We've been reading...

Mozambique eliminates maternal and neonatal tetanus
UN -- Mozambique has eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus, according to a United Nations-backed health survey. The nationwide survey, which was conducted last month with support from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), found no deaths from maternal and neonatal tetanus in the country, confirming that the disease no longer exists as a public health problem. "Commitment, hard work and partnerships are paying off," said UNICEF Representative Jesper Morch. "This milestone demonstrates that delivering life-saving vaccines to the poorest and most isolated communities brings results, and we will make every effort to sustain this progress"...

Chad says no to plastic bags
IRIN -- N'djamena is a rarity in the region - the trees lining the Chad capital are not scarred by plastic bags. In supermarkets cashiers simply leave goods on the counter for the customer to take away, which many do in reusable bags on offer everywhere in the markets. When Marie Thérèse Mbailemdana became mayor of N'djamena in January 2010, she was determined to apply a 1992 law prohibiting the importation of plastic bags (known by the Arabic word ‘léda'); until then the law had not been strictly enforced. "This plastic polluted the city - you saw plastic hanging on walls, on trees. And it destroys our environment. Plastic remains in the ground for centuries. No trees or plants will grow where plastic is in the ground," she told IRIN...

Landmarks around the world turn (RED) for World Aids Day
ONE Blog -- This Wednesday is World AIDS Day, and while ONE members across the country are already championing the issue, we want to send out some exciting news from our sister organization, (RED). Tomorrow, (RED) is illuminating the world’s most iconic landmarks to raise awareness for World AIDS Day. Last year, nearly half a million babies were born with HIV — but with access to medication, a pregnant mother can stop the transmission of HIV to her child. With continued funding to organizations like the Global Fund, the number of babies born with HIV could be zero by 2015, creating the first AIDS-free generation in 30 years...

Sudan targets food self-sufficiency in 5 years
Reuters -- Sudan will prioritise agriculture to target self sufficiency within five years after the devastation of decades of civil wars, its agriculture minister said on Monday. Africa's largest country must diversify its economy away from oil -- from which it derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange revenues -- as the oil-producing south is expected to secede following a January 9 independence referendum. "We are targeting to achieve food self sufficiency within five years -- agriculture is the way forward for Sudan," Agriculture Minister Abdel Haleem al-Mutafi told Reuters in an interview...

More on technology & development

You might remember an article I posted a while back about Zack Matere, a Kenyan farmer who found that being able to access the internet on his mobile phone was able to help in all sorts of ways. Now, with help from the International Finance Corporation and the Soros Economic Development Fund, Esoko will be giving this same opportunity to several other farmers in Ghana and other African nations. More from AfricaNews:

Ghanaian technology firm Esoko has received a $1.25 million equity investment from the World Bank's International Finance Corporation and the Soros Economic Development Fund.

Esoko gives farmers access to timely crop information that can be shared via text messaging, enabling them to increase their incomes. The investment in Esoko will help to give smallholder farmers and businesses in Ghana and other African countries timely crop information that can be shared via text messaging, enabling farmers to increase their incomes.

The Esoko technology takes advantage of the mobile phone and the internet to provide current agriculture and market information to interest groups within the agriculture and trade sectors.

Through its network of enumerators in 31 markets in Ghana, Esoko is able to provide market prices on various agricultural commodities directly unto the mobile phones of farmers.

Managing Director of Esoko Ghana, Bernard Otabil told Luv Fm the additional investment from the IFC and SEDF is a manifestation of growing confidence in the business.

According to him, the funding offers Esoko the opportunity to sustain support for farmers over the long term.

"Funding provides you the opportunity to actually implement your plan on paper and before anyone commits to taking up any investment in any organization, they have to be really sure that over the long term, the return on investment will be achieved.

"We know what our critical market really is; we have a plan in terms of making sure every farmer everywhere have access to the information that we provide. We are committed to improving livelihoods to help them to achieve their goals of poverty alleviation and also overall contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals", Otabil stated.

The Esoko software is currently being used in nine African countries.

