The Newsletter of Thousands of Young Africans Impacting Positive Changes in Lives all over Africa!

http://inspire.nayd.orgSPECIAL EDITION: January, February, March, April. 2013

NEW EDITION

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR2013 is a very important for us African Youths for we look forward in giving a new and major direction to young people’s involvement and pushing of their voices in Africa’s Development Agenda through NAYD’s Summit.

This summit will bring together the best of African Youth to discuss the challenges faced and to agree the best way forward towards a sustainable and inclusive future. Networking and collaboration are key elements in NAYD’s operation and it is honoured to be partnering with The World Assembly of Youth, Organisation of African Youth, ABC4All, African Views, African Youth Decade Alliance, the African Youth Panel, African Youth Initiative on Climate Change, IDEAS For Us, Youth Climate Report and the International Centre for Accelerated Development holding our hands to help us make this a success. The Summit will provide a platform for youths and youth leaders to discuss and reflect on imminent issues faced in Africa. It will culminate in the formulation of key recommendations for implementation by agencies and stakeholders. We invite organisations and African Businesses to partner with NAYD in sponsoring some of the activities. Please do get in touch with us!

We welcome your comments to THE EDITOR on your reactions to articles of interest. We also welcome your letters and contributions.Best Regards,Christian Phuebong TabiforCHIEF EDITOR

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Letter from the Editor……………………………..……. P2

NAYD Summit 2013 ………………….………………….P3

Reform Youth Network (RYN) .............………………..P4

Change Makers Club Int’l ............ …. …..……………. P4-5

The Congo Leadership Initiative.……………..………..P5

Voice Africa’s Future Programme ……………………..P5-6

Leaders, Movers and Shakers…………………..……..P6-7

VSO Handing Over Ceremony in Bamenda-Cameroon …………………………………………….……..……....P7-8

Better World Bamenda-Cameroon 2013 Extraordinary Meeting.........................................................................P8-9

Kumatoo, Valuing The African Genius.........................P9

OPPORTUNITIES …........................................P9-10

WISDOM CORNER...........................................P10

EDITORIAL TEAMThis issue has been compiled by:Christian P. Tabifor, Paul Shaw

DESIGN AND LAYOUTChristian P. Tabifor Network of African Youths for Development

C/O Pochi TambaP.O. Box 15422Yaoundé, Cameroon

EMAILeditor@nayd.org

www.nayd.org******

The editors have taken every care to make sure that the contents of this newsletter are as accurate as possible. The authors have ultimate responsibility, however, for the content of individual

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AFRICAN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 27TH OCTOBER - 2ND NOVEMBER 2013, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

“YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION”We live in times of uncertainty. Humanity’s strive for economic growth using current free market systems is failing. The combination of climate change, poor management of natural resources and unsustainable activities over many decades is devastating communities and livelihoods and urgent global political consensus and action is now required to begin the commitments and investments to address the challenges at hand. We need a paradigm shift in the way we think about life if the world is to live.

As the immediate heirs to this unsustainable future, Africa’s current youth population has an urgent responsibility to ensure that its communities, countries

and the continent at large act as frontrunners for a safe, sustainable and productive future for them and their children. Sustainability is one of the key components of the African Youth Charter and the Youth Decade Plan of Action, so what is the best way of achieving this future in Africa?

The UN is currently progressing wide-ranging discussions on how to replace the Millenium Development Goals post 2015, but how do we ensure African Youth Voices are heard loud and clear? The founder of NAYD, Poch Tamba, said in the first edition of INSPIRE back in 2007 ‘My vast and diverse exchanges with people and youths of other continent have made it clear to me that Africa for a long time will never be like the other continents. It will have its problems that are very particular to it and will have its possible solutions that will always be very different from that of the rest of the world. And in all of these, the youths of Africa have more issues special to them than those of the rest of the world.I noticed that while most youths talked high tech and how to get the government to pay their university bills, in my mind, I worried about extreme poverty that causes death and corruption. While they worried about guns and food labels, I had nightmares about children dying of hunger and a world full of illiterate people. Though we had so much in common such as musical taste and youthful exuberance, only a blind could miss the differences that existed in our priorities. We sure were not at fault for this, but I knew then that we, as African youths need to start addressing the problems we face on the continent by ourselves before allowing others to trace the way out for us.’

