Warm greetings
It's with joy that we share this report with you. This report provides a summary story of hope and change. In the year 2012, partly thanks to your support, following amazing things happened:
Personally, I can attest to the value of education and the role that education has played in my life. I have an graduate degree and this helped to prepare me for the roles I occupy today and also helped open many doors. I also strongly believe in on-going training and self-development. With this background I was particularly touched when I saw Joshua's video.
In this video, Joshua, the Director of Door of Hope, expresses thanks and appreciation to donors of Develop Africa and other organizations that have helped to provide scholarships to children in the Door of Hope community. He explains that the families of the children are so grateful for the kindness of donors. Because of and thanks to the assistance provided, some of those parents were previously unable to provide school fees for their children have now been able to send their children to school. Today their kids are going to school and some of them came first / took first place in their classes academically. This provision is truly wonderful.
Take a couple minutes to watch Joshua's thank you video.
So it was particularly heart-warming to learn that without our support, some children would not be in school today.
Our support made the difference and provided the answer to their need! Together we helped make change and school happen!
Thanks for helping us make change happen and send children to school!
Links:
Here is a feel-good report that I just received from Freetown:
"Thanks be to God for Develop Africa and its donor partners who have brought hope and dignity to the lives of many children and their families. Sponsorships from your generous donations continue to help children in Sierra Leone to forge ahead with their education and prepare them for a brighter future. Indeed without your sponsorship, many of these children would never have darkened the walls of schools, whiles very few would barely have made it at primary level.
Students and their families are deeply grateful to donors who have opened a door of hope for them. Indeed your sponsorship is a lifelong assistance to the children and Sierra Leone as a whole. May God richly bless you all as you strive to develop our children into useful citizens."
This report includes a photo of Janet - one of the rising leaders receiving sponsorship funds through this project. We are continually pumped and excited about being able to together help rising leaders like Janet forge ahead with their education. Our support is creating a definite and unchangeable bright future! It sure feels good to be a change maker! Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
Giving Tuesday: Have you ever heard about Giving Tuesday: #GivingTuesday will run on November 27, 2012 from 12:01 AM ET (what time in your city?) to 11:59 PM ET November 27, 2012. This year Microsoft is matching donations made to our microprojects - http://bit.ly/giveyouth by credit card or PayPal at 50% donations. This is a great way to invest in further change. Please join us and donate as early as you can on that date (after 12:01 am to ensure we secure matching funds.
Thanks so much for your support and best wishes.
Links:
It's my pleasure to bring you a summary report from Develop Africa's first Forward Thinking and Creative Leadership Conference & Workshop - held in partnership with the Excellent Student Network International, at the British Council - July 2012.
The conference was well attended with a total of 65 students. Trainees came from different institutions such as Fourah Bay College, Institute of Public Administration and Management, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, etc. The conference was also attended by non-registered participants and included guests from all works of life including, the Justice Sector, the World Bank, Save the Children and several other distinguished guests.
Participants in the conference learnt through an interactive workshop and training about what Forward Thinking and Creative leadership meant. Through active interaction, engagement and collaboration, participants engaged in dissecting case scenarios of critical challenges facing the African continent and suggested best practices and consultative steps using the mind-set of a forward-thinking and a creative Leader.
Participants were divided into five distinct groups each presented with a set of facts that form a case scenario of a typical challenging issue confronted by Africa nations. Members of the group break-out and consultative sessions addressed the issues presented in the interactive case scenarios and reported their findings in the main conference auditorium in the afternoon session of the conference. Each group was presented with unique case scenarios to tackle and to make recommendations and best practices as Forward-thinking and Creative Leaders.
Dr. Jasmine Renner the conference facilitator and workshop speaker provided examples, characteristics and hands -on description of what a forward thinking and a creative leader is through interactive discussions with participants. Africa’s top ten billionaires and their stories on how they acquired wealth were creative and forward thinking was discussed. A case study of Nelson Mandela as a forward thinker leader was also presented for analysis and discussion.
The conference was very lively, interactive, engaging, impactful and timely as participants demonstrated through questions and answers about what it means to them to become and develop forward thinking leadership traits and creativity globally and in the African continent.
Each conference participant who attended the morning and afternoon sessions was presented with a certificate of completion by Develop Africa Inc. Mr. Maada Massaquoi, Computer Instructor at Develop Africa/ FAWE lab in collaboration with Dr. Jasmine Renner presented the certificates of completion to each participant attendee.
Mr. Josie Kamara-Cole the President of the Excellent Student Network International was also presented with an Asus E netbook / laptop donated by Develop Africa for his tireless efforts, perseverance and organizational abilities.