Mini Seminar: The Pursuit of Happyness

On Friday we had our first ever Mini Seminar film show (pictures after the jump). We watched The Pursuit of Happyness, a film starring Will Smith and his son Jayden. It is inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a man who successfully established himself as a stockbroker despite being a single father battling homelessness. He later went on to set up his own stockbrokerage firm, Gardner Rick & Co. Despite numerous preparations, we were still unable to shake of the technical issues bug - this time relating to very quiet speakers. We will get there! After obtaining a different set of speakers from the head office, we were finally able to continue. Because of time issues however, we were unable to spend much time on the discussion at the end. The film spoke volumes on its own though - the value of having a tenacious, determined spirit; of holding onto your dreams; of never giving up. As Chris said, "Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. Not even me. Alright? ... You got a dream... you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it. Period."

Great news for all mentees!

During our Leadership Conference last month, Albert Ocran asked us about three things we think would come to people's mind when they thought about us. When he asked us if there was anyone who would share these things with us all, Albert Adjei obliged. Mr Ocran was so moved by the frankness and honesty by which Albert answered that he decided to present him with a free copy of his latest book. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be), he did not have a copy with him at the time.

Elinam has been speaking to Mr Ocran and he has very kindly informed us that he has decided to give a free autographed copy of his Career Starter Pack to all mentees! Yes, all of you! Albert Adjei will also be receiving a copy of The More You Know The Better It Gets. We'll be giving them out on Friday during our Mini Seminar. Thanks and God bless you so much for your generosity Mr Ocran!

I'm also pleased to let you know that Sub-Saharan Publishers now have copies of The Cross Drums in stock. We will also be handing these out to you on Friday. Make sure you come along!

Mini Seminar this Friday: Film show!

As you (hopefully!) already know, our Mini Seminar has been rescheduled and will be held this Friday. Most likely, we will be watching The Pursuit of Happyness. The title may change; I'll keep you updated. Either way, the movie will be followed with a brief discussion on the leadership lessons we can learn, so come prepared to do a little talking. We'll need to start at 3pm on the dot, so if you'd like to come, make sure you do so early so you don't miss the start of the movie.

We're still speaking with Sub-Saharan Publishers about our order of The Cross Drums. We hope they will have them in stock by Friday so we can get them to you then. Again, I'll keep you posted.

Video: Fighting illiteracy with innovation*

An innovative $25 projector by Design the Matters in collaboration with three universities makes it easier for several adults and children to learn to read, especially those limited to learning by night. To date, the Kinkajou^® Microfilm Projector has supported the learning of over 3000 adults. More details in the video:

Literacy can be the difference between life and death. Using an example from the video, being able to read means mothers are able to read prescriptions and administer medicine correctly to their children. It's that simple and that profound. In the fight against poverty, it is essential that we are able to combat illiteracy. It was recently announced that the Ghanaian government is planning on spending about a third of its budget on education. This is a huge step (provided it's managed properly), and hopefully we'll soon be able to stamp out illiteracy completely.

*Flash player required.

We've been reading...

Better sanitation could save 2 million lives a year
Reuters -- Nearly 20 percent of the world's population still defecates in the open, and action to improve hygiene, sanitation and water supply could prevent more than 2 million child deaths a year, health experts said Monday. In a series of studies on sanitation published as a cholera epidemic claims hundreds of live in Haiti, public health researchers from the United States and Europe found that this year 2.6 billion people across the world do not have access to even a basic toilet. Unsafe sanitation and drinking water, together with poor hygiene, account for at least 7 percent of disease across the world, they said, as well as nearly 20 percent of all child deaths in the world... (Kate Kelland)

UN expert praises Congo’s draft law on indigenous rights
UN News -- An independent United Nations human rights expert today welcomed a draft law in the Republic of Congo intended to recognize and protect the rights of marginalized indigenous communities in the central African country. “I welcome the development of a bill for a law on indigenous peoples, and am pleased to have heard from Government and parliamentary officials that the bill will very likely be adopted into law during the current session of Parliament, before the end of the year,” said James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples...

Cuban launches next phase of malaria project
SciDev.net -- Cuba has announced plans to build biolarvicide factories in Brazil and several African countries in a bid to tackle malaria and dengue fever. Biolarvicides are biological products that are added to water to kill mosquitoes at the larval stage. The Cuban government will oversee the programme, and funding is expected to come from national governments of the countries involved. Final figures have not yet been confirmed. Ghanaian health minister Benjamin Kumbour welcomed the project and said it would teach Ghana the best practices that Cuba has used to manage the disease and would deepen bilateral relations between the two countries...