NAYD believes the most effective way to ensure the voice of African Youths is heard loud and clear is to hold a summit where youth experts in a range of thematic areas are assembled under one roof to debate issues and reach collaborative agreement. There is no more effective way to reach agreement in Africa than to meet up. How many of us have patiently waited to have our say in a Google Hangout, facebook or skype group chat? Internet unreliability is a huge barrier to successful communication and therefore development in Africa. I challenge anyone to say otherwise!

We anticipate to achieve the following at the summit:

An upsurge in youth participation in sustainable development and other societal issues in Africa; A better understanding of the concept of sustainability and the roles of the youth and relevant

stakeholders in the future society; A clearly defined roadmap to achieve sustainable development in Africa; A strengthened network of youth and other stakeholders dealing with youth issues in Africa; and A re-energized youth ready to take lead on the challenges faced by our society.

We shall stand united with a goal in mind: Youth, the present and the future. Rise Africa, Rise!!!

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Join us on the web at African Youth Development Summit, on the Summit BLOG and Twitter. More information at Concept Note and draft program.

Registration  and a call for  Abstracts  is open until the end of May.

Reform Youth Network (RYN) Profiled Our mission· Is to make difference in the lives of youth through the enabling Environment.· Creating a positive condition in order for young people to reach out To other youth .· Making all youth feel equal regardless of age, sex, religions, and Physical ability.  Our vision:  Our mission is to see that youth from around the world especially young Liberians make informed and responsible decisions about conditions which are counter –productive to

their livelihoods.

Who we are: Reform Youth Network (RYN) is a Youth group consisting of college students, local and international community youths and professionals’ young people working together to propagate lives of young people in Liberia and the world at large through a Reform Network, for a better future.  The youth populace constitutes a vast majority of Liberia’s population (even in the world) yet they remain dormant of the consequences of social challenges (viruses) thereby making them vulnerable to exploitation and abuses, as the result of this situation, many young and potential youths have had their hopes burring in despair and they are unable to accomplish their dream or discover their potential as Young leaders. Base on these challenges, RYN members and officials, are working and seeking to ensure that young Liberians (young people in the world) make informed and responsible decisions about conditions which are counter –productive to their livelihoods . ■

Change Makers Club Int’l ProfiledChange Makers Club Int’l (C.M.C. Int’l) is one of the African’s Life Changing Youth Led Organization involved in Youth Development. We are geared towards building and promoting young people that will be involved in social change. We are posed in giving solution s to various issues faced by the youths, through seminars, workshops, conferences, campaigns, scholarships and general motivations. It was established in 2011 out of the passion for the young people in our society. C.M.C. Int’l operates from Abakaliki in Ebonyi State of Nigeria, reaching out to 400,000 youths across the globe annually through our online and offline projects. In

C.M.C. Int’l, we believed that, “there is nothing good unless you do it or help in doing it”. OUR PROJECTS

1. Career Choice Seminar: This is our outreach program to the secondary schools where we are posed in teaching the young people the right and effective ways of choosing their careers and other strategic steps of making it successful in the academic sector. In this project, writing materials such as notebooks, chalks, pencils, pen etc are given to the participating students free of charge. This project is also geared in sending some of our volunteers to organize extra moral lessons for the students during the holidays, thereby teaching them the subjects that they find difficult to cope with. C.M.C. Int’l use this project to give the best participatory students scholarship to enroll in their major exams like JAMB-UTME, WAEC and NECO.

2. Academic Seminar: This project is for the higher students in the higher institutions like the universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, were various issues like carry-overs, examination malpractice, cultism etc are addressed. Over the years, this project has helped many students positively, thereby graduating successfully.

3. Youth Transformation Summit: This is a project mapped out in order to address issues outside the academic sector, that affect the youths. Various issues in democracy, entrepreneurship, security are well addressed here. Various campaigns are carried out in this project. Some of the implemented projects in this category include:-a. Democracy Awareness Workshop tagged, “I Voted, Now Wetin”: This is aimed at teaching the young people

the ways of engaging their elected leaders to fulfill their campaign promises.b. Youth Transformation Summit/Campaign: This Campaign, tagged: “You are the Change Nigeria Need Today”,

“I still Believe in Nigeria” is aimed at teaching the youths the effective ways of contributing their quotas positively in nation building.

