbored dangerous reptiles and animals, and a hide out for criminals. He led a team of youth to dig drainage systems, effectively tackling the challenge of stagnant water that was a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects, thus ensuring the health and safety of the members of his community.

He started a Family Strengthening and Livelihood program, through which he donated a mattress and beddings, as well as clothes, toiletries, cleaning agents, and other provisions to a man with special needs who lived alone in a depilated and empty house.

In Disability Matters, he championed an anti-albino discrimination march and public address, to tackle the challenges faced by over 4,000 albinos across his country. During this campaign, he also distributed skin protection lotion to several albinos, to protect their skins from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which damages their skin, causing wounds that may result in skin cancer. This campaign reduced the discrimination rate and cleared up misconceptions that the society had towards people living with albinism.

Through his Talent for Future Initiative, Bakaki led a team that organized a sports competition for football and netball players. This initiative focused on nurturing and inspiring young talents through motivation, discipleship, training and empowerment. Through this initiative, 20 young male soccer teams, 10 females’ soccer teams and 8 netball teams from different districts across the nation were registered. This initiative also provided him with the opportunity of sensitizing the attendees on important topics, including, skills and professionalism, health talks, sanitation and hygiene.

Prisoners benefited from the Prison initiative, during which he donated toiletries and sanitizers to prisons.

We applaud Bakaki Yusuf’s many initiatives and his commitment to making the world around him better than he met it.

FERYEL ABI

Feryel Abi is a 23-year-old exceptional youth leader from Tunisia with an undeniable passion of driving investment in the lives of women and girls..

Feryel’s began her humanitarian journey as a healthcare worker at the International Airport Tunis-Carthage. She served as a healthcare front liner and worked tirelessly to help reduce public health risk to air passengers and aviation workers during COVID-19 Pandemic crisis. She was pivotal in administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to grills and women with emergency health issues at the airport.

Her commitment to empowering women and girls inspired her to set up “Girl Up AC,” an initiative that provides support for young girls at the American Corner, Tunis to strengthen their voices through training and speaking opportunities, connecting them to global and national conversations that affect their work and lives. As part of her “Girl Up AC” initiative, she also launched the “Leveling up book club” to empower, support, and educate youth during the total lockdown. Hundreds of youth from the Middle East and North Africa received free books on gender equality, women empowerment, human rights, peace building, and entrepreneurship that in turn helped them to have a positive mindset amidst the fears across borders.

She also pioneered “SheCreates”, an initiative that empowers female entrepreneurs and highlights their creativity to attract clients.  Through the Youth of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring Program (Y-PHEM) and Creative Girls Mentorship program, Feryel participated in several women and gender equality initiatives receiving mentorship from Aya Chebbi, the first youth envoy at the African Union, and Afsaneh Seifinaji, a peacebuilder at the Iranian UN office.

For her inspiring acts of service to nation building and advocacy for  women and girl’s right, Feryel received recommendations from the Afro-Arab Community and was selected as an awardee of the prestigious Afro-Arab Champion Under 30 Awards.

CHRISTIAN MAJEED KWESI

Christian Majeed Kwesi is an inspiring 23-year-old leader with a passion for transforming the mindsets of youths in Ghana and Africa at large. He established Young African Great Mind, an organization empowering the youth for success geared towards societal change, national development and global impact. Through this Initiative, he has collaborated with the National Youth Authority (NYA) to organize Success Motivation seminars throughout the 5 Northern Regions of Ghana and Brong Ahafo, in 8 different locations, where he has inspired over 10,000 young people through motivation, capacity building, and mentoring.

As a promising advocate for gender equality, he masterminded the planning and execution of the “GLOW PROJECT” (Girls Leading Our World), in partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and US Peace Corps, where he facilitated a series of programs aimed at creating awareness for marginalized young girls as well as empowering them to take up leadership roles and effectively participate in decision-making. Furthermore, he organized the Youth Peace Festival, which was broadcast live on a national TV station, to advocate for peace before, during, and after the general elections in Ghana. Through his annual WASSCE Project, he inspired high school candidates for excellence, not only in their final exams, but in life after school; they were also trained on entrepreneurial skills to enable them to establish their own businesses.

As part of his role in climate action and environmental sustainability, he partnered with Forestry Commission (FC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other organizations to plant 400 trees of different species in the ‘Plant One Save One’ and ‘Greening UDS Project’ on the UDS Wa Campus, where 30 volunteers were recruited to help implement the project, with each of them receiving a certificate. His clean up exercise saw the tidying up of the entire city center of Tamale and a sensitization of community members on personal hygiene and the need to keep the environment clean.

Extending his impact to ‘women farmers’ in rural communities of Northern Ghana, he partnered with PRONET North for the ‘Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) Project, to engage and provide the necessary support for 150 women farmers to be acquainted with best farming practices, and for them to have access to subsidized farm inputs and equipment to boost their production and sales. He also linked these women with agents and ready buyers within and outside the region. His organization also partnered with SG Mobile Health to organize a free health screening for women in the city of Wa, creating awareness for World Breast Cancer day. Through the ‘Every Girl A Leader’ and the ‘SMART Girl’ Projects, he inspired over 2,500 girls to be Leaders and Agents of Change in their communities, of which 30 received special awards for outstanding performances.

He has also embarked on several outreach programs such as Teevo Outreaches, Moment of Bliss, Strategic Leaders for Change and Radio programs which reach young people on a weekly basis. Moved by the plight of school drop-outs in his community who are beset with crimes and substance abuse, he established the LoveWorld Soccer Academy, where children are taught the Word of God and trained on a weekly basis, and provided them with jerseys and other training gear.

His contribution to Quality Education through the Read 2 Lead Campaign saw him distribute 200 books to a rural community school in the Upper West Region, and he established a library and set up reading clubs. In addition to that, through his BECE Project, with support from United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Ghana Education Service (GES), he distributed 400 mathematical sets and pens to needy candidates who had no access to educational materials in rural communities across the Northern, North East & Savannah regions in Ghana. The beneficiaries also received guidance on the selection of their schools and courses. This resulted in a 95% retention of candidates in all the 9 schools. Furthermore, due to the impact of Covid-19 on education in Ghana, he provided free tuition services for over 200 students from basic to the junior high level, as well as employment for 5 teachers who are paid on a weekly basis. Through this ‘Covid-19 School’ Project, he organized a Quiz Competition and Art Exhibition, where the best performing students were awarded with stationery.

Most notable amongst his achievements is the hosting of Dr. Mohamed Buheji (Founder of the International Institute of Inspiration Economy-IIIE) from the Kingdom of Bahrain, for a week-long activity in Ghana.

Christian’s undeniable impact in Ghana has caught the attention of the National Youth Authority where his organization was honored as the Best Student Youth Group, and the most Inspiring Youth Leader by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), and other recognitions by his campus. Besides that, he was selected to be the Campus Director for the Hult Prize Foundation, for an on-campus event where he received a certificate of honor with signatories such as the former President of America, Bill Clinton.

Christian was also selected by the Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES) to participate in the Youth Policy Dialogue, which brought together various youth leaders from different parts of the country for the formation of a national youth policy document. Following the attention and recognition given to his exploits, he has had the opportunity to meet and interact with high profile personalities including the GFA President, the First Lady of Liberia, the Former President of Ghana, the US and Italian Ambassadors and the current President of the Republic of Ghana. His Organization (Young African Great Mind) has honored the President of Liberia, US Ambassador to Ghana, the President of Ghana and other outstanding entrepreneurs in the country. Through his organization, he envisions raising 10,000 leaders and impacting the lives of 10 million youths across the continent of Africa by 2025.

Indeed, Christian is an exceptional Future African Leader igniting dreams, inspiring generations, and transforming lives.

ELSA CETHIA MILANDOU

Elsa Cethia Milandou from Congo Brazzaville is a passionate humanitarian with an unquenchable zeal to end the suffering of youth and children in her nation. The effect emanating from the southern Congo Brazzaville civil wars, communal clashes, and insurgencies propelled Elsa to taking actions for change and better the society through her humanitarian efforts.