United States urged to take action on climate change
ONE Blog -- In a bold call to action, a bloc of 259 investors representing a quarter of global capitalization and assets signed a statement urging the newly minted United States Congress and climate negotiators in Cancun to address climate change reform — or risk further economic woes. Never before has there been such a coordinated effort emerging from the investors’ worldwide circle. The group strategically issued their message before the November 29th international climate change treaty negotiations set to take place in Cancun, Mexico, to tackle the next step in climate change once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012... (Veronica Weis)

Mini Seminar: Discovering and fulfilling your life mission

Last Friday (the 12^th of November), we had our first Mini Seminar of the year. It was, as you know, hosted by Harry McNinson who spoke on 'Discovering and Fulfilling your Life Mission'. Here's a sort clip (Note - the video will not show unless you have the latest version of Flash installed. Download it here):

Harry emphasised that although there are books that aim to help you discover your role/purpose/mission in life, these serve as only pointers. The only one who can really give you an insight as to why you are here on earth is the One who crated you. There is no real way around it. Like Harry said; the only way you'll know what a new invention is supposed to be used for is to hear from its inventor.

As he rightly pointed out, there are things you can do that will help you identify your life mission. Most important (after seeking spiritual answers) is to be open to opportunities. Never pass us the opportunity to try or learn something new because you never know where it will take you.

Finally, after having discovered your life mission, the next step is to fulfill it. Live it out. This, Harry explained, should not be difficult. Of course in life there are challenges and nothing is ever going to be simple from start to finish. But in fulfilling your life mission, you should find that things generally come easy. You are able to overcome challenges and you are filled with joy. If this is not the case, you might want to go back and ensure you're still on the right path. For more information, see the Discovering and Fulfilling Your Life Mission Cheat Sheet (your mentors should have a copy). Hit continue to see pictures. And don't forget to check out our Twitter page!

Lewis Hamilton: The drive to succeed

If you know me, you'll know that I love Formula 1. The last race of the season will be taking place this weekend in Abu Dhabi. The first practice session's already over in fact (sniff sniff). You might be wondering what this has to do with anything, and rightly so. Well, I'd like to share something with you about my favourite driver, Lewis Hamilton. I stumbled on an article that, I think, speaks volumes on the kind of message we try to get across here at Databank Foundation. Here's an edited excerpt:

When Lewis Hamilton first met Ron Dennis, then the team principal of the McLaren Formula One team, he told him, "I want to race for you one day. I want to race for McLaren." Dennis was so impressed with the young man he gave him his telephone number and said, "Call me."

This wasn't in 2007, just before Hamilton joined the hugely successful F1 team. It was in December 1995, when Hamilton was just 10 years old.

"I guess I knew what I wanted early on," he says during a telephone interview from Sao Paulo, where he was racing in the Brazilian Grand Prix before flying to Abu Dhabi this week for the capital's Formula One event, which closes out the season. Hamilton finished fourth in Brazil, and has an outside chance of winning the F1 title this year.

His career as a racing driver began with remote-control cars.

"My dad thought that I had such good hand-to-eye coordination that he thought I might be able to race properly. So he bought me a kart for Christmas when I was eight years old."

Hamilton's desire to drive for McLaren was, he admits, more down to the look of the team than anything else. "Young kids are generally attracted to colours first," he says. "They don't know the people's names or the teams' names... Then I got to know more about them and started following Ayrton Senna."

He names Senna - a Brazilian Formula One driver who died in a crash in 1994 and is considered to be one of the greatest drivers of all time - as one of his role models; Nelson Mandela, whom he refers to as a "kind of friend," is another.


"He [Mandela] has been a huge inspiration to me, I read about him so much, and to finally meet him was probably one of the most fantastic moments of my life outside of racing," he says.

Obviously, the most fantastic moment in his racing career came in 2008, when, at the age of 23, he became the youngest ever (and the first black) driver to be crowned F1 World Champion. He won the title ahead of the Brazilian driver Felipe Massa by a single point. [He also missed out on becoming the first person to be crowned World Champion in their first year by one point in 2007.]