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4. Ignite Change Youth Project: This project is geared in building, developing and promoting young people that will implement various youth projects in their different communities in Nigeria. The categories of this project include:a. Democracy and Good Governance,

b. Education and Literacy Development,c. Youth, Media and ICT Development,d. Sustainable Environment,e. Leadership and Value Orientation,f. Youth Entrepreneurial Development.

After the implementation of these youth projects, our Projects Review Committee review and evaluate all the projects, and the best 6 projects selected and the winners are presented with certificates, plagues, and various gift items while the non-winners are presented with certificates of participation in the projects and other items.

5. Youth Transformation Concert, tagged: “The Enterprise Spirit!” This projects is aimed at teaching the youths the power of ideas and on how to develop the entrepreneur spirit. Various youth opportunities that the youths can be engaged in and make them financial independent are showcased in this project.

We therefore call on other youth organizations and other supporters, partners and funders who share the same vision and mission with us to identify with us by supporting this vision, so as to help us in spreading this message of change more. Our blog is www.changemakersclub.blogspot.com, our e-mail is changemakersclub@gmail.com. Our facebook and twitter

pages are www.facebook.com/changemakersclub and www.twitter.com/makersclub respectively.Remember, “There is Nothing Good, Unless You Do It or Help in Doing IT”

The Congo Leadership InitiativeGoal: empowering a new generation of African leaders to create real social change. The Congo Leadership Initiative develops the next generation of leaders to be catalysts for peace and prosperity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We are an American organization, but we operate exclusively in the DRC and are led by an amazing group of young Congolese leaders. CLI engenders social change by stewarding the development of Congo’s most valuable resource: it’s extremely young population. By empowering Congo’s youth to think of themselves as leaders, CLI ensures that the Congo of the future is led by skilled and socially responsible women and men. CLI’s long-term goal is to spark tangible social change in all fields through young people in Congo.

DRC Policy Analyst Jacques Bahati of the Africa Faith and Justice Network notes that, “The DRC’s main problem is leadership” and “The solutions to DRC’s problems reside inside DRC.” Since 2010, CLI has continuously operated the Leadership Institute in Kinshasa in order to address this problem. To date, CLI has provided 59 carefully selected young leaders with an integrated curriculum to develop and practice their leadership skills to benefit themselves, their communities, and their country. These youth have recruited more than 120 peers to CLI meetings, creating a sizeable community of leaders that is positively changing their country by starting businesses, writing books, and forming youth action clubs. CLI is scaling its impact both by reaching more young leaders in Kinshasa and by expanding geographically across the Congo.

In order to increase our impact, we need partners from everywhere in Congo and, indeed, everywhere in Africa. That is why I am so excited to connect with such an amazing group of forward-looking young African leaders. Please email me at nathaniel.houghton@congoleaders.org and we can discuss ways to bring about a more peaceful and prosperous future for all young Africans. ■

Voice Africa’s Future Programme Launched in UgandaOn Wednesday 6th March 2013, the Uganda Voice Africa’s future Team launched the continent-wide youth led initiative at Makerere University Business School. Thanks to the Makerere University United Nations Association of Uganda Chapter Which hosted the emphatic event. At the event, the local SMS code and number was also launched.

If you are 35 years and below, sms the word Post2015 to 8282 to share their vision for a better Uganda and Africa. Sms is FREE. The continent-wide program seeks to enable youth participation in the post2015 consultations through mobile platform. Le by African Monitor Trust and Text for change the program is being implemented in Uganda by the Inter-Faith Action for Peace ion Africa-IFAPA Youth Desk in collaboration with local youth organisations such as UNESCO- Uganda Youth Desk, National Youth Council, Busoga Youth development Association, Allied Youth Initiative, Action Aid Uganda, Restless Development- Uganda, and CIVICUS Uganda. In Uganda, the target is to collect 15,000 youth voices while on the continent level the target is 150000 youth voices between march 2013- September 2013.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Matama Rogers (Patron UNAU- MUBS chapter) a lecture and representative of the University administration at the launch stressed the importance of youth voices in shaping Africa’s future he said “during the design of the MDGS that expire soon (2015), there wasn’t such consultation from the people whose generation were the

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immediate target… Some how at some stage, some people thought and acted on our behalf, now the youth more that before, you have a lifetime chance to influence and get deeply involved in Africa’s future for you and the generations to come. Share your voice and vision now.”