Elsa co-founded “Perfection Home Brazzaville,” a mini beauty factory where she has tutored and instilled entrepreneurial skills in 47 youth in Congo Brazzaville and gainfully employed 13 of them. Through the exhibitions and youth empowerment initiatives, Elsa’s products from the mini factory have gained ground in the international market, providing even greater motivation for the youth she mentors.

As a women’s right activist, Elsa mobilized Leadership Initiative Award (LIA) influencers across her city to organize a symposium for 172 attendees, comprising of young women; here, she educated them on the dangers of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Elsa and her team were instrumental in the provision of palliatives, hand sterilizers and beauty products to 48 young women. She worked tirelessly, collaborating with major tailoring companies in her home country, in the production and distribution of 5,000 customized facemasks to various communities and villages free of charge, exempting thousands of people from police arrest during the lockdown. She distributed food items to over 520 households in Kinsoundi communities, impacting 1360 people. She donated 600 hand sterilizers, 300 hand washing gels, mostly locally produced by herself. Elsa impacted 5 major markets in the southern pool and organized hand washing symposium, reaching over 7,000 beneficiaries. She also donated 15 handwashing buckets to the police, markets and power supply companies in PEKA community in commemoration of Africa Day 2020.

Elsa has mentored over 23 Leadership Initiative Award (LIA) influencers in her nation and through her league of influencers, she has organized various workshops ranging from education orientation, to personal development and skills acquisition, impacting over 500 youth. She also conducted health awareness program in 8 high schools, reaching over 12,000 students using the book “Power of your Mind” during school resumption after the lockdown. Elsa, with the permission of the police authorities, impacted ten 10 police cells and the central prison in Brazzaville, reaching over 847 inmates with food items, hygiene kits and Christian Materials.

Elsa oversaw the renovation of Government High School BARRAGE that was dilapidated and abandoned for over 47 years. She renovated the administrative block, painted all the classrooms, repaired 82 broken benches, installed electricity, donated a water tank, and repainted up to 10 green boards. This praiseworthy project has impacted over 3,800 students and the entire Community. In recognition of her efforts, she was awarded with certificate of appreciation by the Ministry of Education on the day of the inauguration.

Through her NGO ‘’Avenir Maintenant’’, in collaboration with European Union (EU), French Embassy, and Italian Embassy, Elsa catered to 2,253 physically and mentally challenged children in various schools/homes. Elsa received an invitation to an interview from the National Association of Handicap on their National Radio Station (Radio Congo) on the international Day of Child’s Rights to address issues surrounding the abuse and ill-treatment of physically challenged persons in the society. In collaboration with the National Blood Donation Center (CNTS) under the Ministry of Health, she organized two days’ blood donation campaign in two locations where 160 youths and adults were mobilized to donate bloods.

Driven by her unwavering passion for humanity, she assisted local churches in her home country to disinfect their church venues, and donated handwashing buckets and sterilizers to 32 Ministers of the Gospel in compliance to the Government directives during COVID- 19 pandemic. She was pivotal in the donation of bales of clothes, footwear, and emergency food aid to various communities reaching over 603 children in Moungali community.

On the World Environmental day, Elsa and her team, in collaboration with Green Plants Sellers Association based in Diata Brazzaville, volunteered twice a week in various horticultural spots and flower selling outlets, helping them to revive their dying plants after the lockdown. She also collaborated with Caritas International Congo to carry out various humanitarian activities in the city of Brazzaville, reaching out to homes for the elderly and maternity wards.

Elsa is truly a remarkable change maker, a beacon of hope and an inspiration to many young people in Congo Brazzaville. We applaud Elsa Cethia Milandou for her selfless services and commitment to nation building.

SUSAN ASANJI

Susan Asanji is a 23-year-old youth leader and founder of Susan Asanji Foundation – a nongovernmental organization that tackles the widespread stigma that abandoned children/youths face, and raises awareness and understanding of their situation, so that they are protected, respected and supported to realize their fullest potential.

As a dynamic innovator and activist for destitute children, Susan initiated the “Finance Her Project” where she raises 250 dollars startup capital to support internally displaced girls affected by the Anglophone crises in Cameroon. In her commitment to give rise to the disproportionate risks for Youths that caused a retreat from visible engagement in the public sphere, Susan actively spearheaded a 4-month national income-generating Skill Acquisition project for over 5,000 youth.

Her foundation worked with several organisations to launch a fund-raising campaign called “Recycle Pay Project” where volunteers worked daily, picking up plastics bottles and selling to recycling companies. In partnership with Bright Future Foundation, Susan redirected the funds to sponsoring 200 kids, whose parents were victims of the Anglophone crises, back to school. She was pivotal in the tuition payment, distribution of educational materials and stationary for the out of school children in Yaounde, Cameroon with a cost estimate of 400,000 CFAF.

In her quest to amplify her voice in the Anglophone conflict resolution process through grassroots penetration, Susan organized onsite peace talks, workshops and seminars in high schools with a wide audience reach of 10,000 youth. She also ultilized eight media platforms in 2020 such as the Cameroon Television and Radio station reaching over 1.2 million viewers and listeners from the eight different TV channels where she actively engaged in open conversations and daily sent inspirational messages of hope and positivity, also encouraging youths in agriculture. She worked with Bright Future Foundation to pay hospital bills worth 300,000cfa for a girl who suffered anal ulcer that almost caused her to be paralyzed.  Susan and her team went about cleaning the streets of Mabanda Douala, with the aim of making the city clean.

Susan’s ability to identify community problems, assemble teams and initiate solutions define her as a self-driven and compassionate leader. She worked as a volunteer under the Humanitarian Volunteer Network in Cameroon visiting orphanages, donating building materials and 200 reusable Sanitary Pads to girls, all worth 200,000CFAF. She also helped relocate 105 street kids to Orphanages and established a Library for kids who lost their parents from the flood in Douala. In November 2020 she relocated 10 abandoned kids to destiny orphanage, and reach out to 100 kids with educational materials.

Responding swiftly to the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic In 2020’ while ensuring that humanitarian and recovery assistance reaches those most in need, Susan organized food drive campaign in 5 cities in Cameroon providing food items to 3,000 beneficiaries. She organized classes on Canal2 Television due to school lockdown for a period of 8 weeks, particularly for final year students nationwide, with a reach of up to 400,000 viewers.

Susan reach out to the Electrical Company of Cameroon (ENEO) for the installation of solar street lights to Bois des Singes community, a robbery prone IDP community with 2,000 inhabitants.

In recognition of her humanitarian works, Susan was appointed to serve as the Director of Youth and Children under the Compassion Peace Initiative Coalition in Yaounde, Cameroon by the Civil Society Union from the United States of America. She was also appointed as the Cameroon representative for Youth for Human Rights International New York, USA. Susan’s work gained global relevance and has been nominated for several awards such as Africa Women Leadership Award (AWLF), Africa Women Development fund USA (AWDF-USA), and AFS Prize for Young Global Citizens 2020, among others.

Susan identifies needs and her empathy prompts her to action. She is passionate about walking the extra mile to help alleviate the suffering of those in the midst of a crisis. She exemplifies astute leadership, and has positively impacted over 60,000 people.

NSIKAK ANIETIE EFFIONG

Nsikak Anietie Effiong is a 22-year-old inspiring youth leader whose work focuses on health, safety, and youth development. As a nation builder, humanitarian, award winner, and global influencer, he is passionate about implementing the United Nations SDGs 2030 and Africa Agenda 2063. He is the Founder of Headlife Initiative, a youth-led Non-Governmental Organization that is impacting lives through various initiatives focused on health and safety, education, and youth development within Nigeria. He is also the Founder of Belicensed Initiative and presently serves as an ambassador of the World Safety Organization.

