by Flaviana Matata

When I was asked to visit African Leadership Academy (ALA) and CIDA City Campus I had no clue as to what to expect.  But the more I learnt about the schools the more exited and honored I got about the visit.  The two schools have the same goal, but structured differently but each with its own unique and amazing characteristics. The most important thing is that I am glad I am part of this unique and rewarding initiative. As a Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) Angel I will make sure the kids of Africa get the best education through DEF and other similar funds.

First I visited the ALA school…the visit was very relaxing and the students were excited to see me, but more importantly to see someone from DEF, which means the world to them.  I was received by Mr. Chris Bradford, the Chief Operating Officer and one of the founding members.  Together with Chris, there was a group of students from Tanzania…I must say, these young students are probably the most intelligent, well informed Tanzanian students I have ever met. The student took me on a school tour which gave me a unique opportunity to get their perspective of the school and experience.

ALA, as compared to CIDA, target student from age 16 through 21.  ALA would then prepare these students for top universities in the USA, the UK, and many other top universities in the world. I met students who have been accepted with full scholarships to Cornell,

Flaviana with the students of African Leadership Academy

University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, Stanford and some still waiting for responses from other top schools such as Harvard, Yale etc. This would have been an impossible dream for these students if it was not for ALA.

ALA only has a total of 189 students, but the target should be way more than that…may be 3,000 students in the next five years. This can only be possible if we are able to bring the awareness and show the world that this is possible.  Lets teach the new generation how to fish and not depend on handovers.  ALA you have my commitment and will spread the word out there.

The following day I went to CIDA City Campus…CIDA is a university for those talented students who cannot afford the education.  CIDA would identify these students and encourage their unique talents.  For example I met a student who is good at photography and the school allowed him to develop that into a business within the school. This gives these students an opportunity to do what they are good at and developing them into businesses that they can perform competitively. Last year 82% of the graduating class got employed right after graduation.  This is a huge percentage considering the unemployment levels in Africa and worse the economic downturn currently affecting the world.

Flaviana with the students of CIDA City Campus

My discussion with Mr. Nesan Chetty, Senior Manager – Marketing, further explained the important role DEF is playing in changing the future of these young students and in-turn Africa.  He further highlighted some of the challenges CIDA is facing…the largest being the facility.  They are currently housed in an 8 storey leased bank building, with no sports facility.  They are in dire need of a new complex to give these talented students an experience like any other University.  Mr. Chetty explained that they have already located a piece of land and they are currently in a funds mobilization phase.  The sooner this happens, the sooner we see this institution develop into a world class facility.

I would like to personally thank Russell Simmons for his dedication and ever support of these schools.  Above all, for introducing me to DEF and to show me how I can give back.

Regards
Flaviana Matata

With the Diamond Information Center,  last December, Rachel Bilson traveled to Botswana and South Africa to learn about  diamond mining the impact it has made in the lives of the people there. Wanting to do what she could to help, Bilson created this bracelet, sold exclusively through Macys.com. to symbolize and help support  the non-profit Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF).

Click here to see a video of Rachel in Africa.

Diamond Empowerment Fund extends a heartfelt thanks to the generous collaborators who came together to make this special project possible for DEF:

• Rachel Bilson
• InStyle Magazine and instyle.com
• A Diamond is Forever
• Everlon Diamond Knot Collection
• Macys.com
• Rosy Blue

CIDA City Campus students, Brenda Tame and Lesego Magana

INTERVIEWS AT CIDA PARK EXTENSION

INTERVIEW: BRENDATAME, 2ND YEAR BBA STUDENT

“There’s a real sense of community here at CIDA Park Extension,” says 21 year old Brenda Tame (left), a second year BBA student at CIDA.

Brenda grew up in a family of four siblings in the rural area of Qwa-Qwa, in the Free State, a province of South Africa. Her Dad died when she was a toddler and her Mom, who was a teacher at a local school, struggled to make ends meet and keep the family together.

Brenda, who was always a promising student, spent her high school years at a boarding school some 250 kms away, in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

She now lives in Maponya House, one of the buildings that has been made habitable for occupation in CIDA Park Extension.

“At school I enjoyed science and my mother managed to save enough to put me through my first year of electrical engineering at the Vaal University of Technology in Gauteng,” she says. “But with several mouths still to feed at home, my Mom’s money soon ran out and I had to leave after my first year. Then, one day, I read a newspaper article about CIDA. I applied right away and was accepted.”

With no business skills and a need to learn the basics as well as to upgrade some of her other school subjects, Brenda entered her Foundation Year in 2007. She has never looked back and is an enthusiatic student of finance and investments.

