Meet the passionate young leaders out to change the world

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is a flagship of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that was launched by former US President Barack Obama in 2010.

The fellowship seeks to empower young people through leadership training, academic coursework and networking. Since it was established in 2014, it is one of the most competitive fellowships for young African leaders.

This year, it attracted more than 3500 applicants across the country but only 42 individuals got selected.

myNetwork spoke to some of the 2018 finalists and they share about their initiatives and what made them stand out.

Winny Obure

Feminist and human rights defender, Teenseed Africa

Civil leadership

Winny is passionate about women and girls rights. In many instances, she has gone out of her way to rescue them from sexual abuse and gender violence. She has been threatened and even locked up, yet she persists.

“I grew up in Budalangi, Busia County. I didn’t have a mentor or someone nurturing me. As a child, I was sexually abused but I didn’t know who to turn to or how to start the conversation because topics of sex and rape were infrequent. I therefore resolved to nurture and protect other young women and children,” she explains.

At 24 years, in 2013, she founded Teenseed Africa, a Community based Organisation that operates in Budalangi and Nairobi which besides protecting their rights, focuses on nurturing young Africa leaders by developing leadership skills.

“I had started the work way back in 2006, only that I didn’t know about the process of registering a CBO,” she chimes in.

The organisation holds school programs to enlighten learners on rape and defilement and the measures to undertake in case it happens.

“Through our interactions with other girls, I came to realise that sexual abuse happens a lot but sadly, in most cases, it goes unreported. Through Teenseed Africa, I want to provide a safe place for the victims and also ensure that they seek medical attention and get justice for ills meted on them,” she explains.

In a location, which she doesn’t disclose for security purposes, she runs a safe place for sexually abused girls below 18 years. There, they are counselled and helped in following their cases in court.

“We get calls from different parts of the city and the first thing we do after the rescue is to ensure that the victims get medical attention. We afterwards take them to the safe house before finding them somewhere else, because the safe house is just a temporary escape place,” she says.

In the last two years, the organisation has managed to rescue 42 girls, mostly below 15 years and out of those, about 10 are less than five years.

Winny runs the organisation alongside her full-time job as a counsellor at DREAMS, a program funded by the USAID and endeavours to reduce rates of HIV among adolescent girls and young women.

She confesses that although she’d love to dedicate more time to the organisation and save more girls, insufficient funding is a major obstacle.

“When I started the organisation, I didn’t have any funds coming in and I used to support the initiative by making and selling pieces of jewellery. To this end, I have some well-wishers supporting me especially my church, who donate sanitary pads towards “pads for progress”, a campaign ran by the organisation. However, to run such an initiative, we require quite some amount to cater for the victims’ expenses and also facilitate movements from one place to another,” she says.

Her organisation depends on volunteers who offer their services depending on their availability. She has since started an emergency kitty fund for future contingencies.

Winny’s work has not gone unrewarded. In September 2016, she got an integrity award from National Integrity Alliance. She considers the selection to join Mandela Washington to be very timely.

“Through the six weeks training, I hope to bring some freshness in my way of thinking and also understand how other organisations are run especially on matters of gender-based programs and how they have managed to stay afloat.

 This will be a great learning opportunity,” she tips.

To those who might wish to apply for the fellowship in future, she encourages them to take up short online YALI courses.

“#YALILearns is a good start to sharpen your leadership skills and increase your knowledge. You also get to be part of an online like-minded movement of young leaders in Africa through the YALI connect platforms.

Align yourselves with other incredible leaders doing little amazing work in their respective causes and make partnerships because Africa’s problems will be addressed when we synergize,” she offers.

Peter Kabethi Mwangi

Teacher & Co-Founder: Deaf Empowerment Society of Kenya(DESK)

Civil leadership

Peter is a Primary school teacher at Tumutumu School for the deaf in Nyeri County. There, he strives to impart knowledge and skills to the deaf students. Being deaf himself, it has enabled him to relate better to the students. He acts as their role model and mentor.

 Away from the class, he serves as the executive secretary of the deaf empowerment society of Kenya (DESK), an organisation that seeks to empower the deaf through business training and incubation.

“Although access to education for the deaf has significantly increased in the recent years, most still live in low economic status because of inaccessibility of job opportunities. That is why it was important my friends and I to found an organisation that would empower them,” he explains.

Established in 2015, DESK identifies deaf school leavers and link them to professionals who offer them free one-month training on skills such as how to start and run a business. After the training, the organisation offers the trainees seed capital to start their businesses. Since the launch, more than 150 deaf persons have benefited and most of them are now self-reliant.

As the central region coordinator of Deaf Athletics Association of Kenya, Peter has also been at the forefront mobilizing deaf adults to participate in athletics as a career. Through mentorship and empowerment, one of their members scooped three gold medals at the world deaf championship held in 2016.

At his backyard, Guara village in Githima location, his passion for the community becomes clearer as he assists a group of 35 women aged 40 and above with business ideas and how they can access to funds.

“I witnessed them start many projects and fail and resolved that I had to do something to help them because the same people and other members of my community have been very supportive of me. Also, I have been a scholarship beneficiary of Global Development Fund College and Wells Mountain Initiative University Scholarship. It is an opportunity to give back,” he chimes in.

Being an alumnus of Wells and Mountain Initiative gave him an edge when applying for funds in 2017 to support the Ndege self-help group in a goat rearing project. Although the group currently has two goats, they are able to earn income through the sale of milk.

“I am in the process of assisting them to start a tents and chairs business,” says the 32-year old.