As an outstanding young personality, he has worked with several local and international organizations, including the World Safety Organization, Future Africa Leaders Foundation, First Aid Service Nigeria, Okares Sickle Cell Foundation, Edo State Ministry of Health, Champion Victory Foundation and many others, and has impacted over 100,000 people through several community-based development projects.

Through this Health4All Initiative, Nsikak and his team partnered and volunteered with several medical centers and organizations to arrange free medical outreaches that involved carrying out medical consultations, surgeries, and dispensing treatments for malaria, diabetes mellitus, and HIV. They organized seminar workshops on fertility, hypertension, family planning, etc. as well, reaching over 10,000 beneficiaries.

Nsikak and his team collaborated with other health organizations for an online health education program designed to educate people on healthy living, mental health, and safety, thus reaching out to over 1 million people across various social media platforms.

His team also facilitated the production and free distribution of alcohol-based hand sanitizers to over 10,000 beneficiaries including market women, churches, and commercial bus drivers following the COVID-19 global pandemic. Concerned about the risk of malnutrition among orphans following the global lockdown, Nsikak and his team initiated Covid-19 Relief Packages for Orphans in his city by providing and supporting several orphanage homes with food supplies, toiletries and cleaning supplies, and potable water. This initiative affected over 200 children in orphanage homes.

Nsikak solved the problem of difficulty in identifying geographical locations within his community by creating signposts, which made the hard-to-locate places more accessible and easier to locate through Street Signpost Project. This impacted over 10,000 people in the community.

He also organized a Study and Work Project (SAW) which was geared towards enabling students work weekend jobs while studying on weekdays and has led to reduction in prostitution and crimes amongst undergraduates in Nsikak’s university community, with 106 undergraduates beneficiaries of this initiative earning between $30-60 dollars monthly for working weekends only. This has also led to the promotion of decent work and economic growth.

Through the Clean Bus initiative, Nsikak provided over 200 waste bins for commercial buses within the city, with an average of over 20,000 passengers daily, leading to a drastic reduction of  land pollution with dirt and waste from these buses, thus promoting a clean and healthy environment. He single-handedly sponsored the provision of standard football goalposts, which have helped in the reduction of crime and restlessness amongst youths. Impacting over 1,500 youths within his community, this initiative led to the establishment of 4 local football clubs that make use of the facility, leading to the nurturing and grooming of these young talents into great sportsmen and responsible citizens.

Nsikak’s team also provided First Aid Box kits for an estimated 5,000 students who attend public owned schools in rural communities. Through his youth programs, this remarkable leader has organized leadership and success seminars where he has reached out to and inspired over 25,000 teens and youths for a life of greatness, and has distributed over 30,000 Christian books. As a result of these programs, he has inspired youths to become agents of change and nation builders in their worlds. The nominee has made available recreation activities for youths, both in and out of school, and has also organized career seminars, youth programs, football competitions, etc. that have brought growth and value to so many youths.

As an advocate for zero hunger and no poverty, the nominee organized food drive campaigns that led to the donations of food, clothing, mosquito nets, toiletries, etc. for Internally Displaced Persons and orphans, to help cater for their needs. These drives have impacted well over 8,000 persons over the past 3 years.

Through these various projects, Nsikak has demonstrated his prowess as an inspiring youth leader.

PEACE EDU EYAM

Peace Eyam is a dynamic 19 years old youth leader, who is passionate about making a difference in the educational sector of Africa and so far she has been improving and changing child literary in Africa.

From the early age of 17, she interned at a primary school in a suburb of FCT, Karshi. Discovering that majority of her pupils could barely read, she became inspired to set up a reading club which measured remarkable progress and later collaborated with an Non-Governmental Organization; Beks Literacy Program impacting 1,080 children in the community and equipping them with the life-age skill of reading.

Taking advantage of the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum, in partnership with Girl’s space and Global Child Foundation, over 1000 learning materials were distributed and over 950 students reached out to in 4 months. She intentionally exposed herself to social change, problem-solving, and leadership development.

Peace believes in the incredible the role of the innovative media sector in today’s educational advancement.

She has advocated for quality learning and used the media as tool in fighting low standards of living. She achieved this by starring in various movies that portray why and where change must be effected. Sponsored by the African Union, under the auspice of Unleash Ur Creativity, she portrayed in a movie called ‘Uncovered’, highlighting the plights of Internally Displaced Persons at Gwozo, Abuja, It emphasized the poor literacy level and existing unfavorable conditions at the camp. It was recorded to have had over 13,000 viewers on TrybeTV. It was recognized and screened at the ASA Humanitarian Film Festival in Germany, and the CUMP Festival, in Nairobi Kenya, and many more.

She also starred in a native movie; ‘Ettan Etti’, speaking concerning issues of teenage pregnancy and youth empowerment. This movie went on to inspire the Ofutop community youth in South-South, Nigeria.

In her church community, she inspired over 50 Teen leaders to read a book each week and meditate on a message each day for about a year from September 2018 to end of 2019.

At the launch of the Worldreader App in Nigeria; an app that has availed over 10,000 African literacy books for children, Peace spoke on the relevance of literacy to over 300 Children, School administers and Curriculum developers.

When movement eased during the global pandemic lockdown, she commenced a tutorial training for Post-covid school resumption. During this Academic Boost camp, over 300 books were read in 6weeks with 49children, teenagers, and 12 caregivers benefiting immensely.

Excited about purpose, she facilitated a session on Reason For Being to 102 participants across 5 African countries including Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote. d’Ivoire, Kenya, and South-Africa in the just concluded ZEVE online 30-days Mental Health Challenge. Several participants reached out speaking of how they finally understood the purpose and began the search for theirs.

As a volunteer with the Inner City Missions, she reached out to 76 children and their families in inner cities. Working with the team, she taught the kids about sanitation and distributed free sanitary wears to them. She equally visited Tertiary institutions to sign up students to the Human Volunteer Network (HVN) platform. Participating in the Education-in-Emergency reach out, 46 children in Abuja Children’s Home, FCT were actively engaged.

Cooperating with Patriots Vibe, an Organization that has improved education by training teachers, she organized different training for over 50 teachers and caregivers to improve their work with children.

Through the years, she has been moved by the plight of the non-conducive educational setting in various communities, where children are not disposed to read and write. She has facilitated many partnerships leading to starting and equipping libraries in schools, IDP camps, and communities, starting up TEEVO and French clubs across schools in suburbs in FCT and its environs, using short films for social good and inspiring young persons with mentorship and intervention programs in Nigeria and neighboring African countries and in total reaching up to 3000 children.

Peace Edu Eyam is a Christian, the Director of Pleroma Schoolhouse(@pleroma.schoolhouse), a World Literacy ambassador, a country director for Girls against Violence Initiative(GAVI) (a platform that has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of girls across Africa), an Ashoka Young Changemaker, a mentor, an inspirational speaker, a certified French linguist, and presently studying to be a documentary filmmaker.

EMMANUEL GYAN FINAWAH

Emmanuel Gyan Finawah is a 22-year-old inspiring youth leader from Ghana who has a strong passion to make a difference in his world and impact the youth in his community through various projects, including wireless GSM notice board, automatic soap dispenser, automatic water dispenser, a smart bin, etc. He shared online requisite skills in robotics with 3 senior high school to prepare them for national robotics competition. He also launched computer programming classes, which has trained over 30,000 Ghanaian youth with digital skills including coding, mobile application development, website designing, networking, animation and digital marketing; thereby making them more employable and providing them with opportunities to start their own businesses.

With personal dedication towards student development in Ghana, he led the production of an educative student magazine, which had over 16,000 readers from 200 senior high schools within 2 years of publishing. Emmanuel also introduced an internship program that saw over 1,300 senior high school students and graduates gain work experience through project-based internships with various companies while they were on vacation.