The Uganda Voice Africa’s future working team has already drawn up a weekly program to involve the media, carry our a country caravan to reach local grass roots youth in other universities, secondary schools, local/village youth clubs, cinema holes “ commonly known as “bibanda” where local cinema and weekend soccer games are shown, markets, trading centers and towns. Final consultations with national youth council to provide the team with the national youth van are underway.

This week, the team will proceed to Makerere University Main Campus, before it proceeds to western Uganda’s based Mbarara University of science and Technology. After a round of all universities, secondary schools and other technical institutions will be covered together with “bibandas”, local youth groups and clubs, markets and town centers. Media programs such as live and recorded TV and radio shows are being highly considered. Watch this space for regular updates. Also visit our official face book page- Voice Africas Future, local/Uganda page, follow us on twitter @voiceafricasfut or www.africayouth2015.org . ■

Leaders, Movers and ShakersThe youth are the greatest asset of the world – without them there’s no future. Young people are not only the leaders of tomorrow – they are also leaders, as well partners of today. Disregarding the power of youth is tantamount to jeopardizing

the social sustainability, prosperity and stability of our world. Youth participation in sustainable development issues locally and globally means: “recognizing and nurturing the exuberance, interests, initiatives and abilities of young people through the provision of real opportunities for them to become involved in decisions that affect them at individual and systemic levels. Our world is undoubtedly in a challenging state – the volatile economic climate continues to define the environment in which we work – the planetary ecosystems are failing – hundreds of millions of young people will look for jobs in the coming decade – an estimated 1.2 billion young people will enter the labour market in the next 10 years while only 300 million jobs await, and the gap between education, skills and jobs continues to increase.Youth participation in development issues should command the greatest

attention today more than ever. It’s quite noteworthy that we live in very exciting times. Our world has never before seen an overlap of crises on a global scale, and never before have we had access to a cornucopia of information, sophisticated technologies, and knowledge that can help resolve those crises. However, providing real opportunities for young people is often easier said than done. Hence young people are creating solutions, and taking positive actions to advance their communities and societies through myriad youth-led social impact projects. It’s therefore more crucial now, more than ever to create an environment in which young people can flourish and develop their potential to the fullest. Big or small – the contributions of youth towards sustainable development can make a huge difference and help create the better future we want. Therefore, there is, an urgent need to put mechanisms in place that give the youth a broader and more meaningful stake in developing and shaping sustainable development policies and frameworks, both on the national and international arenas. Inclusiveness, transparency and multi-stakeholder participation are very essential for ensuring a fair, sociably just and sustainable future. Yet, over the years we have seen small groups of people – in our countries and the world at large, sitting and making the decisions that determine the direction of our future. And the irony is that many of these people don’t wear the shoes, so they don’t know where it pains. Clearly, sustainable progress for all will come in fits and starts - therefore the quick-fix and hackneyed approach is dicey and dysfunctional. It creates the potential for misapplication of ideas, strategies and techniques which could create significant inefficiency and incompatibility in the coming decades. It also obliterates in the decision-making picture, the youth, who are mostly affected by the wrong policies and decisions of policy cum decision-makers.

Frankly, achieving “the better future we want” requires greater presence of youth in the whole process of decision-making which affects their future, both in the national and international spheres. Thus, efforts to remedy our planet’s woes must include the youth as major partners and stakeholders – given that the youth have the potency to advance the well-being of the entire human race. They are the inheritors of today’s failure of bold leadership; they also are social justice advocates of the present and of the future, hence they must exercise their rights – amplify their voices and act as true partners in building smart, sustainable and inclusive future for themselves and the future generations. Our world is witnessing an all time high percentage of youth in the world’s population. The Arab Spring was a clear demonstration of one possible outcome of denying youth the opportunity of participation in decision-making and policy development. While also, clearly indicating to the International Community that there benefits in engaging the youth globally in a positive way.

