Nelson Mandela said “Difficulties break some men but make others” which means that when you are faced with a dilemma or challenge you either choose it to break you or to build you.
As we build-up to the Graça Machel Trust and MINDS Africa Youth Network Summit (AYNS) on the 20th and 21st of July, we celebrate youth leaders. These three innovators took their own suffering and turned it into triumph.
Aya Chebbi and Brian Turyabagye have broken new ground, they are courageous and determined. These three phenomenal beings will be sharing their experiences and journey at the AYNS but below take a closer look at the great work they have been doing across the African continent.
Brian Turyabagye changing how pneumonia is diagnosed – Uganda
Brian’s biomedical bag
When his friend’s grandmother got sick of pneumonia, Brian Turyabagye watched doctors misdiagnose her and treating her for Malaria but in actual fact it was pneumonia that she was dying from.
This situation moved Brian and the 24 year old who was an engineering student took it upon himself to research methodologies for diagnosing pneumonia and its treatments. Learning that the illness affects far more children than it does adults, he invented the Mamaope (a mother’s hope) which is a biomedical smart jacket that would distinguish pneumonia’s symptoms up to four times faster than a doctor.
Brian told The Guardian that in the villages and remote areas children get sick and the first reaction is to treat them for malaria.
“Most people are aware of malaria, and the signs for malaria and pneumonia are very similar, so it is difficult for health professionals to differentiate,” he says
The MamaOpe still has to go through a medical examination and obtain a certification to be used in health centres and hospitals. According to UNICEF, for every dollar spent on global health in 2011, only two cents went to pneumonia. With the battle against illness that kills half a million children under five in sub-Saharan Africa every year, Brian’s invention is revolutionary.
Brian Turyabagye
“We believe that every child, no matter where they are born, should have the right to a healthy life. And we are playing our part to ensure that we give this right to nearly 1.4 million children (under the age of five) who die from pneumonia each year,” says Brian.
The vest is specially designed for children between the ages of zero and five years who are most prone to the disease. The MamaOpe jacket was shortlisted for this year’s £25,000 Africa prize for engineering innovation.
Aya Chebbi mobilising African youth to be agents of change – Tunisia
Aya Chebbi
Aya Chebbi, an award winning Pan-African feminist activist and founder of the Africa Youth Movement (AYM) is taking the agenda of African youth to an international level.
AYM has been in existed for three years and it’s creating a continent that respects the rights of all its citizens and achieve peace, equality, and social justice.
During the 2011 Tunisia Revolution, Aya became a renowned blogger and her work was published on Open Democracy, Al-Jazeera, and Foresight Africa. This led to her being blacklisted and banned from entering Egypt since March 2014.
“My mission is to radicalize youth into Pan-Africanism and my legacy is to bridge the North- South Sahara divide,” says Aya.
Aya continues to mobilize and support social movement leaders across Africa and runs a mentorship program called Youth-Programme of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring (Y-PHEM) and is the co-founder of The Voice of Women Initiative (feminist collective).
“The importance of my work is fundamentally about organising African youth for unity, transnational solidarity and integration rooted in my mantra that my liberation is your liberation and my access is your access. I create non-violent empowering spaces where African youth can shape their collective identity by sharing their political and economic struggles and turn their creativity, frustration and anger into collective action for Africa’s development.”
Aya has been recognised on the continent and on a global level. She was named one of Africa’s most Outstanding Young Women Leaders in 2013 (Ghana) and the Huffington Post List of Incredible Young Women from Around the World.
Aya Chebbi in Nigeria talking to girls
“I come from a generation that started the first 21st century non-violent revolutions in Tunisia, a generation that changed the course of history with courage and resilience. Every revolution has been driven by youth and I believe Africa’s revolution will also be driven by youth.”
Follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter from the first ever Africa Youth Networks Summit between the 20th and 21st of July to hear from inspiring stories from young people from across the African continent.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.