Welcome home YALI fellows!
| Friday August 29, 2014 11:45
They then travelled to Washington, DC to participate in a three-day Presidential Summit, where they had a “town hall” meeting with President Obama and met with leaders from across the US Government, the private sector, and civil society. Three members of Botswana’s delegation remain in the United States for eight week practical internships at private companies and NGOs.
We are extremely proud of this year’s Fellows, for their professional and volunteer experience, their talent, and strong leadership skills, and we hope Botswana is, too. Mostly, we are inspired by their commitment to finding innovative ways to make progress on issues critical to Botswana’s future including poverty eradication and rural development, private sector economic growth, environmental protection and conservation, combating gender-based violence and more. We are also delighted that President Obama intends to expand the YALI programme from 500 to 1,000 participants by 2016. That is good news for Africa and good news for Botswana.
We recently invited the returned YALI fellows to share with us and government representatives their experiences at American universities, their interactions with Fellows from other African countries, their impressions of the United States, and their dreams and aspirations for the future. Although Botswana’s YALI fellows visited different parts of the United States, many of their stories touched upon common themes. They were surprised by America’s social problems, such as homelessness and poverty, but were touched by the generosity of the United States and its citizens towards Africa despite these and other domestic challenges. They were impressed by the professionalism they encountered on university campuses and inspired by America’s culture of volunteerism, where people devote countless hours to help those in need. Lastly, they were all extraordinarily impressed by the other Fellows from across the continent, the majority of whom were from countries where there is less opportunity and greater hardship than Botswana, and humbled by their accomplishments. All of the Fellows came home energised to make Botswana an ever better place for all.
At a July 29 YALI Town Hall Screening Party, hosted by Botho University, we had already watched the Presidential Town Hall with Africa’s YALI, where a large crowd of young Batswana cheered as President Obama responded to Botswana Fellow Changu Siwawa’s question about gender-based violence (GBV). Changu told us that she was flattered that the President called on her. She also welcomed the President’s response that empowering women and combatting gender-based violence in Africa were “absolute priorities” for him personally and for United States foreign policy. The President noted that sometimes traditions can get in the way of advancing both objectives. In that case, he said, traditions needed to be updated and changed, stressing that young Africans had an important role to play in eliminating traditions like violence against women.
The question now is: What happens next? The US Government is working with businesses, governments, and NGOs to create professional opportunities and generate resources to support these young leaders. This includes securing internships for professional development; matching Fellows with mentors; providing seed funding to support their ideas, businesses and organisations; and, helping ensure that Mandela Washington Fellows stay connected through in-country alumni associations and community service activities. My government will invest an additional $5 million over the next three years to help Fellows across the continent establish or grow their NGOs, undertake community service projects, and establish young African leader networks. We will also leverage $350 million in existing youth programmes and development initiatives to give the Fellows access to a broad array of assistance and support.
What is more exciting is what Botswana’s Fellows have already undertaken and what they aspire to do. They have already formed a Youth Alliance with Fellows from seven other countries that will focus on GBV prevention. They have an active Botswana YALI alumni network. They are planning a social enterprise aimed at addressing youth empowerment and employment in Botswana. They are also speaking publicly about their experience in the United States and becoming recruiters for next year’s YALI programme! Finally, the Fellows expressed their desire to work directly with Botswana government on poverty eradication, youth education and employment.
We at the US Embassy feel privileged to know these amazing 15 Fellows and are energised by their motivation, creativity, dynamism, and vision. We greatly look forward to working with them in the future, and we cannot wait to see the applications from young Batswana for the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship! With this in mind, we encourage youth leaders between 25 and 35 years old to follow our website: http://botswana.usembassy.gov/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/U.S.EmbassyGaborone, and watch for upcoming YALI announcements.