Fellows inspire, ignite
Videos of UD Mandela Washington Fellows' Ignite Talks now online
9:49 a.m., Sept. 9, 2015--“Africa dreams. She dreams of a time when opportunity shall be availed to a current state of the future posterity,” said Regina Bwanali, a 2015 University of Delaware Mandela Washington Fellow from Zimbabwe, during a campus presentation.
For the poetry and power of her words, Bwanali was selected by her peers to deliver this same speech at the annual Presidential Summit, a gathering of 500 Mandela Washington Fellows with key players on the global stage, last month in Washington, D.C.
Global Stories
Fulbright awards
Peace Corps plans
These engaging and educational speeches, called Ignite Talks, were presented by each UD fellow and are now featured on the University of Delaware YouTube Channel. Centered around the word “opportunity,” fellows spoke about a range of topics from their own personal experiences to the work of their respective civic engagement organizations.
The UD fellows’ Ignite Talks are approximately five minutes in length and are as diverse as their respective home countries. Arsène Tungali reflected on his efforts to create educational opportunities for children in the Lac Vert area of the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Amina Nur Akali spoke about her work to improve the lives of internally displaced persons in Nigeria.
Other fellows inspired each other to think about environmental issues in Africa, the empowerment of women, and challenges and successes in their own lives.
“It is not the kind of problems that you face but instead how you react to those problems. It is how you respond to those problems and how you cope with those problems,” said Hamse Abdilahi, a Mandela Washington Fellow from Somalia.
To view the entirety of the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows Ignite Talks visit the University of Delaware YouTube playlist.
About Mandela Washington Fellowship at UD
The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). This program, funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by IREX, brings over 500 young African leaders to the United States each year for leadership training, academic coursework and mentoring on 20 university campuses across the country.
The University of Delaware institute, run under the auspices of the Institute for Global Studies, focuses on civic leadership. This summer, the program brought 25 Mandela Washington Fellows to UD for an academically grounded program focused on practical skill building. Fellows engaged in community service, participated in site visits and cultural activities, and benefited from leadership training provided by University and local experts.
This year’s fellows hailed from 22 countries including Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The fellows hold a number of professional positions in their communities. Among them are lawyers, lecturers, government officials and leaders of major local, regional and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
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 internationally-recognized State Department-sponsored programs such as the UD Fulbright Initiative, Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Institute, Mandela Washington Fellowship Program for Young African Leaders, 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.
Article by Jessica Franzetti