"It's very surreal, I have to say," he says. "... I don't walk around thinking I'm some kind of superstar, I walk around generally the same person as I was growing up and I know that if I don't do a good enough job at what I'm doing I'm going to lose my job. It's exactly like anyone else, that's the way I approach my work, and I work my backside off."

Hamilton loves music, and often travels with a guitar. He is also trying to read more.

"I go and look in a bookstore and don't know what on earth to pick up," he says. "But I like to learn something when I read rather than just reading a story. The last book I read was A Thousand Splendid Suns, I thought it was a beautiful story."

_________

Not all of us are fortunate enough to know exactly what we want to do from a young age. But if you do (and even of you don't), I'd like to encourage you to go for it with everything you have. Never let anyone tell you what you can or can't do. With determination and hard work, half the battle has already been won - so go ahead and believe in yourself!

You can read the article in full here - part one, part two.

And the winner is...

On Monday, history was made. At the International Association of Political Consultants' (IAPC) conference in Paris, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai became the first person ever to receive the IAPC Democracy Medal twice. According to the IAPC, "No other world leader, past or present, can lay claim to receiving the IAPC's Democracy Award on two separate occasions".

It is a remarkable achievement for a person who, despite numerous arrests, accusations of treason and even being beaten, continued his pursuit of democracy and political justice for his country. He is a true example that hard work and persistence really do pay off. More from africagoodnews.com:

"[He] joins an impressive group of world leaders including Nelson Mandela, Boris Yeltsin, Margaret Thatcher and, more recently, Dr Mir Hossein Mousavi of Iran who was awarded the medal in 2009."

Tsvangirai was first awarded the medal in 2002, but was unable to accept it in person at the time because he was not permitted to leave Zimbabwe.

The IAPC started presenting its Democracy Award in 1982 to individuals or organisations who had worked "courageously to foster, promote and sustain the democratic process throughout the world".

In his address to the conference Tsvangirai was quoted saying: "In my darkest moments I am inspired by the hope and courage of the people. At times when I am tempted to feel proud, I am humbled by the commitment of millions of ordinary Zimbabweans to stand up for their rights and in times of anger and frustration I am consoled by the absolute dedication to peaceful, democratic change demonstrated by the great people of Zimbabwe.

"We are all committed to fostering democracy and democratic processes. While I am focused on fulfilling this mission in Zimbabwe, I know that there is much to be learnt from the knowledge and lessons that you bring to this conference."

Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Mr. Tsvangirai. This an important step in the transformation of the image of African leadership; we hope there will be many similar announcements to follow.

Follow us on Twitter!!!

Our Twitter page is (finally) up and running!! Find us at www.twitter.com/infoYLMP, or click here to go directly to our page. Follow us and join the conversation!

Innovative problem solving in Namibia

Here's a great post I picked up from What Gives 365 a by a lady who has decided to donate $100 everyday to worthy causes. In this entry, she talks about a the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN). Enjoy the read! (Click here for the full article)

How far can a bike go to transform an underdeveloped community? Well, as it turns out, pretty darn far when it’s in the hands of a true bike believer like Michael Linke.

In 2005, Aussie Linke and his wife Clarisse started the Bicycle Empowerment Network to get the population of Namibia on the road to positive change. Bikes can carry five times more weight than a single person and go five times as far, five times as fast as walking – which means that with a bike, rural poor people can be about ten times more productive. They can ride to school, get access to health care, transport goods, or zip back and forth to work more quickly and easily.

But Linke quickly discovered that even the process of getting bikes into the hands of people created a virtuous cycle of progress. When BEN started its bicycle distribution program of second hand bikes that had been donated from other countries through international partner Bicycles for Humanity, Linke realized that every container of bikes could literally become a bicycle shop. And he started pedaling that idea far and wide.

