2017 Mandela Washington Fellows

Abdoul Karim Goza Ali Niamey, Niger Abdoul is the Director of the Niger branch of the Socitech Group where he specializes in IT services. He is a volunteer at the Rotary Foundation where he focuses his efforts on six areas: promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, saving mothers and children, supporting education, and growing local economies. After the Mandela Washington Fellowship, he hopes to fight against rural hunger by developing a communication platform that will facilitate the flow of information to farmers. He hopes to eradicate the invasion of locusts to prevent future famine.

Abdourahman Bamba Lome, Togo Abdourahman is a young activist with four years peer education experience on STDs/HIV/AIDS, blood donation campaigns, and students’ learning. From 2013-17, Abdourahman took executive positions in the Board of the English Club Universite de Lome (E2C), becoming successively first organizer, secretary general, and then president, where he designed and implemented projects to spread the mastery of the English language to better opportunities for French speaking students. In 2013, Abdourahman co-founded Education, Citizenship and Change, a nonprofit for youth civic engagement where he currently serves as Secretary General with a focus on citizenship, transparency, and communication. His dearest wish is to promote a new generation of young citizens mindful of their duties toward their fellow citizens and their country. Upon completion of the MWF, he will return to his country and continue his work with E2C, implementing a project on youth training for the understanding of decision-making processes and advocacy to solve community issues.

Ahmed Mohamed Gedo, Somalia Ahmed has over 10 years of experience in the humanitarian field, focusing on community resilience programs. Ahmed is the Founder and Program Manager of Gedo Women Development Organization (GEWDO), a local nonprofit operating in Somalia.

He focuses on the capacity building of women and youth, education, delivery of nutrition and food security projects to poor families, and transforming the mindset of the dependence of the communities on external support. Ahmed holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from SIMAD University in Mogadishu. Upon completion of Mandela Washington Fellowship, Ahmed plans to continue his efforts towards building community support programs with a focus on capacity building and education.

Amina

Mohammed-Jaji Maiduguri, Nigeria Amina is a dentist with over five years experience in the field of dentistry. She is currently in a residency program at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, training to become an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Amina holds a bachelor’s degree in dental surgery from the University of Maiduguri. Amina works as a volunteer to spread awareness about preventable diseases, especially oral disease, and educate the underprivileged about the importance of education as a means of poverty alleviation. Amina hopes to participate in the rebuilding of North-Eastern Nigeria, that was destroyed by the Boko Haram crises and successfully reintegrate internally displaced persons back to their communities. Upon completion of Mandela Washington Fellowship, Amina plans to continue her volunteerism with a focus on the youth community.

Brahim Thiam Rosso, Mauritania Brahim has over four years of experience in the educational sector. Currently, Brahim works as a teacher at the Ministry of Education where he focuses on guiding the future generation so that no child will be left behind. He is also a community leader and is involved in many activities like local clean-up campaigns, and awakening the awareness of being a good citizen among the young generation. Brahim has received his teacher’s license from the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania and also CAPPC from Ecole Normale Superieur of Nouakchott, Mauritania. He has written his thesis on gender as a factor in the use of language. Brahim encourages and reinforces girls’ empowerment by providing courses and conferences about the importance of girls’ education. Upon the completion of the Mandela Washington Fellow, Brahim plans to continue his work in the same sector focusing on the women and girls education.

Cleopatra Matanhire Harare, Zimbabwe Cleopatra has over eight years experience engaging in community development through volunteering in medical and dental outreaches. Cleopatra is a dental surgeon at Gwanda Provincial Hospital, a referal hospital in Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. Her job entails attending to patients who arrive daily at the hospital from the province and beyond. She is part of the team spearheading dental outreaches in remote healthcare centers all over the country which do not offer dental and other healthcare services. Cleopatra is driven by the fact that healthcare is a need which everyone, despite circumstances, deserves. She is motivated by the immediate impact the service she does has on people’s lives. Upon completion of the MWF, she plans to launch her own organization which provides dental care for rural and under-privileged people in her country and beyond.

Dalitso Chiwayula Thyolo, Malawi Dalitso has over three years work experience developing and executing community development programs, specifically focusing on raising awareness about HIV and AIDS in rural communities while also improving access to treatment for individuals living with HIV. He also focuses in empowering women in rural communities with skills and resources they need to be self-reliant and productive citizens. Currently, Dalitso is a director of Chipembere Community Development Organization where he initiates, designs, and implements activities and provides leadership, administrative, and financial guidance. Dalitso is motivated by his commitment to sustainable social and economic development and he envisions a transformed society where everyone has good health and a sustainable economy. Upon completion of MWF, Dalitso plans to build a solid foundation for his organization with a focus on fundraising and project initiation, design, and implementation to reach more disadvantaged communities, thereby reducing poverty, especially in rural and hard-to-reach communities.

