ALU's Africa Rising Application Course Inspires Kenyan Applicants To #LeadTheChange

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Image result for african leadership university“Leadership is an act of influencing a group to achieve a common goal with the support of others,” says George Achola, an ALU applicant from Kenya who’s leading the change in his community. Inspired by the ALU’s online application course “Africa Rising,” Achola and 29 of his friends organized a community outreach to two orphanages in Nairobi and Mombasa.

“We were so excited [after doing the Africa Rising course] at the thought making a change in our countries. Then, I wondered, why do we have to wait so long to start the change, why wait until we get in [to ALU], to do things that we have already methodically planned and seen happen in our minds?,” says Lousa Sheenaz, the organizer of the outreach. Lousa, currently studying Business Information Technology at Kenya’s Strathmore University, reached out to all the Kenyan ALU applicants she could find.
On 31 January, ALU applicants from Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Chuka and Migori came together and visited the Brethren children’s home in Nairobi and Mtopanga Primary school in Mombasa. At Brethren, they cooked supper for the children and held a mentoring session.  The Mtopanga Primary School crew, spearheaded by Naima Amraan and Mary Man’geni, taught girls about how their bodies and emotions will change during adolescence and puberty. Another group, led by Erick Aguk and Catherine Njeri, visited a children’s home and taught the children about the effects of drug abuse, while Micheal Mutie and his friends fed five families on the street.
The students plan to continue doing projects in their communities even after the ALU decisions have been announced.
“We decided to start up a Community Based Organization inspired by the ALU slogan #leadthechange that we will use as a pedestal in helping us reach out in our various communities,” Lousa said.
“I think it is amazing that ALU has brought people together and I hope they shall stay together even after the acceptance decisions are out,” says George Gathini, the ALU Youth Admissions Representative in Kenya.
The ALU #LeadTheChange series highlights ALU applicants that have been inspired by ALU to start initiatives to improve their communities. 
(Source: www.alueducation.com)

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Winners emerge from Zimbabwe and Uganda for the 2014 DSTV Eutelsat Star Awards

03:11:00 Unknown 0 Comments



Joseph Mahiya from Zimbabwe wins essay prize
 Hannah Kasule from Uganda wins poster prize.
 The winners of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, the unique pan-African competition that sparks interest in science and space technology in young African students were announced tonight in Zambia. The fourth edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, organised by MultiChoice and Eutelsat, attracted over 1,000 entries from 14 countries. The winner in the essay category, Joseph Mahiya (Zimbabwe), has won a trip to Paris and onwards to a launch site to witness a rocket blast into space to place a satellite into orbit. The runner up in the essay category was João Nuno Freire Melo (Angola) who wins a trip for two to visit MultiChoice facilities and the South African National Space Agency near Johannesburg. The theme for the essay category was to imagine yourself as a satellite looking down on earth and consider the key issues shaping Africa and how satellites can help development. In the poster category, first place went to Hannah Kasule (Uganda) who will visit Eutelsat in Paris. Lesley Chakurira (Zimbabwe) was the runner up in the same category. The four winning schools attended by the overall award winners and runners-up were also rewarded with a DStv installation, including dish, TV set, PVR decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet. The international jury assessing this year’s entries was chaired by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli with Dr. Jacob O Ashong, Director (also Higher Education Consultant) at the Ghana Science Project and Planetarium; Christine Mugimba, Head of Spectrum Management at the Uganda Communications Commission; Professor Steve Simukanga, Vice Chancellor of the University of Zambia as well as a representative from MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat. Commenting on the entries, Paolo Nespoli said: “The jury was truly impressed by the grasp of technology, the maturity of ideas, the quality of compositions and the creativity of artwork in this year’s entries. The DStv Eutelsat Star Awards shines a spotlight on the potential of the many inspired and motivated students in Africa who are passionate about the development of their continent and the opportunities for progress. It is an honour to assess their work.”www.eutelsat.com – Follow us on Twitter @Eutelsat_SA and Facebook Eutelsat.SA The winners were announced in the presence of the Permanent Secretary of the Zambian Ministry of Education, Chishimba Nkosha, who commented: “I am sure I am speaking on behalf of everybody here when I say education serves as the means to bring about the desired change in society, to develop a generation of virtuous individuals and thus contribute to the development of good human beings. I hope that MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat will continue to inspire not only young Zambians but the youth all over the continent to take up careers in sciences so that Africa can produce more engineers, astronauts, medical doctors and others in the future.”
(Source: www.dstvstarawards.com)

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