“I’ve found a good place in CIDA. There’s lots of encouragement from lecturers and lots of support from the other students.We’re a community. There are outside people who come in and give us lectures, too, and that is always interesting. I’ve made good friends here, including Lesego.” (right)

As part of her commitment to the Extranet programme that instils social responsibility in CIDA students, Brenda has been actively working for SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise). This is an organisation that teaches school pupils about HIV and AIDS. In addition, she’s been voted Treasurer of SASCO (South African Student Congress), and now spends much of her spare time going into schools to teach business skills to high school students. She thoroughly enjoys teaching others and playing a role in the lives and the future of these schoolchildren.

Brenda plans to become an economist in the future and, with her abilities and the confidence, determination and enthusiasm she exudes, it looks like her dream will certainly come true.

INTERVIEW: LESEGO MAGANA, 1ST YEAR BBA STUDENT

Lesego Magana (above, right) is 23. She grew up in the cosmopolitan suburb of Hillbrow that borders the city of Johannesburg. Social conditions there have deteriorated over the years and, in her early teens, she moved with her father to Spruitview, a sprawling and somewhat impoverished township outside Johannesburg.

Lesego loves being at CIDA where she’s a first-year BBA student specialising in marketing.

Like her good friend Brenda Tame, Lesego started her studies elsewhere but the family finances ran out and she was unable to complete her studies.

She was told about CIDA by a friend who, she says, graduated from CIDA and has transformed her life and that of her family, through her studies and the excellent job she got afterwards. “I decided that, if she did it, I could too!” she says.

Lesego was not required to undertake a Foundation Year, and started her studies at CIDA this year.

“I enjoy my studies and I like having other students around to turn to. The feeling of community is great and we help support each other.”

“It’s better for me to live in Maponya House at CIDA Park Extension than at home. Here I find I can concentrate on my studies. It’s hard work doing my degree, but I’m loving it here.”

Lesego plans to put her creativity to use in the field of marketing when she graduates, and is confident that she will make a success of her life in the future. In the meantime, as part of her social responsibility efforts, she is part of the CIDA Spark team, a group of students who help CIDA by undertaking public relations tasks, meeting with visitors and showing them around the campus.

A natural curiosity in human behaviour and a passion for working with people is the driving force behind Kelly Anne’s decision to study psychology. On campus, Kelly Anne is the technical force behind all school productions.

Kelly Anne’s Dream:

In my view a leader is someone whose goals are aligned to their passions and who take appropriate steps to achieve those goals for the betterment of society. This is the reason that I consider myself to be a leader. I have started to take small, yet meaningful steps towards achieving my goals. The first of those is attending African Leadership Academy in order to get a quality education so that I am able to improve the society that I live in.

I want to bring about change among the youth in my community in Cape Town. I have witnessed too many talented and promising teenagers lose hope, give in to the temptation of drugs and crime because their environment does not stimulate and motivate them. I plan to set up youth centers around Cape Town, focusing initially on the most poverty stricken areas. The centers will run arts-based activities such as dance, music, drawing and theatre. Teenagers will be able to attend courses and also deliver classes to other young people. By engaging young people through the arts with fun and interesting activities, the centers will provide an alternative to the drug and crime culture that is prevalent in the Cape Town area.

Daniel’s ambition to pursue a career in electronic engineering has grown out of a lifelong fascination of taking electronics apart and putting them back together again.

Daniel’s Dream:

I am Daniel Sahr Bonga, from Sierra Leone. When I was 9 years old a brutal civil war erupted in Freetown where I was living with my family. During the war, my father’s investments were lost and my mother’s house burnt to ashes, leaving them with nothing but their three children. My parents never thought that starting life all over again should prevent me and my sisters from getting an education. So they tried their best to send us to average primary schools in the city. After writing my junior secondary school entrance examination, I emerged with one of the best results in the country. Through this I was awarded a scholarship which enabled me to study at one of the most respected government schools in Sierra Leone.

At African Leadership Academy I am the Finance Manager of an original idea project called, Niquee. The aim of Niquee is to develop a lotion using milk butter that moisturizes the skin but also serves as a malaria repellant which in the long-term will help alleviate the malaria outbreak in many African countries. I dream of seeing a peaceful and interconnected Africa and plan to design projects that will enable low-income communities in Africa and the world at large to become self sustainable.

Maputi hopes to study bioinformatics to help Africa through the application of information technology to the field of molecular biology.

Maputi’s Dream:

My name is Maputi Elizabeth Botlhole, an eighteen year old girl from the township of New Brighton – a place that pulsates with the vivacious spirit of ‘ubuntu’; where the architecture of households is characterized by a series of corrugated iron roofs that symbolize the vicissitudes of life and which inject hopelessness into the minds of those hemorrhaged by the cycle of poverty. But it is also the place where I was nurtured by my family and where I was imprinted with indelible moral values which have molded me in to a ’significant individual’. This is how the philosophical Nigerian writer, Wole Soyinka, describes a leader.