For about $25,000, communities in Canada, Australia and America will send a container filled with hundreds of donated bikes, tools, spare parts, and even soccer balls and school supplies to Namibia – and the container itself can then be transformed into a bike shop that brings employment and economic opportunity to small towns in the countryside. BEN technicians train village women and men to maintain, sell, and repair the bikes, creating Bicycle Empowerment Centres. Since 2005, 25 BECs have opened in rural towns in Namibia and one in Zambia, employing 100 men and women and providing 17,477 bikes to those who want to put mettle to the pedal.

But bikes are more than an economic stimulus package, they’re also a health care plan. By outfitting bicycles with steel frames and stretchers, BEN Namibia has created 70 bicycle ambulances for rural communities where emergency transportation does not exist. Bikes are also used by hundreds of Namibian home health care workers, 90% of them women, who have been given bikes that make it easier to deliver supplies, medication and critical care to HIV/AIDS patients– at the lowest operating cost of any transportation mode.And strictly for sport, Team BENN fields a team of expert cyclists to race across the country, while BEN’s Spin for Life program uses the athletes in AIDS awareness events in rural towns – where prize bikes are awarded among those who get tested, prevention strategies and condoms are distributed, and health issues are discussed.

In a country that only achieved its independence from South Africa in 1990 and where most of the 2.1 million people live in rural poverty, bikes can steer an entire nation towards a better future. And if Bicycle Empowerment Network has anything to do with it, they’ll make sure what goes around, comes around for the people of Namibia. To join me in donating to BEN, a Women, Tools & Technology Ashoka Changemaker, click here!

The Cross Drums

The book for this year's YLMP is Ghanaian author Meshack Asare's The Cross Drums. It tells the simple story of how two young boys united their villages after years of conflict and hatred. During our leadership conference last weekend, we briefly went over some of the leadership lessons we can take from the book. Now I want to go into them in a bit more detail. These were compiled by Christiana Okyere (for the most part) and myself. If you have any more to add, just let me know!

A leader is determined to achieve success: Meliga and Billa, as young shepherds learnt to protect their flock from danger. Despite threats from his wicked uncle, Billa refused to pour the poison into the source of water Meliga’s village drank from. Meliga and Billa were determined to keep the friendship they had found regardless of the punishment they knew awaited them if caught. This helped them achieve success in the long run; their friendship finally led to the peace between their villages. As young leaders, our determination and hard work will enable us achieve whatever we have purposed in our hearts to achieve.

A leader influences positively: In the last chapter, Meliga and Billa led all the children in their respective villages in merrymaking accompanied by the playing of drums. As young leaders, they influenced their fathers who did not exhibit good leadership qualities in solving their conflict and therefore influenced their society positively. Here, we learn that we do not need to be adults to influence our communities in a positive way. Young as we are, we can contribute our quota in influencing our societies positively just like Meliga and Billa (our young leaders) in the story did.

A leader is selfless, caring and compassionate: In the story, Billa lost two of his goats to snake bites and cried because of the possibility of being punished by his parents. Meliga; however, out of care and selflessness replaced Billa’s flock out of his own. As a selfless leader and friend, he was careful to make other people around him happy. He can be likened to a good leader as a result of this excellent trait exhibited by him. A leader should show some level of selflessness and care in solving problems around them and this will always amount to effective results.

A leader takes complete charge and responsibility for items placed in their care: Meliga was put in charge of his flock and so he did everything in his power to protect them from danger. In his bid to rescue his flock from the enemy village and from danger; he fell into a pit which happened to be in the territory of the enemy village. He needed to protect his flock because he was accountable for their upkeep. As young mentees and leaders, we need to work hard and protect whatever is left in our care, so as to be able to give account for them.

An inspiring youth story from Yemen

I've just read an uplifting story of five Yemeni youth who have rejected stereotypes typical of those around them and are actively participating in ensuring a better life for themselves and others. Enjoy!

In three years and nearly a dozen visits, yesterday was the most inspiring day I’ve had in Yemen. I saw something that made me truly optimistic for the future of the country, in the form of five teenage guys that are competing in a regional competition for the Best New Business. They’ve already developed their own company, Port Mokha, exporting genuine Mokha Coffee from Yemen; what was even more surprising was the variety of their talents beyond business acumen.

INJAZ, the organization running the competition, is a regional organization that supports young entrepreneurs throughout the Arab world, and this team representing Yemen was headed to Morocco for the competition. Their enthusiasm was contagious – they were bright, ambitious, motivated and confident.