Emmanuel and his team developed a mobile app during the pandemic to guide students from Crèche to Senior High School in their studies. The Nsohwe app got over 500 downloads in just 1 month and has since become a companion for many students in Ghana. The aim of this app was to bring school to students at home and also make their mobile devices useful to them. Also, over 13,000 kids in several remote communities benefitted from Emmanuel’s team, as they received the educational content in video CDs, so that lessons could continue even as they were confined to their homes.

He organized a program in commemoration of Ghana’s 63rd year of Independence, which had an attendance of 5,200 students across the Greater Accra region. This program hosted professionals in agriculture, health, ICT, civil service, etc. who helped to expand the leadership and creative potentials of the participants through inspirational talks and activities.

Additionally, he pioneered Greatness Class, an initiative that equipped orphans and the less privileged display their skills and talents in creative arts, computer literacy, make-up, sewing and music. This is to make them self-dependent in the future and to encourage them to teach others. Donations of food items, clothes and study materials were made to all orphanage homes that participated in these programs.

Emmanuel put together a medical team that carried out free health screening programs in rural communities in 12 regions of Ghana. The screening was for hepatitis, malaria, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), breast cancer and diabetes. Free medication and referrals to health facilities were given for extreme cases. Control measures and health talks were also delivered to participants. These health programs, running for 3 years now, have impacted over 12,000 lives in rural communities. This has earned Emmanuel’s organization several awards, including the Organization of the Year 2019 award by the Association of Biomedical Sciences of University of Cape Coast.

Emmanuel Gyan Finawah is a man on a mission, and one to watch in the coming years.

ANNETTE NAMONDO EWUSI

Annette Namondo Ewusi is a passionate youth activist, nation builder and visionary stakeholder who has impacted the lives of many Cameroonian youth.

As a protagonist for change, she founded a youth led non-profit organization known as “The Change Initiative”, aimed at setting the right leadership standards in our generation and bringing together young people with the mindset of positive change and nation building in every sphere of influence. The organization started up a “Student Leadership Academy” that is strategic in focus and has trained over 1500 school prefects across institutions and developed a manual on student leadership, which has been adopted and is in use by 2 secondary schools.

In 2019, she pioneered a campaign tagged “Student Leadership for Nation Building”, a platform where over 2000 students in 2 regions were given the opportunity to voice out the challenges they faced in their respective school communities and propose possible solutions. This notable campaign saw Annette Ewusi’s Award Leadership Certificates and materials presented to deserving students, as a catalyst to stir the best leadership potentials and skills in them, inspiring them to invest in their personality.

Her sublime passion for empowering young girls and eradicating indecency and moral decadence among teenage girls gave birth to “The Virtuous Teenage Girl Campaign”. Aimed at educating the teenage girl on her worth and relevance in the society, the campaign has built a strong mental climate for young girls and expanded their horizons. The campaign was outstanding with the successful empowerment of over 500 young girls with skills in bead making, accessories customization and computer software, to mention a few.

With an unstoppable commitment to Africa’s economic development in a country where growth is reported to be falling, she launched into entrepreneurship and organized a seminar titled the “Uniqueness of your Vision”. This program convened 150 new startup founders, entrepreneurs and passionate individuals to decipher the uniqueness of their vision and provide them with clarity of purpose. In a similar focus, she organized a training called Vision board which held in one of the largest universities in Cameroon, the University of Buea. The training brought together 60 educational leaders to share their thoughts and strategies on topics such as “Bringing Visions to Fruition” and Developing Visions That Will Thrive In The 21st Century. Not only were young people inspired and motivated, she ignited a fire in them for a radiant and bright start in life’s endeavors, setting them on a course that they should follow.

The presence of the deadly pandemic, COVID-19 that has created psychological fear in communities, unlocking several unusual limitations and difficulties, and prompting most governments to impose stringent measures to prevent the spread of the virus, necessitated Annette Namondo Ewusi to act. She embarked on a COVID-19 Sensitization movement in 2 different villages and 2 orphanages in Fako Division, creating water points in strategic places to ensure constant washing of hands, and further distributed over 200 hand sanitizers and face masks to the local residents.

AMANDA NOMNQA

Amanda Nomnqa is an agent of change, a zealous, passionate youth leader who is about youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, education and community development. She has impacted young people by creating business opportunities, and through youth advocacy, skills development and activism in South Africa.

An influential leader, Amanda is on the frontline of the fight against gender inequality and gender-based violence (GBV). She actively supports victims of abuse and helps prevent femicide and secondary victimization of the girl-child; this she does through action campaigns on national and international level, as well as awareness campaigns to intimate the youth about the protocols for reporting cases and incidences, and how to find safe places to avoid abuse. She was a part of the Presidential GBV Campaign in South Africa and this, coupled with her other humanitarian works, have made her a target for malicious parties. In spite of the various threats to her life, Amanda soldiers on in pursuit of her cause.

She is the founder of She-Is-Brave Women Empowerment and Advocacy Organization, which addresses many issues that concern young girls and women. The Organization mentors, supports, and encourages over 2000 young women, with educational and empowerment sessions, and with the provision of relief packs and other aids.

She has imparted digital proficiency skills to over 5,000 young people through the Google Initiative Digital Skills Program, whom she collaborated with as part of her mission to improve lives and give youth the relevant skills they require to fit in with the contemporary world of business and entrepreneurship.

Amanda is a qualified nurse and qualified IT specialist. Her education gives an edge, so she fights for young people to have an education, and advocates for women’s health.

Amanda has demonstrated strong leadership in her country and parts of southern Africa, and works with the United Nations Youth Network’s executive secretary in Africa. Her work with UN agencies involves addressing social ills and the achievement of sustainable development goals. This has taken her on missions to several countries in Africa, where she demonstrated great leadership taught many to help bridge the gap development efforts for communities in Africa.

In 2019, Amanda attended a high level strategic UNGA74 world meeting, where she hosted a session on “Monitoring and Evaluation of Sustainable Development Goals”. The event held at the UN headquarters in New York and was attended by high profile leaders and young leaders.

She also tackles the issue of drug abuse through awareness campaigns and rehabilitation programs.

Amanda has effected great transformation for so many, and she continues to add value by being the change she wants to see.

MANZI GUEVARA

Manzi Guevara is a 23-year-old, self-driven youth leader with a strong passion for impacting lives and building a better community by providing sustainable solutions for Good Health and Well-being in Rwanda. Guevara is an outstanding leader, moved by the plight of women and children in Rwanda. He mobilized a team of young and passionate volunteers that work with him to reach out to many in his community.

Compelled by this passion, He contributed substantially to the health of the citizens of Rwanda; he found a need of reaching out to mothers and women that give birth in their homes or in the forest due to lack of medical assurances, which would cause the newborn babies to grow in unhealthy conditions. Guevara and his team collaborated with the local leaders in his community to sponsor medical coverage for over 60 families, where the beneficiaries were granted free medical care for a one-year period. Due to this outstanding initiative, one of the radios in his community approached him to speak on air and inspire other young people to make their country a better place. This has led to several seminars and outreaches where thousands of youths were inspired to take action by solving challenges in Rwanda.

Still on youth sensitization to the prevalent issues in his country, Guevara started visiting schools regularly, meeting with more than 300 students weekly, whom he mentors. Leading a team of 15 young volunteers who work with him in schools and on various community projects, he has generated funds to procure food items, toys, toiletries, cleaning materials, and school equipment, which are donated to less privileged children and care centers to facilitate easy daily life for them.

Guevara’s team executed a ‘Back to School’ campaign where children from 20 families were supported and returned to school with much-needed school materials needed such as books and pens, new school bags, and a 2-year scholarship. This campaign began in January 2019 and has since helped many along the path to a brighter future through quality education.

During the Covid-19 lockdown in his country, Guevara’s team organized a welfare project that saw to the distribution of food items to over 50 affected families. The packages consisted of rice, sugar, and maize flour. Guevara and his team of young volunteers raised over 228.000 Rwf (200$) for this project and spurring other youngsters to join their course.

