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.