The newest University of Delaware Mandela Washington Fellows (MWF) will begin to arrive on campus on Friday, June 17.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) is the flagship program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). Founded in 2014, the MWF seeks to empower young leaders from sub-Saharan Africa to continue creating change and designing innovative solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges.

The fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

UD is privileged to have hosted the Mandela Washington Fellows program since its inception, and for the third year in a row.

“I am convinced that Africa is the continent of the 21st century, that the 21st century will be an African century,” noted U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on African Affairs and an avid supporter of the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

This year’s 1,000 Mandela Washington Fellows and those that came before them will make this dream a reality.

Together, UD’s 25 fellows hail from Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe – 18 countries in total.

With them, each fellow will bring years of experience in their respective disciplines, further enriching the University community as they embark on six weeks of rigorous academic and civic leadership training.

Zola Songo, from Johannesburg, South Africa, has worked for over eight years to improve the self-image of disadvantaged youth through art. Her non-profit organization, Sober Hearts Africa, helps young people “discover and enhance their leadership potential” through arts-based camps, she said.

Songo’s initiative has gone beyond national in scope, through collaborations with partner organizations on an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation project that harnesses the power of music called Music on Troubled Grounds.

In Kenya, Martin Nduati stands at the head of a forum representing more than 1,000 affiliate youth groups, an enterprise begun with the help of USAID’s Yes Youth Can. Through this forum, Nduati encourages youth groups to register their efforts, builds their capacity to effectively achieve their missions, and facilitates links to financial providers and economic empowerment programs.

Nduati and Songo aren’t the only fellows who have dedicated their lives to the youth of their countries.

Isaac Gyamfi Korang, a teacher in Ghana’s Education Service, has spent the last seven years focusing on “teaching as a medium between children with disabilities and their families.” Korang advocates for the rights of disabled individuals in addition to teaching basic knowledge of reproductive health issues, civic rights and leadership.

Portia Dery, also from Ghana, founded the African Youth Writers Organization, which seeks to ensure that literacy is accessible for every child. Dery, through projects including her most recent effort, the Funky ReadWrite Clinic, has mentored more than 1,000 children.

Sithabisu Ndlovu, a fellow from Zimbabwe, is the founder of AfriAct, an initiative to emancipate vulnerable youth through access to education. Ndlovu is a self-taught sign language interpreter who has spent the past four years working in the Zimbabwean social work sector.

“I work toward bridging the gap of communication between the hearing and the deaf so as to socially include the deaf within the whole society,” she noted in a recent Voice of America interview.

Others practice law, have dedicated their professional lives to securing human rights for members of the LGBTI community, or have aided in the fight for the rights of women. Still others work in community development on issues of food security and in conflict management.

Faith Kalikeka Masupa, a Zambian fellow, is a public relations practitioner and founder of the Mother of Millions Foundation. Through this organization, she champions the rights of women and girls in prisons. Her passion for improving the living standards of children in prison and their incarcerated mothers led her to build a school and skills center at the Lusaka Central prison, which is offering education, health and nutrition advice.

In Togo, fellow Sylvie Enyonam Mensah has guided her community in the field of terminal-illness issues, and founded the country’s first palliative care association.

In Ethiopia, Mekbib Gebre serves as a culture officer for the African Union Commission, where he manages the campaign for African Cultural Renaissance and advocates for Pan-Africanism and shared values across the continent.

During their time at UD, fellows will engage in workshops and practical sessions with over 30 faculty and staff spanning the College of Arts and Sciences, Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, College of Education and Human Development, College of Engineering and College of Health Sciences, in addition to several other campus units.

Fellows will visit and volunteer with several community organizations. Among them are AIDS Delaware, the American Civil Liberties Union, Delaware Center for Justice, Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Delaware Nature Society, Community Legal Aid Society, Delaware Pride, Easter Seals, Kuumba Academy, the Latin American Community Center, United Way, and more.

Fellows will also complete a community organizing training with the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League Young Professionals. 

Each fellow will be paired with a peer collaborator, a leader from the greater University community with whom they can regularly discuss the unique successes, issues and solutions of their shared field.

Another guest of note includes Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, who will visit with the fellows for the second consecutive year.

The program will come to its conclusion in late July in Washington, D.C., for a Presidential Summit. Select fellows will also spend an additional six weeks in professional development training with U.S. non-governmental organizations, private companies and government agencies.

This summer, fellows will share their experiences directly on the official UD Mandela Washington Fellowship blog. Those interested are also invited to follow along @UDGlobal on Instagram, Twitter and Storify, where the stories of the leaders will be shared.

To meet each of the fellows and for full details on the Mandela Washington Fellowship at UD, visit the Institute for Global Studies website or contact Gretchen Bauer, academic director of the program.

About the Institute for Global Studies

The Institute for Global Studies was created in 2009 to enhance the international dimensions of teaching, research and outreach at the University of Delaware. IGS provides leadership and support for programs and experiences that contribute to the education of informed, skilled, open-minded citizens of the world.

Best known for coordinating the University’s study abroad program, IGS also awards scholarships and grants to faculty and students for a number of global opportunities, and administers other internationally-recognized State Department-sponsored programs such as the UD Fulbright Initiative, Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Institute, and most recently the Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership (SUSI-WL) program.

IGS sponsors such signature events as Global Month each fall and country-specific celebrations each spring.

IGS collaborates with other global partners on campus, including the Office for International Students and Scholars, the Confucius Institute and the Center for Global and Area Studies. In addition, IGS partners with Enrollment Management to coordinate the UD World Scholars Program.