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With optimum empowerment and support, young people could do positively extraordinary things in their communities and nations. Development and empowerment have become inseparable; you cannot talk about development without empowerment. Hence every nation must identify and develop viable learning methodologies and scholarship schemes; empowering the youth with relevant skills and competences for problem-solving. Thus, inspiring them to collaborate and co-create a prosperous and sustainable future. Today, more than ever, it is imperative to equip the youth with new knowledge, skills and competences. Today, it is critical, more than ever, to encourage the spirit of initiative, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Today, more than ever, stimulating non-formal education and offering experiential learning for personal and professional development of the youth, has become indispensable.Furthermore, the youth are less stuck in the business-as-usual route to development. The youth are well-aware that governments and businesses alone cannot end our planet’s misery and put us on the path to sustainable growth. Hence they are always taking initiatives and collaborating to change the status quo. An example of such global collaboration is Challenge:Future – Global Youth think-DO-tank: a platform for the youth to share know-how and best practices – showcase new solutions that promote sustainable development and create new jobs. The output of the global Challenge:Future competitions and challenges is ventures, projects and policy initiatives for a sustainable planet. Between 2011-12, a plethora of social impact projects were executed by over 24,000 Challenge:Future members from 213 countries – improving lives of 270,000 children, youth and adults worldwide.

The youth represent new ways of solving social problems, things the older generation might not notice because they’re just used to the “status quo”. Since the “status quo” is extinguishing the polar bears, melting the ice caps and the glaciers, acidifying the oceans––spreading drought and flood across the earth––liquidating businesses and causing big enterprises to shed employees across the globe, it’s a good thing that young people are fashioning out new approaches. For instance, young people all over the African continent are fed up with politicians’ inability to advance the sustainability agenda, hence we’ve taken the bull by the horns – youth-led development organisations and young social justice advocates from across Africa are coming together at the NAYD Summit 2013, being convened with the overarching goal to “create a roadmap for youth-led sustainable development in Africa.” The youth are a force to be reckoned with and the future belongs to them. To ensure that young people are effective leaders for a better future, today’s leaders are obliged to coach and mentor them and to alert them of the pitfalls of the past. The empowerment of young people will most definitely have positive ripple effects on our world, more than that of any other group in society. The international community should place premium on nurturing and developing the youth for local and global leadership and building bridges and networks of solidarity, which promote the sharing of experiences, ideas and best practices – thus, preparing young leaders to play a crucial and constructive role in the sustainable development of their communities and the world at large.As Henry Giroux writes, “The stakes have never been so high and the future so dark.” Young people provide light in that darkness – let’s encourage their flames to grow.

VSO Handing Over Ceremony in Bamenda-CameroonReport of Meeting of WYNNE WHITE New VSO Education Program for Women caseload manager for BWB and Outgoing caseload manager Patty Stuchbery wih Joshua Konkankoh, Better World Director The meeting started with talk from Joshua Konkankoh where he brief Wyne White and Patty Stuchberg about Better World. Better World works with university graduates and volunteers. The students most have a vision In order for Better World to reconnect them back to the land rather than of them thinking to migrate to look for greener pastures elsewhere. Better World connects these students to do gardening, focusing on their Visions in relation to their carriers. Each year, Better World develops programs for the students whereby some of them gained scholarships for further trainings while easily get jobs because of their training. Some students study in school while working in collaboration with those on the field (gardening) since job market is structured.Better World has a community garden where the students can re-connect. That is, this is what Better World calls ''The Spirit of Ndanifor ''. This helps to mentor the students reconnecting them to their roots. These students find in the things they had been neglecting. Through networking, Better World is expanding its horizons in the West and learning and sharing in terms of cultural education (global citizenship). Better World has partners in Japan, U.K and Germany. Together they organize a summer workcamp whereby students and volunteers from various backgrounds learn so many things concerning Permaculture, Eco-villages and Climate change. During the camp, those remaining here implement what they have so far learned and share with others over the internet.Better World Bamenda started in Bamenda in partnership with God is Great Orphanage which takes care of the vulnerable (orphans and handicapped). There is a garden for the orphan which helps to improve on their living standards. Better World Bamenda also focuses on non-formal Education issues (agriculture, environment) where the young people in the community are trained to become community development technicians. That is, enabling communities to understand climate change in dealing with food security and food sovereignty in a community.Patty Stuchbery talked on the work VSO has done with Better World in organizational development, explaining how they are now working out how to support projects. Support to BWC's Education Programmes is the most feasible (BWC new Caseload Manager Wynne White is Education Specialist), She interested in training of trainer, teaches training support and