They developed Port Mokha coffee company with training and guidance from INJAZ. Here’s their sales pitch: “We offer the world top-notch Yemeni coffee from the high mountains of the Southern Arabian Peninsula…With every sip of this authentic brew, we offer our customers a unique and satisfactory cultural and sensory experience.”

Their product isn’t just about the coffee (which I’m sure is the best) because part of their business model is a commitment to give back to the community and a sense of civic responsibility. The coffee comes in a cloth bag made from traditional Yemeni fabric that is made by an income-generating association employing the mentally disabled; part of their profits will be donated to the association.

To everyone’s surprise, two of them started beat boxing and rapping in mix of Spanish, English and Arabic. The song spoke of cross-culture acceptance, the mixing of language and tradition, and a sense of strong pride in their country. I was speechless. In a country where the dropout rate for kids 8 -14 years old is more than 80 percent, where illiteracy rates are among the highest in the world, and where chewing qat (a mild narcotic leaf) is the national pastime, it was inspiring to see their creativity and initiative.

They may not win the competition in Morocco, but I know they won’t be discouraged and will continue to invest in themselves and their country. I walked out with two bags of coffee and an undeniable sense of hope.

(Source: CIPE blog - Danya Greenfield)

9th Ghana International Book Fair

We like to encourage everyone to read here at YLMP. The Ghana International Book Fair is holding their 9th book fair this week. From the Ghana Book Fair website:

The Organising Committee of the 9th Ghana International Book Fair cordially invite you to the 9th edition of the Ghana International Book Fair (GIBF) scheduled for 2nd - 6th November 2010 [open from 8am till 7pm each day] at the Ghana International Trade Fair Site, La, Accra.

The Fair will showcase Ghana’s Cultural Heritage especially in the literary sphere. The book fair is a cultural event that projects the country’s literary culture.

The official opening of the 9th GIBF will be chaired by Mr. Kwesi Sam Woode, Executive Chairman of Sam Woode Ltd and the Guest Speaker will be Prof. Kofi Awonoor, Chairman, Council of State. The Hon. Minister of Education, Alex Tetteh-Enyo and the Hon. Minister of Trade, Madam Hannah Tetteh will all grace the occasion.

Come and let celebrate the importance of books!

We've been reading...

Sub-saharan Africa to receive most maternal health aid
Vancouver Sun -- International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda will announce today the 10 countries that will get help from the government's $1.1-billion maternal and child health initiative. Eighty per cent is slated for sub-Saharan Africa -- Mozambique, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Tanzania. The rest is earmarked for Afghanistan, Haiti and Bangladesh. On Sunday, Oda said the government is especially keen on projects where governments are already assuming responsibility for their own people's health care and don't leave it all to aid. "Canada's approach is going to be improving the health systems, particularly at the local and district level," Oda said...

Mosquito mutates into two species
The Independent -- The most dangerous type of malaria-carrying mosquito, which kills up to a million people each year, is evolving into two different species, posing grave problems for controlling the transmission of the blood parasite. Scientists have found that Anopheles gambiae, which is widespread across Africa and is responsible for about half of the 500 million new cases of malaria each year, has split into two genetically different strains that are well on their way to becoming distinct species. The revelation could present real difficulties in controlling malaria because eradication strategies directed against one mosquito species may not be effective against another, according to the scientists who discovered the genetic differences between the two strains...

Raising standards for India's women
ONE -- Heeding the call of the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in September, the Indian government has introduced a monetary incentives scheme for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers in an unprecedented attempt to curb its high rate of maternal deaths and child mortality. Women enrolled in the program would be assigned a private bank account, and over a period of six months, 12,000 rupees — or $270 US dollars — would be deposited under the agreement that the woman regularly attends scheduled health check-ups and receives the prescribed vaccinations. The scope of the initiative is set to reach more than one million women at a projected price tag of $223 million...