Devoted to elevating the mindset of young people in his country, Guevara and his team organized 13 programs on youth empowerment and development, as well as outreaches and seminars on mind management and productive self-expression. Over 4,800 youths in institutions and communities in Rwanda benefited from these programs, with over 3500 copies of Christian materials distributed. Through showcase of his diverse talents in dance and rap music, he encouraged others to use their talents to impact others and contribute meaningfully to society. Indeed, Guevara is a vibrant African Youth who stands out as a true leader.

MARVEL MTHEMBU

Marvel Mthembu is a gallant, inspirational, phenomenal, innovative 22-year-old trailblazer with a vision and zeal for African unity and wellbeing, mostly for young people and African Communities. His influence has supernaturally gone beyond the parameters of South Africa and the African continent. In over 37 countries, he has raised teams of ardent youths who are now proficient in raising young people to be prominent leaders of their societies and who will make their world a better place to live in. They work with him to organize sports events, Arts exhibitions, Educational and Charitable outreaches, as well as IT and sustainable Environmental projects in their nations and beyond. Their purpose is to mitigate high levels of crime, and any human rights violation such as women and child abuse. He has trained 39 African Youths and referred them to the Leadership Initiative Awards from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. In total he has 120 representatives from across the world.

Through his Educational Initiatives, Marvel has hosted several projects such as Leadership, Mentorship and Success motivation programs. His team also established an agreement of providing extra classes and free tutoring for students who need personal tutors. They have partnered with a technology company in Nigeria to produce and deploy a Virtual Education App designed by Africans for Africa; the Cloudnotte App. The Cloudnotte App allows teaching and learning Online in real time, and 52 schools have benefitted from this innovation thus far in Africa.

In July 2020, he hosted a Revolutionary conference, which was tagged the Next Conference. This conference saw the launch of the free version of Cloudnotte App, which was sponsored for all African schools. The program attracted special guests such Dr. Justin Grabriel (Senior Lecture at Rivers State University Nigeria), Professor Peter Boamah (Pro Vice Chancellor at Bolgatanga Technical University Ghana), Tumi Bareki (Entrepreneur & Tutor from South Africa) and Suraj Venkat (CEO of Atens LLC India), who shared their thoughts on the Africa Educational Revolution.

Through the sports arm of his organization, Marvel has managed to keep most young people out of trouble on the streets and from doing drugs by hosting several sports tournament; league matches and sports camp; helping to develop and refine talents, and also providing Leadership training for coaches under his sports association.

His team has also taken part in other environmental projects. His philanthropic work has managed to reach out to several Orphanages in Africa, distributing food, sanitary and clothing items, and other needful amenities. These donations also include Christian materials to help them live the new creation life after receiving salvation. His projects also impacted disabled young people by giving them hope in God’s word.

Marvel is also a passionate advocate for ending child abuse, gender based violence and drug abuse. His team organized street Food Drives in African countries, feeding about 400 homeless people. They also organized a donation to indigent children in Enugu State in Nigeria where they fed and donated items such as clothes, shoes, bags, baby carriers and baby wears to about 300 children, adults and nursing mothers. He also led a team to celebrate Christmas with patients at the Helen Joseph hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they impacted and shared hope with 180 patients.

He has also built a vibrant center in Kenya and the team has greatly transformed Kenya with over 600 young people impacted, ranging from the homeless, to orphanages, rehabilitation centers and schools. So far, Marvel and his team have positively impacted over 12,291 people across Africa.

He has shown great potential and success in all his projects, garnering much recognition along the way. Awards and special recognitions received include:

Top 100 Global Soul Winners @ Loveworld’s 2019 International Cell Leaders’ Conference

Top 100 Young Mandelas of the Future

Top100 TYI SADC Trailblazers of The Year

He was invited to represent South Africa at the 2019 Model United Nations Conference in Indonesia

Also received an International Diplomatic Award from the President of International Global Networks.

He was also invited to represent South Africa at the 2019 December edition of the World Youth Forum in Egypt.

He has also been recognized and specifically saluted by the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, for the impact he has made to humanity, after receiving his Diana Award 2020 accolade, he was one of the 6 that Prince Harry found inspiring from over 50 Winners.

His community is ever so proud and grateful for his perpetual acts of generosity, irrespective of the heavy personal challenges he faces. His organization currently operates in 37 countries across every continent except South America, and they are working with the Tech Company they partnered with to extend the Cloudnotte App to countries in the Middle East countries.

Marvel is a force to reckon with, an agent of radical transformation in Africa and a true inspiration to many Young Africans. Indeed, Marvel is a young future African leader with a passionate and benevolent heart for Africa.

MORGAN MICHAEL ISAIAH

Morgan Michael Isaiah is a young inspiring and innovative 23-year-old Youth from Nigeria, the founder of the MORGAN MICHAEL ISAIAH FOUNDATION and VOICE OF AFRICA INITIATIVE which was birthed for the purpose of humanitarian services, promoting quality education, poverty eradication, social developmental campaigns, providing for the underprivileged, eradicating illiteracy and tackling major problems that affect Africa.

In a bid to promote quality education, Morgan set up a business for the sole purpose of aiding financially challenged families, through which he supported at least 11 children back to school in Lagos, by granting them scholarship throughout their primary school education; freely donated school bags, exercise books and pencils to the less privileged primary school children in Igbudu, Ebonyi state Nigeria.

Morgan also organized a Mind Management Seminar for the school of the blind where he taught them on the powerful use of their minds; and also distributed over 100 Braille books and stylus to the students.

This year, in collaboration with the Lions Club of Nigeria, he organized an awareness Campaign for Safety and Precaution Measures on the Covid 19 pandemic where he distributed more than 10,000 food and relief items, 600 nose masks, 400 hand sanitizers, and fed at least 600 people across different regions and communities in Lagos state to support livelihood for the needy affected by the Lockdown.

His compassion to cater for the hungry and needy, led him to organize a Special Conference, where he fed everyone present and this led him and his team to organize a Food Drive project in several communities in Lagos, Nigeria impacting more than 300 people through the distribution of food and relief items such as bags of rice, cassava flakes (Garri), vegetable oil; and over 125 clothes and toys for children and adults were freely given out to the less privileged families as a means to reduce hunger in his community. He also made charitable donations in cash and kind to widows and mothers in dire need.

Morgan organized a Community cleaning service in the Nigerian police office, Ikeja Lagos with the young people he had raised through his humanitarian developments projects. They donated 12 waste bin baskets to the Nigeria police force. He also received a Special recognition from the Chief Provost of Mopol 20 Squadron Nigerian Police service.

Morgan also worked with the Lions Club of Nigeria in renovating and furnishing 2 damaged school buildings at Anthony village Secondary School, Anthony where he organized free medical eye test and consultation and also gave out 15 recommended eyeglasses to people with poor eyesight during this exercise.

He organized free skill acquisition training in a community where 31 young people were trained in various skills as a means of job creation and at least 10 among the Best students were empowered financially with startup capital to commence their own business.

Morgan organized a 3-week Leadership Training Conference for young people in his home town in Igbudu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria where over 2000 students from 3 different schools including the presence of their School Authorities and staff. This led to the establishment of his club (VOICE OF AFRICA INITIATIVE) in one of the secondary school which now has more than 200 students as registered members and who are also co ambassadors in his goal of making a difference for the community.

Morgan seized the opportunity of the International Youth Day Celebration to organize several campaigns for young people such as (Stop Teenage Pregnancy & Child Abuse in Africa) and (The Effect of Rape & Drug Abuse), where more than 80 young people were greatly impacted in the well-coordinated efforts to address the effect of this abuse among young people.  He also distributed free sanitary towels to every female teenager present.

Through his dedication and exemplary efforts to humanity over the years, Morgan has reached and impacted more than 19, 000, 000 people. An outstanding leader indeed!!