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she's thinking that VSO needs to also recruit agricultural experts as volunteers. This will be of immense support to Ndanifor Permaculture Eco Village Project besides curriculum support.Wynne said VSO will need the specific details of Better World projects related to the Eco village since the project is still young and big with many ramifications. They need to know exactly what Better World Bamenda needs them for in this project and also, they need a time line of the project.Wynne talked of her expectations she expects to be involved in teacher training, environmental education and health . She has been training teachers for 15 years in 3 different countries.Joshua Konkankoh informed them about the concept of a council forest they have set in Bafut council and that they wish VSO to help them make the forest become a model forest. He was asked about Better World Partnership abroad (and workshops he attended). He explained the relevance of the Egypt Symposium on African Eco Villages to Ndanifor Permaculture Eco Village. He said Ndanifor show cases the UN Millennium Villages concept in Africa and it was useful sharing and learning with experts from around the world.Patty Stuchberg said Better World Cameroon is well connected with networks around the world and Better World Bamenda would benefit from writing joint proposals and sending them to VSO Head office in Yaounde .Better World Bamenda has targeted a population made up of women. They do agriculture in rural areas like Bafut since it is having the highest number of womens organized groups in the North West region and Better World wants to train young girls to take over ailing farms.After the discussions, Better World Bamenda presented a gift to Patty stuchberg congratulating her for a job well done, followed by family souvenir pictures and a common meal. ■ Wopong Joycelyn (NWADO Volunteer)

Better World Bamenda-Cameroon 2013 Extraordinary Planning Meeting Agenda - A brief update of the minutes of the last meeting - Matters raising from last minutes - Evaluate the month of January- Make plan of action for the month of February- David the plan of action for February between three members- Make a brief summary of the meeting and send to the mails of the other members of the organisation.

Minutes of Meeting on The 30 January 2013A. EVALUATION:The evaluation was based on the goals of the month of January, and the activities carried out to achieve the goals of the month.a. GOAL- The Main goal for January was to operationalise the Better World Bamenda administrative office.- To prepare BWB for audit by Voluntary services overseas (VSO) Case Load Manager for Better World Cameroonb. ACTIVITIES.

Carried out Project writing with our case load manager of VSO Patty Stuchbery, three projects were written and submitted to VSO, Korea Africa Foundation and Commonwealth Foundation.c.Held a constitutive meeting for Global Eco Village Network -GEN Cameroon. The project committee elected at the

meeting of 5 NGOs & 3 Councils has started drawing up the Articles of Association for its registration and has earmarked potential eco villages in Cameroon to work with.

Organising the orphan’s files and planting the orphanage garden. Opened Better World Bamenda bank account. The director of BWB met with the technicians of the Ministry of agriculture Maize and Cassava platforms and mapped

out the organic farming plots of Permaculture for this year which has started with a nursery of trees for urban planning, fruit trees and medicinal plants etc

Donations. Better World Bamenda received a donation of a colour printer from one of its board members Mr Joseph Ambe

(Business Adviser) Membership Paid their monthly contributions.MALCOLMS VISIT TO Better World Bamenda The confirmation of the date of Malcolme’s mission to Cameroon 11th to 27th march 2013. The itinerary was adopted and accommodation is being sort out. The aim of the visit is to conclude an agreement with Better World Bamenda on the buying of the land for the Better

World Permaculture Eco Village.

ObservationThe office is operational but for human resources.WAY FOREWARD: Better world Bamenda volunteer Tebi Honourine including BWC Public Relations Officer for BWC in Yaoundé Mbah Sonita are on scholarship sponsored by the National Employment Fund of Cameroon to the Peace Corps Business School of Social Business Bamanda to stud business Administration for the benefit of Ndanifor Permaculture Eco

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Village. The mission assigned to them by the Board of BWB is to set up a competitive Management Office for BetterCOOP (Ndanifor Permaculture Cooperative Society) for Agri Business service delivery in Cameroon and our concluding plan is equally to assume responsibility for environmental education in schools in the North West Region, serving as Administrative Assistants for BWC and to ensuring that the Ndanifor Permaculture Eco Village functions as a pace setter for resilient communities in Cameroon. Tebi Honorine & Mbah Sonita (in Baamenda)

Kumatoo, Valuing The African GeniusContrary to what the western media and world believe that all inventions and technological advancement come from the west, it is very untrue. While doing my research I came across this amazing findings about “Kumatoo”. It’s a website that on the Internet provides a comprehensive list of African inventors and their inventions that most of us Africans aren’t aware of. We African youths should have a look at it and to get inspiration. Share it with friends that know nothing about African inventions. Christian Tabifor (INSPIRE Editor in Chief)

About Kumatoo: Kumatoo is a concept originating from the reflection of Rudy Massamba on industrial development in Africa and whose book l'Afrique Noire Industrielle is the materialization of his ideas. This website is essentially dedicated to the industrialization of the African continent through its inventors.Since August 29, 2012, Kumatoo is an officially recognized Association located in Pointe-Noire, in the Republic of the Congo, under number: 0068/MID/DPN/SG/DDSP/SR.