South African solar plan draws interest
AFP -- South Africa's plan to build what could become the world's biggest solar project has drawn keen interest from investors even though it is still in its infancy, an official said Friday. More than 400 investors and solar industry insiders from around the world converged on the town of Upington in South Africa's arid Northern Cape province this week for a two-day conference aimed at generating investor interest in plans for a 5,000-Megawatt solar park at the edge of the Kalahari Desert. The park, whose estimated price tag is 150 billion rands (21.3 billion dollars, 15.4 billion euros), would provide one-eighth of South Africa's current generation capacity...

Leadership Conference: Albert Ocran

Our leadership conference ended with the message we hope we have communicated from the start: Leadership. The topic was deftly handled by Albert Ocran of Combert Impressions and Legacy & Legacy. As I mentioned earlier, he talked on 7 Keys to Excellence based on the story of David - a great leader. The main message he wanted to put forward was for each person to learn that "I am the CEO of Me Inc", and we should carry ourselves as such. He used 1 Samuel 16:17 & 18 as his foundation. I'll briefly go over each key:

1. Reputational Equity
Your reputation will always go before you - and it can work either for or against you depending on how you choose to present yourself to the world. Remember, it is always much easier to be a leader once your followers respect you. That is half the battle.

2. Extraordinary Skill
Whatever you do, strive to do it well; strive for continuous improvement. Practice regularly, and avoid thinking you have 'made it'. You can always be better.

3. Courage and Tenacity
Build a strong character. No matter the situation, always persevere, never give up.

4. Track record
Your track record, like your reputation, will follow you everywhere. No matter who you are working for, whether you are getting recognition for it or not, give your best. Cultivate your gift in low places, and strive to learn, not earn. Keep a record of your achievements in one place for easy reference.

5. Eloquence
Being able to communicate effectively can take you places nothing else can. Strive to develop your written, verbal and presentation skills... anything that helps you get a message across. Start small and build up. Always remember to exercise prudence and discretion.

6. Appearance
Remember, you are your own CEO, ensure you look the part. This extends not only to your physical appearance (dress sense, posture, smell/fragrance) but to your online presence as well. Watch what you put out for the world to see, because you never know who's watching.

7. Divine Presence
Centre your life on Godly principles. Always stick to your principles, no matter what.

When talking about Key 7, Mr Ocran asked each of us to write down three words we think people would use to describe us. He asked us to follow up a year from now, which we will be doing shortly before our award ceremony at the end of the Programme. It will be interesting for us all to see the progress we will have made in this time.

Leadership Conference: Day 2

Sunday's session started bright and early with Ken Ofori-Atta leading a morning devotion. He looked at the stories of David and Jesus, and linked them up to the qualities and attributes an effective leader should have. In short, these were having integrity, being solution orientated, being able to set a clear vision, being service orientated and holding people accountable. He also talked a little about issues of finance in the Bible; of tithing and of being responsible with money.

After Ken was done, each group had a little time to put their final thoughts together for their presentations on the problem solving activity. After the presentations, we played the Opposites Game; a simple game where left is right and forwards is backwards (congratulations to Sally for being the last one standing!).

Lunch was then served, after which we attempted to watch The Pursuit of Happyness. I must apologize for the technical issues we had at this point. We watched half of Law Abiding Citizen instead, but at a point it became clear that many people were tired, so we went out to play blindfolded football (a team building exercise) instead.

Albert Ocran rounded up the day and the conference with his talk on what it was all about: Leadership. His talk centred on the 7 Keys to Excellence and was based on the story of David (specifically, 1 Samuel 16:17 & 18). I talk more about his presentation in this post.

Leadership Conference: Dr. Yaw Perbi

The last speaker on day one of our leadership conference was Dr. Yaw Perbi, who spoke of our role as young people on the development of Africa and the importance of cultural awareness. His talk started with an amusing ice-breaker; a brain auction. This loosened everyone up and shook away any tiredness that might have lingered after lunch.

Dr. Perbi's emphasis was on learning from previous generations of African societies. As he candidly put it; one generation build great pyramids, and another sold their fellow countrymen as slaves. It is up to us, he said, to decide what kind of generation we are going to be. Instead of constantly looking at the past, we should focus on the present and try to use our culture as a platform to haul us forward.