The conference ended on a high note with participants all impacted and motivated to impact their nation and generation through small incremental but gradual progression into solutions using forward thinking and creative leadership mindsets.
Thank you, sponsors, partners and donors for your selfless investment in developing human capacity. Together, we are sowing seeds and positioning the youths / young adults of Africa to make history in their generation.
Warm greetings-
Do you remember taking part in any competitions when growing up? I loved to take part in competitions and I clearly remember a music quiz competition in high school. The competition encouraged me to learn a lot about music history, notes, playing instruments etc. - and to this day I still remember most of what I learned when studying for the competition as a book-worm 12 year old. It helped develop my studying abilities and the leader in me. Clearly competitions are a great way to encourage children to learn, focus and excel.
Well, on a regular basis we organize and hold competitions on various areas such as general knowledge quizzes, drawing etc. It’s my pleasure to share with you a video clips and photos from a quiz that your donations supported. Here's a brief report on the competition from Joshua, the Director of Door of Hope:
"The spelling and quiz contest took place at the Door of Hope hillside community of Upper Beccle's Street and Mellon Street in The Wellington municipality. There were as many as 210 children and 30 parents present to grace the occasion. The program was title "The Making Of Me" spelling and quiz contest for primary and junior secondary school pupils age ranges from seven(7) years to (14) years. The program was conducted to help and motivate the children to become passionate about their school work as this will help them achieve their dream in life. We want children in our community to pursue excellence not only in their school work but also in every other area of discipline they may find themselves
There were two categories of participants - 6 in the primary school category and 4 in the secondary school category. Prize monies were given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd in both categories. The competition included questions on uniqueness of plants and animals. For example, the world's fastest animal runner is the Cheetah; the name of the largest crab is the Japanese spider crab."
We are deeply and continually grateful for your support that is helping to make these programs and much more possible. Thanks so much for joining us in developing tomorrow's leaders.
In closing, we wanted to let you know of a unique opportunity for upcoming Mother's Day. A donation to this project is a fantastic (and easy) gift for Mom on Mother’s Day! You can make a donation as a gift to your mom on this project by selecting the third giving option, “gift or in honor of,” under the orange donate button on the project page. GlobalGiving will then send your Mom or the gift recipient an email, print-at-home, or physical card. GlobalGiving offers several fun card designs and you will have the option of choosing a design customized for this project, using the project’s main photo (this option is available for email and print-at-home cards).
Mothers - you can also request this as your Mother's day gift!
Additionally, we have the opportunity to win an extra $500 in spending money for your programs. That is great extra value for your donation - so make your donation today - deadline for this campaign is Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST.
Make your donation in Mother's honor and support a great cause today!
Best wishes and Happy Mother's day to all Mothers!
Sylvester
Links:
Warm Greetings-
Have you ever desired to get to know more about the children that we are supporting in Africa? Well, you are certainly not alone. As a Project Leader, I love to see the photos of the children and in particular to listen to videos of the children. This helps me to better understand their needs, desires, aspirations and to stay connected.
Here's a link to video of a girl called Richlyn. Richlyn is interviewed in this camera by the Director of Door of Hope (off camera) who asks her a number of questions. Richlyn is 10 years old and tells us what her favorite games are - and the school she attends - the Annie Walsh Memorial School (one of the top schools in Sierra Leone). Richlyn has a beautiful smile and dreams of becoming a doctor.
Towards the end of the interview she answers 2 questions that tugged my heart :
Q: What is the number one thing you would like to see changed in this world?
Richlyn: I will like to see poverty changed in this world
Q: Do you think that women should be given the opportunity to take part in decision making?
Richlyn: Yes!
I connected with her - right here. Real and warm! Richlyn and I - we together share a common dream. Similar thinking. I would imagine for many of you that support this project - you are saying as you read this: "Me too!"
At this early age, she is clearly conscious about these two crucial issues that are on our minds and the minds of leaders everywhere. Richlyn is a budding leader and we are so very thankful for the opportunity and privilege we together share - that of helping to educate the next generation of leaders. With this united consciousness and our on-going action, we know for a certainty that these issues will become history and a thing of the past in the coming years. Thanks for helping make this happen.
We have a question for You: Do you have any questions you would like to hear answered by the children in Africa that we work with? Feel free to let us know. In the coming months we will put together a video with your responses and share it here. You can submit your question through the contact us form on our website.
Go ahead - watch the video again.
Thanks for staying connected and warm!
With every good wish...
Sylvester
Links:
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