Goals and VisionKumatoo's goals are:To publicize African inventors and their inventions or projects To free the mind of Black Man because he is just as creative as all other races on earth To create a Research and Development (R&D) pole in Africa that will gather the most promising African inventors To contribute to Africa's industrial planning in the four main regional economic communitiesKumatoo's vision is to help Africa acquire its technical, technological and industrial independence so that it can extract its natural resources and process them on the continent with equipment/machines that it canmanufacture itself.Meaning of Kumatoo Kumatoo [Ku-matu] is a word from the Lari or Kongo language spoken in the Republic of Congo, as well as part of Congo-Kinshasa. The meaning of Ku-matu is: forward, to move forward.This name has been chosen to symbolize an Industrial Africa that is to be built so that it can irreversibly move forward.

*** OPPORTUNITIES ***

ScholarshipsThe University of California San Diego and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are pleased to announce the launch of a new international certificate program in Advanced Terrestrial Carbon Accounting. This unique program will train professionals from around the world on how to measure forest carbon.  By using the latest scientific tools and methods to measure forest carbon, participants will be able to provide rigorous estimates of how conserving tropical forests avoids greenhouse gas emissions. In turn, the new certificate course will help participants advance major global initiatives such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+). The certificate course will be held August of 2013 on the UC San Diego campus in southern California.  Limited spots are available.Scholarships will be awarded to select individuals. Application information can be found at http://extension.ucsd.edu/TCA.For more information, contact Henry Devries at UCSD Extension (+1-858-534-9955).

2013 GOI PEACE FOUNDATION - UNESCO   INTERNATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST FOR YOUNG PEOPLE - Organized by The Goi Peace Foundation and UNESCO- Endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; Japanese National Commission for UNESCO; Japan Private High School Federation; Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education; Japan Broadcasting Corporation; Nikkei Inc.- Supported by Felissimo Corporation

THEME: "THE POWER OF CULTURE TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE"Every part of the world has its own culture. Culture includes the arts, traditions and customs of a country or region, as well as the wisdom, values, lifestyles and trends of the people living there. In order to build a peaceful world, we need to

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acknowledge and respect each other's cultures. What aspects of the culture in your country or region do you take pride in? How can youth make the most of them to create a better future?

GUIDELINES:1.    Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 30, 2013) in one of the following age categories:a) Children (ages up to 14)  b) Youth (ages 15 - 25)2.    Essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German; or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, typed or printed.3.    Essays must have a cover page indicating (1) category (Children or Youth) (2) essay title (3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality (8) age as of June 30, 2013 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count.

Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group. Please enclose a list of participants' names and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director.(Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered.)4.    Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.(IMPORTANT: To send your essay online, you must go to the online registration page at www.goipeace.or.jp and follow the required steps.)5.    Essays must be original and unpublished.6.    Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.7.    Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizers.

DEADLINE:    Entries must be received by JUNE 30, 2013.AWARDS:    The following awards will be given in the Children's category and Youth category respectively:1st Prize:    Certificate and prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$1,140 as of January 2013)  ... 1 entrant2nd Prize:   Certificate and prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$570 as of January 2013)  ... 2 entrants3rd Prize:    Certificate and gift  ... 5 entrantsHonorable Mention:  Certificate and gift  ... 25 entrants

* 1st prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony in Tokyo, Japan scheduled for November 2013.(Travel expenses will be covered by the organizers.)

** All prize winners will be announced in November 2013 on the Goi Peace Foundation web site (www.goipeace.or.jp) and UNESCO web site (www.unesco.org/youth).

Additional awards (Recognition for Effort, Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given if applicable.PLEASE SEND YOUR ENTRIES TO:International Essay Contest c/o The Goi Peace Foundation1-4-5 Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0093  JapanOR Send online through www.goipeace.or.jp* For inquires, please contact essay@goipeace.or.jp. ■

WISDOM CORNER“If you want to have more, you first have to become more”

Christian Tabifor

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