Mandela Washington Fellowship 2018

Fellowship Overview

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S Government(Young African Leaders Initiative-YALI).Since 2014,nearly 4,400 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the fellowship.The Fellows,between the ages of 25 and 35,are accomplished leaders and have established records of promoting innovation and positive impact in their communities and countries.

Leadership Institutes

Each year Fellows participate in six weeks Leadership Institutes,studying Business,Civic Engagements,or Public Management at U.S colleges or universities.During their time on campus,Fellows connect with Americans and enrich local U.S communities while sharing best practices.

The Summit

After the institutes,Fellows convene for a multi-day Summit in Washington D.C.,where they forge connections with one another and U.S leaders from the private,public,and non-profit sectors,setting the stage for long-term engagement between the United States and Africa.

Professional Development Experiences

Following the summit,a group of competitively selected Fellows remain in the United States for four weeks to work with private ,public,and non-profit organizations.Both Fellows and Hosts benefit from discussing shared issues and challenges in their sectors,broadening their perspectives,and positioning U.S organizations for international engagement.

Reciprocal Exchanges 

Americans have the opportunity to travel to Africa to collaborate on projects with fellows,building upon connections initiated while fellows were in the United States.These partnerships and professional connections are intended to form lasting relationships,expand markets and networks and increase mutual understanding.

My Experiences

I was placed at Howard University,to participate in a five weeks long executive leadership intensive as part of its Public Management Institute in Washington D.C.I was placed with twenty five Fellows from twenty four different countries in Africa.

Howard University has always been  known for educating,and building capacity of the worlds greatest leaders,thinkers and laureate prize winners.I participated in the following lectures;Civic engagement and governance,servant leadership,effective communication,monitoring and evaluation,personality and leadership.title XI,and grant writing.We were also taught on ways to collaborate with American organizations and with each other as we brought different levels and wealth of experiences.

Part of our learning included community and educational tours.We volunteered at community garden on the South Western part of Washington D.C.For our educational tours we visited;The Capitol,House of Representatives,Chamber of Commerce,Africare,Department of Labor,Department of State,Oracle and the Brookings Institute.We had a lot to discuss during our tours and shared ideas on how we can positively contribute to the development of our respective countries.

Upon completing the program,I was awarded with a certificate of completion from the U.S Department of State and Howard University's Public Management Institute.

Girls and STEM

Should girls do STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths)

Nowadays, girls are continually encouraged to follow their dreams and study, like their male counterparts, to the highest level of their abilities. Gender is gradually becoming an issue. However, this has not helped them as figures show that, during orientation, only 12% of female tilting in the STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)

The notion that technology, and the class that makes up STEM, is meant for men still lingering around. Paradoxically, STEM is meant for everyone who is passionate about it, and its impact cuts across a wide range of fields, including women populated and appealing fields. Like tourism, health, and fashion design.

As the African proverb goes, "Teach them while they are young," it is essential that these girls are encouraged to take engineering while they are relatively young. Preferably between the ages of 10-14 and do not wait until they are in colleges or universities, as is the case. Most of them will lose their orientation if they have to wait until they are in college. 

Last year, as part of the leadership program, I visited St Anne's, a girl's school. Our focus and discussion centered on different issues impacting girls and their livelihoods. We also took the opportunity to direct them through career opportunities and, encouragingly, a few of these girls were actually interested in engineering courses.

Relating to this, I received a call yesterday from the director of this girls ' school to invite me to a presentation by one of the girls who showed interest in mechanical engineering and built a Solar Powered Car. She has changed the narrative and is shifting the paradigm to women empowerment, inspiring peers here through her success story. Her dream is to continue in vocational college after her secondary school, and it is our responsibility as individuals, organizations, governments, and experts to see her through. Who knows, she could be the Next Elon Musk of Tesla or Henry Ford of Ford Cars in the making.

                                             

Education for Innovation

The term "Beyond the Walls" was created after my experience with the USA through the Mandela Washington Fellowship. I was hosted by the Public Management Institute at Howard University for a span of six weeks. Our program focused mainly on how we can strengthen public institutions in our home countries and how we can become formidable leaders who can develop their countries. We have been constantly developing ideas on how we can achieve the impact and change of the lives of marginalized societies.

Briefly, "Beyond the Walls" is a project that aims to introduce computer literacy to underprivileged women who may not have the ability to learn computer skills in their lives, and for the time being, this initiative will concentrate on women in jail, also known as correctional facilities. As the term correctional facility itself describes, it is not a place of punishment, but rather a place of correction to help offenders come to the community with a correct psyche that will not make them repeat their mistakes, which ended up putting them in jail.

The objective of this program is to promote women's empowerment, gender equality, social inclusion, and the promotion of women's human rights in prisons. It also seeks to empower women, in the unfortunate circumstances described above, to be better people and to have a positive impact on their families and communities during and after their term of office. As the popular quote says, when you educate a woman, you educate the whole nation. This is the inspiration behind this project, which focuses mainly on women. The evidence here, although not statistically proven in my local context, but by observation, is that the life of a woman in society is difficult compared to that of a man, and the life of a woman in prison is more difficult, not only in economic and social terms but also in terms of finding a marriage that is a norm in my culture. In this scenario, the odds of this woman having children wanting to be helped by her are higher than in the case of a man, not only that, looking at her meaning if she can not give them a good influence, she would also lead them to jail. As a result, the above explains the urgent need to focus on these women in giving them anything positive that can be offered because, if ignored, the damage is widened, leading to a broken country in the next generations.

The Mawelawela correctional center is the only female prison in eSwatini with a carrying capacity of more than 200 inmates and juveniles. Although today 's quick pace of life keeps us busy, these women have a slowing experience not just throughout but after completing their sentences.No matter how lengthy the sentences are, the life of an inmate is never flowers and honey. In eSwatini, the attitude that welcomes freed ex-convicts is usually repulsive, denying them job opportunities, and while men rely on their natural strength to bounce back, these women end up being dependent on the hands of abusers because they still have no skills, and the data shows that the most common crime that makes them arrest is theft, which means they are returning to poverty. This initiative is one of the best ways to ensure that they don't go back to committing a crime.

In response to this need, the project "Beyond the Walls" began in January 2019, a six-month computer literacy course designed for women inmates at the Mawelawela Correctional Center. It's an active class of twenty students  A survey was conducted to determine what type of skills each person has and what skills could be added if appropriate.

The on-site facilitator (volunteer) will conduct sessions at the Mawelawela Correctional Center using laptops and training manuals provided by our partnering college, which will monitor, test, and certify inmates at the end of the program.

I agree that quality education is a human right and that no one should be stopped from achieving it. The prison walls should not determine the future of the inside. Everyone has the potential to grow and change for the better; despite their backgrounds, everyone is given a second chance through the program.

Volunteers will train inmates in groups of 20 and are likely to run the program for a period of six months. Forty inmates are the target for the year 2019.

Certificates handover

On December 2018 certificates from Eswatini Bridge Projects were handed over to inmates who managed to complete the whole course within the time stipulated.

                                

Partnerships

1.Netcad Academy-Swazi Bridge Project(SBP)
We partnered with Netcad Academy to prove the curriculum and monitor our sessions to see if they meet the required standards to provide certificates.. https://www.swazibridgeproject.org/

           
        
2.Young African Leaders Initiative(YALI) Network

3.His Majestys Correctional Services