DÉO-GRATIAS MEYOU

Déo-Gratias Meyou is a passionate and dynamic youth leader from the Republic of Benin, who is committed to the wellbeing of the population, youth education, and child development.

His passion led him to organize home classes in Mathematics, English and Biology for about 100 underprivileged students, in spite of the covid19 situation and lockdown in his country. As a result of that, about 95% of the students who participated in his classes passed their exams in flying colors. Déo-Gratias also organized several “Youth Development Programs” at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Benin Republic, and has impacted more than 500 medical and chemistry students, giving them tips on how to succeed in their studies.

After the lockdown period, Déo-Gratias worked with 17 Organizations including “Croix Rouge Universitaire of Benin”, “National Blood Transfusion Agency” to mobilize about 3,000,000CFA to organize an awareness program on the importance of blood donation. During this program, over 8,000 youths across the three largest universities in the country were educated and inspired to become consistent blood donors, and about 2,000 bloods bags were collected during the program.

Thanks to highly valued partners such as “VITAL”, Déo Gratias was able to participate in the creation and deployment of a Mobile App that facilitated access to blood, and helps people find health centers close by for improved planning for voluntary blood donations. His zeal and determination resulted in his nomination as an ambassador for the first blood management app created in Benin Republic.

Déo-Gratias founded an organization called “DGM Healthy Africa” whose objective is to implement sustainable means to fight major childhood illnesses in Africa, especially malaria and malnutrition. He launched several strategic awareness campaigns to educate the most vulnerable communities on preventive measures. Through those campaigns, he was able to reach more than 200 households who were informed about the danger of malaria and their roles in the fight against this disease. Mosquito nets were also distributed during the campaigns.

In response to the global covid19 crisis, Déo-Gratias launched a program called “Your Health Matters”, during which he and his team went from house to house to provide free medical care, especially to the elderly, and gave them advice on how to maintain good immunity. More than 250 people benefited from this program.

Being aware of the damage caused by malnutrition in Africa, and particularly in Benin, Déo-Gratias set up a program called “STOP MALNUTRITION”. Through this program, he reached more than 120 malnourished children at the Mother and Child Hospital in Cotonou. These children are checked monthly to ensure their full recovery.

The importance of agriculture in the fight against malnutrition and hunger in Africa cannot be ignored, therefore DGM – in partnership with specialists in ecology and agricultural fertilization – provided farmers with new natural and innovative techniques in organic fertilization, looting and carbon sequestration. These programs took place in several cities of Benin Republic such as Porto-Novo and Abomey-Calavi, and were recorded and broadcasted on AgricoTV with hundreds of viewers. More than 650 farmers, including the “Communal Union of Cooperatives of Marshlanders” (UCCM) of the city of Calavi, were impacted and were able to increase their production considerably as a result of these trainings.

HAPPINESS IZUORAH

Happiness Izuorah is a 23-year-old inspiring youth leader and change maker from Nigeria. She is an advocate for quality early care and education for children. This has driven her to focus on creating awareness, building support, birthing changes, and influencing public policy.

Happiness founded ‘HAPPY HANDS’, a non-profit organization aimed at investing in the lives of children and youth, building a healthy environment needed for them to thrive, and empowering them to create lasting changes in their own lives and communities. Through her work as a compassionate and caring humanitarian, she embarked on some community development strategies, implementing solutions for social issues and has paved way for thousands of young people to follow.

During the course of the year, she pulled off Cloth Campaigns to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northern part of Nigeria, reaching over 1,200 beneficiaries, and provided educational materials to children and teenagers with little or no access to quality education. Happiness is particularly very keen on the nutrition and wellness of children. She also provided food items to over 200 street children who don’t have sustainable access to sufficient food supply.

In collaboration with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Happiness organized a medical outreach providing free medical check-ups and consultation, and medications to tackle the acute malnutrition needs of children in the community.

In commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child, Happiness partnered with ‘SHE Federation’ to provide over 100 sanitary pads to girls in rural communities who lacked the financial resources to afford sanitary pads monthly. She played a huge role in helping them resolve the unhygienic methods used during their monthly flow. She also organized training for these young girls on how to make reusable pads when they don’t have quick and easy access to disposable sanitary towels.

Happiness has also been very instrumental in the provision of monthly food parcels for single and widowed mothers. During the Pandemic, she was pivotal in the provision of food items to over 300 low income families who were under severe deteriorating hunger situation. In her pursuit to improve the general livelihood of young people, she organized skill acquisition training in makeup artistry, ‘adire’ making, fashion designing, computer training, video editing, baking, and bag making. This has created job opportunities for over 100 young people in her community.

Responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic, which served grave injustices to the educational sector, Happiness and her team took a step further on an existing initiative, “TEACHERS WITHOUT BORDERS”. She mobilized other young change makers across Nigeria who volunteered to teach children in underserved communities that were left behind, as they were not equipped for the new methods of learning during the lockdown. The team tutored children for one hour twice weekly, and successfully took 78 children off the streets and into a classroom.

Happiness and her team are currently developing a technological platform to bridge the digital divide between parents, teachers and students for the poor and vulnerable populations.

Happiness is a certified alumnus of The Model United Nations, India, for her active advocacy in championing gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women. She is also an indispensable member of The Peace First Organization dedicated to helping young people around the world to become powerful peacemakers. She currently serves as a Campus Leader under the Venture Matrix Leaders Undergraduate Community that aims to lead a change in the political and social sector in Africa.

Happiness is undoubtedly a trailblazer who leads by example to empower those around her. She constantly inspires others to dream big and to use their voice to influence positive and meaningful outcomes. We applaud Happiness Izuorah from Nigeria for making her world a better place.

 

ANNICK CARINE BADO

ANNICK BADO from Burkina Faso is a 22-year-old activist and social entrepreneur who is extremely concerned about the life and future of young ladies and early mothers in Burkina Faso. She pioneered an organization named FEMME D’IMPACT (WOMAN OF IMPACT) aimed at empowering young ladies, improving and promoting education for the girl child, reshaping female entrepreneurship and fighting for women’s rights. Her organization has been able to impact over 2500 young people and transformed their lives for a brighter future.

In the period of COVID-19, Annick collaborated with The Ministry of Social Action, MARIE STOP INTERNATIONAL, BURKINA HOPE MINISTRY, SPONG (PERMANENT SECRETARY OF NGOs) and some Orphanages to launch a project for young mothers called MAN NINREE (CARRING OUT GOOD WORKS). The project included skill acquisition trainings programs, provision of accommodation, funding for small businesses, and seminars on early pregnancy, teens abuse and sexual mutilation. She also reached out to widows and orphans with food items during this period. Her organization has since initiated Capacity Building Outreaches every month, both onsite and online, for skill acquisition trainings and personal development seminars.

In collaboration with the WOMEN FOR CHRIST ASSOCIATION, she raised a Public Wallet (money, foods, and clothes) for several people who escaped terrorism at the borders of Burkina Faso. Annick also organised blood donation outreaches in hospitals and donated cleaning materials to them.

In helping young people fulfil their destinies and vision in life, Annick and her team organised a life transforming program titled YOUR DREAM, which was attended by over 300 youth onsite and more than 4,000 youth online. The program was conceived to help young people with all the capacity needed in order to fulfil their dreams. It was such an impactful program that she was invited to the national television of Burkina Faso to give more insight to a larger audience. By this means, she was able to reach more than 7 million youths.

In 2020, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youths Solidarity and Development Association and the African Order of Schools and Universities, she offered scholarships to over 100 students to study at the University of Ouagadougou and abroad. Annick also organised several programs in schools targeted at quality education, academic excellence and back-to-school campaigns where she distributed school materials to over 300 children in 3 villages and taught them about the importance of education.

Annick is also a member of ENGINNOVA, a start-up created by young people in technology and engineering, holding several hi-tech and robotic training programs to allow young people discover themselves and the future of technology, as well as giving them the right materials to create, innovate and transform the future.