Then adds,

In an attempt to reduce communication barriers and sensitise the society about the deaf persons, together with two of his friends, they started a sign language class in a local church in 2017. Word spread around fast and they were invited to start a club at two private schools in Karatina Township where they visit occasionally to offer sign language lessons.

His role in community development saw him get selected for this year’s Mandela fellowship after two unsuccessful applications in previous years.

“Besides the economic projects I am involved in, I believe that I was selected because I was able to clear myself during the interview. Believing in self really helps. Through the fellowship, I hope to create networks and also learn how best to run our organisation for longevity. My advice to future applicants is to try and market yourself and also convince the selection panel that you can be able to identify a problem within your community and provide a tangible solution, “he says.

Janet Leparteleg

Assistant ICT Officer & Founder, Butterfly Techies

Public Management

Janet is the founder of Butterfly Techies, a Community Based Organisation in Samburu County.

“I called it butterfly techies so that it could resonate with my people. Samburu people are known as butterflies because they are very colourful,” she explains.

Besides working for the ICT Authority, where she works as an assistant ICT officer offering ICT support for most of the government projects, she also volunteers her IT knowledge to secondary school students in Samburu County, her home.

“Basically, I work with girls from Samburu just to create awareness about technology. Over time, I realised that a lot of work is being done around FGM or early childhood marriages. We all want to get these girls to school, but what next?

Although Samburu is one of the marginalized communities in Kenya, she believes that the only way to give themselves an edge is by being tech savvy.

“Technology is an integral part of our lives, it is our present and we have to embrace it regardless of where we come from,” she says.

Almost every weekend, she makes a journey to Samburu to a particular school where she finds about 80 students waiting to draw from her well of IT knowledge.

She specialised in cybersecurity after graduating from JKUAT in 2015 with a degree in Business and information technology.

 “When I started back in 2013, I would just go and mentor the students in different schools but last year, I decided to register the organization and also narrowed it down to one school. This is to ensure that I create an impact in one school before moving to the next,” she explains.

Since she didn’t have any funds to purchase new computers, so she settled for a school that already had a computer lab.

“However, it was unutilised because of lack of computer teachers,” she reveals.

When she started early this year, her computer class had only 15 students and it has since raised to 80 - some of these students wish to pursue computer-related courses.

“The interest from students to learn about technology made me realise that we are no different from other people in other parts of the Country only that we lack the resources. Given a chance, we can even do better,” she explains.

Five years now into the project, she remembers the day it dawned on her that even the male counterparts from her community were not keen on technology.

“The ICT Authority was recruiting management trainees from every county and on the day of the interview, I was benumbed upon realising that I was the only one from Samburu who had applied for the opportunity,” she recollects.

Having attended Tech women fellowship last year, she got tips on how to scale it up – “in the near future, I wish to introduce an Ed-tech tool to enhance learning,” she notes.

“I believe that YALI will fall nothing short and I hope to get tailor-made coaching on public management, a field I am passionate about,” she says.

And adds,

“To future applicants or anyone wishing to apply for a fellowship, take time on the essays and seek guidance from someone who has gone through the fellowship. Don’t go in without an objective. Remember that someone has invested in you.”

Brian Magwaro

Co-founder Young County Change Makers

The events of the 2007/2008 post-election violence left Brian a troubled man. He couldn’t understand why the young people were fighting each other and this led to the formation of Young County Change Makers, an organisation based in Kisumu with an endeavour to bring youths together.

Together with his friends, who he co-founded the organisation with, they thought of music as the perfect way to unite the youth.

They recorded a song “we are one” and through it, I got an opportunity to participate in a peace caravan that traversed several counties in Kenya.

“It was organised by Voluntary Youth Philanthropists – a youth oriented NGO that lobbies and mobilises young people to participate in promoting peace. In 2009, I also participated in Amani peace caravan that toured the five East African countries promoting peace and football,” he points out.

With an ardent love for soccer, in 2012, the organisation organised Kisumu inter-slum soccer education tournament that reached more than 2000 youths and recruited peace ambassadors from the different slums in Kisumu. They have also been involved in engaging youth by offering different leadership training and through undertaking community projects such as the provision of story and study books to schools within Kisumu County.

Brian also works as the project manager with Blue Cross Kenya, a community-based organisation in Kisumu working with children and youth on prevention of alcohol and drug abuse. His job entails rescuing, rehabilitating and reintegrating children back to the society.

As a result of his volunteer work, he was among those that were selected to attend Mandela fellowship in 2014, the same year that the fellowship was launched.

“It was a life-changing opportunity for me. The networks and the lessons I picked from every speaker have positively impacted me.

I picked tips on how to design community projects and also got the opportunity to visit different projects in the New York City like Tribeca, food on wheels and lifestyles for the disabled-a unique program that works with people living disabilities,” he says.

After completion of the six weeks training in the United States of America, YALI offers the fellows a professional development opportunity. They are posted to different organisations in the USA or Africa.

Brian did his professional Development for four months in Lilongwe Malawi at the Guidance, Counselling and Youth Development Center for Africa an inter-governmental non-profit organisation.

“I acquired different skills and experiences on how to work with the youth and addressing issues like Gender-Based Violence, Mental Health and Unemployment. Through the networks, I made during the fellowship I have been able to receive mentorship from different mentors which has increased my experience in the civic sector. I have also got opportunities to attend different training all because of the exposure that YALI gave me. Importantly, through the fellowship, I have since been able to access funding from United States Embassy for my projects that I implemented through the YALI Pay it forward grant,” he expounds.

He advises the 2018 cohort to make best of their time there and build long lasting networks.