These moral values act as my guiding principles and have shaped my participation in projects which contribute towards the betterment of society. Furthermore, I have been able to fortify these values by being part of the African Leadership Academy community. I am currently working on a proposal which is aimed at curbing the spread of Tuberculosis in South African communities with a particular focus on townships and informal settlements. I was able to undertake this project with the help of Mr. Scudder, my Biology teacher who tirelessly injects life and philanthropic significance into the science. I have been equipped with a platform to realize my human capabilities and have been encouraged to believe that I will implement my work in townships and informal settlements, once I accumulate the necessary resources and establish myself as a skilled Bioinformatician.

Ngozi wants to study human rights law with the vision of transforming Sierra Leone.

Ngozi’s Dream:

“Don’t wait for flowers to be brought to you, plant your own garden”

This anonymous quote has been a constant driving force during my adolescence. I first heard it in 2003 during a guest speaker’s talk at my former school’s prize giving and was struck by how relevant it was to my life at the time. I come from Sierra Leone, a country with high dependency rates, and this quote spurred me on to find ways to improve myself and others without waiting on the government or members of family for handouts.

I don’t believe that there is a fixed set of criterion that qualifies a person as a good leader but in my view, I believe that honesty, accountability, integrity and a commitment to service are important traits in a leader. A leader is someone who is forthright, has a high sense of responsibility, and is committed and dedicated for the greater and common good.

These qualities are evident in my personality and I shall use them to make a change in Africa. I dream of becoming a human rights lawyer. I want to see a justice system that is fair to the vulnerable and the defenseless of society. I strongly believe that all humans, without reference to their background, class or social level in society, have the same right to access justice. Human rights and justice are for all, and I believe that it is high time that Africa is filled with lawyers who are passionate about equal rights and justice for the populace, especially those described as the “the masses”. With my leadership qualities, and my passion to see change happen, I believe that as a young African leader, I can indeed make a change.

Dagbedji is determined to improve infrastructure in West Africa and will begin to put theory in to practice by majoring in civil engineering.

Dagbedji’s Dream:

I have a passion for systems, especially their organization. This organization is, I think, the main factor of efficiency. Whatever the initial asset, the final value is determined by how well-assembled the parts are. Let’s use the carbon element as an example. It is the core element of graphite, the dark graphite that I waste each time I sharpen my pencils. Yet, in other circumstances, it presents itself as a precious and mysterious stone: a diamond. Looking at it closely, one discovers that the difference between the graphite and the diamond is the strength of the inter-molecular bonds. Let’s replace the molecules of carbon with the people of Africa. Imagine the graphite and the diamond represent the possible state of the continent. Consequently, the state of the continent is determined by the strength of the bonds between its people.

Personally, I have come to believe that only communication, information and exposure can strengthen peoples’ bond. This is what drove me as inaugural president of the African Leadership Academy francophone club and as co-founder and head of the African Leadership Academy agriculture club. This is what drives me as web services representative of iALA – the executive committee of the African Leadership Academy ICT support team – and as CEO of Agro-Experts, the student-run agricultural farm on campus. This is what will drive my professional career either as an engineer or a businessman, but always as an agent of positive change.

I am Dagbedji Fagnisse, Togolese by descent, Ivorian by education, African by love, Human by creation.

Anicet has an interest in scientific research and development.

Anicet’s Dream:

A very strong belief we all have in my family is to relate all the things or actions we undertake to which will make us proud. I grew up to realize that I actually enjoyed being a man of change. During the 9th grade, my school was renowned for its excellence in the city but yet couldn’t reach its dream of being the top school in the region. I came up with the idea of creating a student council committee which would share with the school its thoughts about different problems faced in the school and would then propose solutions. We implemented a system whereby each time a student performed well, he beneficiated from some financial aid support. This promoted excellence and allowed my school to be the top school in the region.

This is my definition of a leader: “an effective leader is the one who is able to see opportunities of change and improvement around him, grab them, hold them with all his strength, carefully exploit them and positively impact his people”. According to this definition, I consider myself to be a leader. African Leadership Academy provides an environment to learn all that I need to bring about change in the world around me. Ivory Coast is now the second biggest producer of cocoa worldwide. Yet, its economy is still suffering. Why? All the cocoa is sent to the west and we then buy the end product from them in return. My biggest dream is to set up a set of factories that are going to transform the cocoa at home and sell it to the entire world so that profit would be maximized.

This young Ivorian has a vision of changing Africa through scientific research.

Lou’s Dream:

My time at African Leadership Academy has given me the opportunity to think not only as a citizen of Ivory Coast, by as a citizen of the world. Here I have met people from Mali, Uganda, Libya, Morocco, Burundi and the USA. I have been exposed to many other cultures yet have learnt that many of our problems are the same.

I am passionate about Africa and I want to make Africa better through the empowerment of young people. In the future, I want to be an economist and have a microfinance enterprise that supports the young entrepreneurs of Ivory Coast to make their ideas come alive.