MAYAMIKO BANDA

Eighteen-year-old Mayamiko Banda is a very inspiring leader from Malawi with an earnest desire to improve the livelihood of young people around her. At the age of 16, she spearheaded a youth initiative named ‘GET2GIVE’ which aims to train and empower youth that to become agents of great change in their communities, the country and Africa.

In its first year, GET2GIVE took up the project of paying the tuition fees for underprivileged secondary school students. Mayamiko took initiative to mentor and share the Word of God with the beneficiaries. These beneficiaries were so motivated and fired up, that they started cell groups in their communities; influencing hundreds of other young and elderly people.

She also took a step further to  mobilize a team of young volunteers and inspired them take up the task of periodically maintaining rural dusty roads in Malawi as these roads are very  crucial to the community and give  commuters easy access to the city.

Deeply inspired by the humanitarian works of the Red Cross in her country, she decided to partner with the Malawian Red Cross in raising funds for over 10,000 primary school children who were in need for school uniforms and stationery.

Demonstrating her passion for changing her community, she deferred her studies for a year to focus solely on projects targeted to improve her community. She joined the Global Youth Leaders Forum and became a very active GYLF ambassador in her country.  Her commitment to promoting good health and education in rural government schools led her to reach out to over 600 students and 30 teachers with sanitary products, stationery and ministry materials.

During the plandemic, this ardent follower of our dear Man of God Pastor Chris took heed to the instructions to give towards “Pastors in Dire Need”, and sponsored food items and the daily devotional- Rhapsody of Realities to Pastors in her community who had been greatly affected by the events of the lockdown.

Mayamiko reached out to orphaned and disabled children of (Chikondi Disability and Orphaned Centre), where she provided foodstuffs and ministry materials to 300 children and their families. Through organized conferences and football tournaments Mayamiko reached hundreds of youths with the message of our dear Man of God Pastor Chris, and led many to Christ.

Mayamiko Banda is truly a visionary leader completely sold out to the vision of our great ministry, blessing lives and focused on impacting Africa remarkably.

ISAAC BITRUS NGGIDA

Isaac Bitrus Nggida, 22, is an exceptional African leader from Nigeria, who has reached out to thousands of youth by providing platforms to prepare them for the future. He is the founder and executive director of “Dominum Minds Concept”, a non-profit organization which began in 2018 and has been in the forefront of promoting new breeds of innovative youths who will channel their minds to leadership development and engage critical stakeholders in the process through an initiative called the “NEXT BIG THING”.

He and his team held a Leadership Summit at Plateau State University Bokkos, themed “I AM THE FUTURE”, which was geared towards spurring undergraduates to become high profile influencers and leaders in an ever changing world. Several copies of Rhapsody of Realities and “The Power of your mind” were distributed as effective tools for mind management. Over 1,000 students have been positively impacted through this summit.

He was recently invited to the palace of the Royal Chief of Jengre, a community in Jos, popularly known as the Ogomo Pengena where he collaborated with the community to speak with over 300 youths. Further engagement was done via online conferences and regular skill acquisition classes, helping the youth reduce the level of dependency. Isaac got an additional 10 ‘Change Ambassadors’ from that community to join his cause.

With support from Safer World Foundation and Community Aids Workers Initiative (CAWI), Isaac and his team organized a 1-Day Engagement Framework with the Jos North Community themed “THE POWER OF ONE”. The summit trained youths and community leaders who are at the center of the violence on Peace Building and Implementation. The event gained visibility on several Blogs, Voice of America (VOA), and a local broadcasting Radio station in Jos North, resulting to over a million lives reached via air transmission and 156 lives impacted physically on the need for peaceful co-existence.

Following the closure of schools by the Plateau State Government on March 26th 2020 because of the coronavirus, and the consequent learning need for every child, he partnered with Kingdom Kids Klub – a non-governmental organization in Plateau – to start the ‘PROJECT HAPPY PACK’. The project provided study materials and food packs for over 700 kids across 14 communities between the ages of 7-10 in several communities within the state

Isaac also collaborated with CYPA Africa, the Plateau State Government and the people of Dogo Nahawa Community on a project to rebuild Dogo Nahawa through his Community Development Initiative. Currently, Isaac and his team, with support from the above mentioned institutions, are constructing one of Nigeria’s biggest community Library and Tech Hub Center in Dogo Nahawa Community, as a memorial for the over 500 people who were slaughtered in that community during the 2010 crisis in Jos. When completed, the facility will serve as an educational Hub and a capacity development center for over 5,000 youths in and around the community in the next five years.

CESAR AGUIDI

Cesar Aguidi, 22,  is a self-driven and inspiring young leader who is compelled by his passion for community development and nation-building. His unflagging zeal for a better Africa made him organize several projects in his town to tackle the development goals of the United Nations. He created an initiative tagged – THE INFLUENCE which was aimed at developing, training and empowering youth for effective leadership in Africa. He initiated and organized several conferences such as the YOUNG BEARER OF VISION and YOUNG INVESTOR reaching over 2000 young people not only in Togo but also in all the West African Sub-region.

Early this year, as one of the leaders of IESS (Solidary student for Health Initiative) he collaborated with INAM (a government institution in Lomé) and AIME AFRIQUE NGO (both working in the area of insuring health to the rural population) to organize an inter-municipal football tournament joined with fairground consultations especially for vulnerable populations in TOGO; with the ultimate goal of giving them the required Health Assistance.

Another goal of this project was to grant the populace access to the health institutions. Due to this initiative, 2989 people were reached and 292 critical pathology cases were treated by AIME AFRIQUE NGO in 18 areas in the city of Lomé; resulting in a drastic change in the wellness of the families.

Cesar also embarked on peacekeeping efforts by organizing conferences with young people in his home town towards the Presidential Elections which held in February 2020. He impacted over 200 youth leaders sensitizing them on their civic duties and best disposition towards the elections. This was very commendable as this laudable effort prevented uproar and violence which were the norm among young people at such seasons.

Also in collaboration with the United Nations delegated Ambassador for the SDGs (Mr Olusegun Adeniyi), he organized a massive conference on Lomé Campus tackling the vulgarization of the SDGs and the positive implication of young students impacting their communities while they were still on campus. This conference witnessed the attendance of over 2000 students who were sensitized about their role in community development and nation building. He also embarked on a cleaning project in collaboration with AJSF (Association of Youths without Borders) to clean the cultural center, CERFER for the community.

During the plandemic season and in anticipation of the next university openings, Cesar organized in collaboration with AJSF (Association of Youths without Borders) and the Psychologists Gathering, a special Orientation Class to guide new students in choosing the right courses, the right career and become top performers not only in their studies but also break limits in other aspects of their endeavors. This program was attended onsite by 64 people and was broadcasted live to over 4000 students. This laudable feat got the attention of the National TV Station of Togo (TVT) where he discussed topics like quality education, career choices and entrepreneurship. His interventions on the airwaves enabled him to reach out to over 15 million people giving them a road map to excellent livelihood and to remain motivated for greater impact.

During the plandemic, Cesar also initiated a project to produce a juice called COVIJUS which is so rich in nutrients and helped to strengthen the immune system of the populace against the health implications of Covid-19.

Cesar is also very passionate about music and art being the Chief drummer of the university extracurricular activities. His passion compelled him to institute a Music Club on Lomé Campus gathering over 80 students; learning different instruments and expressing themselves through music. He proceeded to organize an outdoor concert tagged- “My Area for Jesus” where over 500 youths and kids were given the opportunity to showcase their God-given talents and practice all that they have learned in the music club. This concert inspired more youths to join the musical community and learn other skills that will profit their communities.

His commitment to youth empowerment got the attention of the Minister of Youth Affairs who recognized his work and started a collaborative work with his organization.

Truly, Cesar Aguidi is such an exceptional leader whose commendable efforts will undoubtedly spring up outstanding development in Africa and the world at large.