With that being said, Dr. Perbi emphasized that culture is dynamic, never static. It is constantly evolving. He defined culture as the result of people trying to meet the challenges of their environment at that time. We can't use the same culture for years on end - we need to 'edit' it to address the problems that we face today. To edit a culture though, we must first understand it. Once we have understood it and we are aware of the problems we are facing, we are in a much better place to adapt what we have to get to where we need to be.

Too many young people, he explained, grow up thinking they have no role to play in their countries development. This couldn't be further from the truth! Young people are imperative when it comes to development. Steve Biko, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Tetteh Quarshie... they were all young when they started. Bill Gates registered Microsoft when he was 21. Where would we all be if they had decided that life begins at 40?

Dr. Perbi then went on to explain that if any young generation has a chance to do great things for their country, it's this one. There are more young people now than there have ever been - 86% of the world's population are youth, and 56% of them are in developing countries like Ghana. With the internet, transfer of information is at it's highest point. When books are released halfway across the world, we can have access to them in seconds. He advised us to be global citizens; to take the best of what is out there and ad it you the best that we can be.

Lastly, he asked us never to think that we will not be heard. Sometimes in our society it is easy to feel 'sat on' as older people may think that young people are to be seen and not heard. But there are ways around that. We were urged to write - blogs, articles, letters to MPs, on Facebook, anywhere - and keep writing until we see a difference. Never send something to only one place, and most of all, never give up!

Yaw Perbi is on Twitter; click here to follow him.

Leadership Conference: Problem solving activity

On the first day of our leadership conference, we asked all mentor groups to consider the following:

Your school has recently been dealing with the problem of students smoking. There have been all sorts of talks and assemblies to address the problem, but nothing seems to be working. Out of options, he headteacher gives you, the SRC, a chance to do something about it. What do you do?

It was great listening to the number of creative solutions each group came up with; here's a list of some of them:

1. Set up a counseling department in school
2. Arrange an educational trip to a psychiatric hospital to learn from the experiences of (marijuana) smokers
3. Talk to the government to start an anti-smoking advertising campaign
4. Talk to students about peer pressure
5. Tell the parents of students who smoke
6. Pray for the students
   
7. Show a video/give an interactive presentation on the effects of smoking
8. Write articles to the government calling on them to lower tax on cigarettes so students can't afford to buy them or;
   
9. Call on the government to ban smoking altogether
10. Keep students busy with extra curricular activities so they won't have time to smoke
11. Conduct regular checks among students
12. Each class should have a 'watch group' to identify smokers
    
13. Students caught smoking should be disgraced to deter others
14. Students caught smoking should be suspended and then expelled if caught again
15. Reach out to students in love, be a friend
16. Try to find out what the reason for smoking; they may have problems at home etc
17. Create anti-smoking posters and put them around the school
    

Well done all of you!

Leadership Conference: Day 1

The first day of our leadership conference started with an address by Julien Kofie, a mentee from last year's programme. He described key aspects of the programme and how they had helped him and urged his fellow students to get all they can from the programme. Next up, we had Keli Gadzekpo, Chairman of Databank Foundation give a summary of the programme and how it works. He outlined the various changes we are hoping to implement having learnt from our pilot programme last year. After he was through, everyone introduced themselves to the rest of the group with a name, their hobbies, their mission in life and one thing they would like to be remembered by at the end of the programme.

With that done, we got to the 'meat' of the programme with each mentor group discussing possible solutions to a hypothetical school problem. I'll discuss this further in another post. Harry McNinson was next on the bill, he gave a talk titled "Inspire Me". If you're familiar with this blog or our programme, you'll know that Harry has spoken to our mentees on a number of occasions. Being a former Kinbu student himself - and the first in his family and school to go to university - he has much to offer these youth in the form of inspiration, motivation and what you can do with a bit of hard work and a can-do spirit.

After a delicious lunch provided by Red Chilli, I gave a brief summary of our book for this year; The Cross Drums by Meshack Asare. I also outlined a few leadership lessons from the book; cultivating peace, nurturing talents (your own and those of others) and innovation. Like I said earlier, if after reading the book you identify some more (I'm sure you will), please share with the rest of the group.

The last speaker of the day was Dr. Yaw Perbi, who gave a highly engaging talk on our role in the development of Africa. He had much advice on the subject, and his talk was highly enjoyed by all. (More details in this post).