DERRICK ABSALOM

Derrick Absalom is a 20-year-old young leader and society change agent who demonstrated his leadership strength through community service in different sectors. He has been in the track of civic leadership and social activities for more than 5 years. He has been the coordinator of the Youth United Association of Tanzania (YUNA) since 2018, a position that avails him the opportunity to direct more than 1,000 students from the 5 universities located in southern highlands zone.

He worked as coordinator to organize youth leadership group in Mbeya region and secondary schools around the region. He also worked as Young Project Facilitator at the She Can Foundation where he volunteers as a mentor, passionately grooming young girls for leadership.

Derrick created the HUNICAF YOUTH SUPPORTER, a group that has implemented much change by helping 600 Primary school students with reading lessons. He built 4 modern toilets in 4 orphanages in Mbeya rural and urban with the support of other Christian organizations.

In February 2020, Derrick initiated his online computer-training course for 250 young girls from Mbeya during the COVID19 lockdown and he received an award from UNICEF Tanzania for his efforts.

He has been chosen to participate in many different international conferences as a result of his unique leadership; some of these are Grassroots Trusts Country Exchange and Tanzania International Model of United Nation (TIMUN). He is also on the Youth Advisory Panel of Bridge for Change, a UNICEF Tanzania project.

Derrick is an agent of change, and we are confident that Uganda and the rest of Africa will yet gain more from a future leader as passionate as he is.

 

AICHA ELHAJ MAHAMAT

Aicha Elhaj Mahamat is an amazing and passionate 20-year-old leader from Chad who is ardently committed to volunteerism and improving the plight of less privileged children.

This caused her to collaborate with Un Enfant, Un Sourire organization to carry out projects impacting street children, the less privileged, and orphans. Aicha and her team visited 3 orphanages and 10 streets in the city of N’Djamena, where they reached out to 300 street children and distributed meal portions, toys and items of clothing.

She also conducted a free month-long certified pastry training course for more than 50 selected young orphans and visited Dieu Bénie Orphanage for a dormitory sanitation project, following which food items were donated to care for the 60-plus children. She also provided building materials for the facility upgrade.

As a young and vibrant youth who has easily identified problems in her community and presented ready solutions to them, Aicha is equipped as a Future Youth Leader to continue to support the social-economic development of street children and youths in her native country, Chad.

ABRAHAM UYI BERNARD

Abraham Uyi Bernard is the Leader of Mind Builders Tutorial, a coaching platform that has helped to discover hidden talents and improve values among young people, through improving access to quality education and skills acquisition training.

Through his Student Empowerment Program, he reached over 3,000 young people from schools within his community and gave them a platform to fine-tune details of their future aspirations. He also organized a free 6-week-long summer vocational class for more than 200 secondary students, training them in all aspect of lucrative skills acquisition and academics. After the course; scholarship awards and internship placements were presented to the outstanding students, for which Abraham ran a fund-raising scheme that enabled him to sponsor 11 students to complete their West Africa Examination and General Certificate Examinations.

In his pursuit to improve the quality of education in his community; Abraham helped in providing a facelift to several Government Secondary Schools by re-branding their respective signages, and he also hosted educative seminars for their students with the approval of the authorities, who embraced the value systems being propagated by his school mentorship program.

It was observed that Abraham incorporated real-life training sessions into his module through which the students were taken on excursions and exposed to wildlife management and the banking profession. As part of his community development efforts, he impacted over 100 indigent families in 2 densely populated urban communities by distributing large supplies of food items to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 related lockdowns. Through this Palliative Project; more than 1,500 lives were greatly impacted.

He also organized a Virtual Creative Art Live Performance program where more than 100 youths were allowed to express their talent and dreams to a global audience.

In addition, he conducted a free medical screening exercise catering to both the young and the elderly in his community, and led over 200 young people to carry out environmental sanitation across streets in his community. He partnered with medical personnel provide free dental care services, while ensuring the distribution of free medical aids to two hospitals.

As part of his effort to improve healthy lifestyles, Abraham started a Physical Fitness Program for young people, where he coached them on various body fitness exercises weekly in a bid to improve their physical and mental health status.

His investments in maximizing potentials among the youth and his zest for talent promotion has benefited over 15,000 young people and earned Abraham laudable recognitions in his local community.

HILLARY NAKITARE

Hillary Nakitare is a 22-year-old visionary youth leader offering quality education and advocating for equal opportunities for the poor and vulnerable living in slums in his homcountry of Kenya.

In Hillary’s pursuit to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for the poor and vulnerable, he led an emergency Book  Drive Campaign were he mobilized other change makers to donate 600 textbooks and other needed stationary materials responding to the dire needs of Baraka za Ibrahim primary school in Kibera (the biggest slum in Africa) were students lacked access to studying materials.

He was instrumental in the refurbishing of the dilapidated Community School Library making it possible for up to 15,000 students in Kibera to have access to study materials on a daily basis which in turn contributed to the high performance of the academic records of students in the community.

As the global lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 forced people to stay home and live on reduced income, Hillary collaborated with TEAM ENVIRONMENTAL KENYA to flag off “HER FLOW MY CONCERN”  campaign for young girls living in informal settlements and struggling to access sanitary pads. Through this initiative he provided sanitary towels for up to 500 girls monthly with over 20,000 beneficiaries. In the face of poor labor market prospects and challenges brought on by the pandemic; he teamed up with other humanitarian and goodwill individuals to provide free meal for 2,000 out of school children and raised funds to purchase much needed food items supporting over 300 families who lost jobs and business in temporary layoffs during the lockdown period.

Hilary is indeed a beacon of hope and has demonstrated exemplary leadership and  has made a tangible impact. We celebrate Hillary Nakitare from Kenya.

Anna Maneno Michael Milla

Anna Maneno Michael Milla is a young resolute and a continued stand firm 19-year-old human rights activist from South Sudan who advocates for gender equality and societal welfare and wellbeing of her country men and the regions beyond the boarders through the media sector inclusive of radio programs, television shows in different stations in South Sudan and in the diaspora, Anna uses acting movies and poetry to advocate for change through different platforms all around the world.

Anna is an inspiring teenager with a unique, passionate and zealous leadership approach towards personal and capacity development of the young people in her Country and beyond and with an outstandingly, strong desire and advocacy for eradication of both Early and Forced Marriages on the Girl Child and Gender Equality in her country and the practicing nations and beyond which is addressing the UN SDG on Gender Equality by 2030.

She has reached out to the youth both individually and nationally throughout her several youth initiatives and government affiliated efforts and appointments that she and her team has embarked on throughout the years.

Significantly, her Women Empowerment and High Schools mentorship Seminars, Conferences, distribution and provision of basic necessities, trainings and outreaches which she has continually organized and coordinated in her nation of South Sudan and the neighboring countries in their cities has so far shown perpetual outcomes in the Lives of hundreds of thousands of young women and people in educating them and creating early awareness on the positive effects of early preparedness for life in a country as hers nation and others.

Anna has continuously displayed her passions and zeal for love of young people and women in her nation by reaching out to schools and communities with over tens of hundreds Students and women positively impacted, challenged to face life boldly and equipped with necessities both academically, materially and substantially since her first step for this course of life right from the year 2018 and till today.

Notably amongst her projects and programs is her efforts of cofounding the “South Sudan Youth Fight Against Covid-19”. She and her team have distributed basic essentials such as soaps, masks, sanitizers, buckets for washing hands and later offered Psychosocial Support… and with this platform, she has been able to preach the gospel and peace to many citizens since it was a door to door campaign, instilling in the indigent communities and people hope for the future and faith to face life with greater approach.

Anna has continuously reached out to several groups and sets of people including, orphanages, care homes and missions trips to other areas of her country in most cases educating and enlightening them on their role and stand point in the decision making in the governmental systems and governance.

Anna is currently mentoring over 50 young ladies on how to be a success in their communities, with campaigns against early marriage, asking the ones who had conceived to go back to school, training some on craft and designs.