Davidetta Cassell Montserrado, Liberia Davidetta is a women and children’s rights advocate with more than 13 years of volunteer experience and community service locally and regionally. She is an alum of the Global Women in Management Program of Plan International USA in Washington, D.C., and an alum of the YALI Regional Leadership Center Cohort Five, Nigeria Cohort One. She is the founder and executive director of Germinating Every Mind-Liberia.

She is passionate about seeing women and girls have equal access to empowerment and protection. Her contribution to women’s and girls’ development includes the 2012 Because I am a Girl research plan of Liberia, which exposed the sexual violence and discrimination faced by school-going girls in Liberia. She is a peace ambassador and a 2015 Global Courage Award winner of the Women Have Wings Fund in New York.

Diksha Beeharry Port-Louis, Mauritius Diksha is an advocate for human rights and was nominated as the best delegate at the Model United Nations Conference. She qualified as a barrister-at-law in the United Kingdom. Diksha volunteered as a Legal Researcher at the Women’s Legal Center, a nonprofit in South Africa that offers free legal advice to women. In 2015, Diksha founded and acts as president of Mafubo Mauritius, a local branch of Mafubo International. Mafubo Mauritius’s vision is to build a nation where women are the architects of their own lives. She spearheads projects in the community to advocate and promote gender equality and equity, fight against all forms of discrimination and violence against women, educate and empower women, and improve accessibility to general services. Diksha intends to use the skills and connections obtained during the MWF to set up sustainable projects in her community. She hopes to work with fellow Africans and contribute towards the development of Africa.

Folasade Bamisaye Ilorin, Nigeria Folasade holds a master’s degree in psychology counselling from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. She has over eight years experience improving the psychosocial well-being of girls and women at the grassroots level. Folasade is a monitoring and evaluation specialist with Hygeia Foundation. She is also the creator of Young Women Arise Initiative, which aims to empower girls and women to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Her organization provides referrals for family planning support.

Gloria Chukia Juba, South Sudan Gloria is a social worker by profession. Currently, she is working as a gender-based violence project coordinator. She links and integrates community mobilization to address harmful gender norms that contribute to violence. She does trainings to community activists and safety groups on gender-based violence response and prevention; to policy makers on South Sudan court processes and laws regarding gender-based violence; and facilitates women’s rights orientation workshops for community leaders to promote and support women to know their rights and entitlements. Gloria is a passionate advocate for women’s issues and hopes that one day, women and girls will live a life free of violence. She hopes that her participation in the Mandela Washington Fellowship will be an opportunity for her to bring in new ideas and also bring in new experiences of how other fellows from other countries made it through in the times of conflict.

Izel Kipruto Nairobi, Kenya Izel has over six years experience in conducting large scale citizen-led learning assessments in East Africa. Currently, Izel is a communications officer at Twaweza East Africa, where she focuses on enabling children to learn, citizens to exercise agency, and governments to be more open and responsive in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Izel assists in the facilitation of more than 50 researchers, as well as Civil Society partners in 158 districts, and over 10,000 education volunteers. She supports communication with a focus on enhancing dissemination of Twaweza’s value adding outputs, raising the visibility of its impact and driving the organization’s branding initiatives. Izel is the founder of Nafasi; an initiative that mentors high school students from humble backgrounds with access to complete secondary level education. Upon completion of the MWF, Izel plans to leverage the resources gained to motivate her education volunteers in being active citizens in their communities. Izel also plans to roll out Kijiji, an initiative that seeks to connect all villages in Kenya with internet connectivity.

Jeremias Tavares Santiago Island, Cabo Verde Jeremias is an English teacher, a husband and father, and a sub director for Social and Communitaire Affairs at Fulgêncio Tavares Secondary School - São Domingos. He also served the Peace Corps in 2007 as a language and culture facilitator. Jeremias earned a bachelor’s degree in English Studies from the Universidade de Cabo Verde. He works with several organizations in promoting awareness of issues related to gender equality, sexual health and alcoholism. He is a national instructor of the Catholic Boys and Girls Scouts Association and a member and founder of Laco Branco Association, an organization that works with boys and men in the promotion of gender equality.

Kanono Thabane Maseru, Lesotho Kanono has three years experience in community development, focusing especially on social accountability. Currently, Kanono is the programs director at Lesotho Council of NGOs, where he is responsible for initiating, designing and implementing collective civil society programs in Lesotho. He holds a Master of Science in Economics from the National University of Lesotho and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of the Free State. Kanono is driven by his passion for creating platforms which will provide a combination of modern, drug-free, alternative recreational activities and sexual and reproductive health education and services for young people in rural and urban communities. He intends to use his time in the Mandela Washington Fellowship to learn about methods for mobilizing young people across Lesotho towards drug-free recreational activities while providing them with basic life skills, sexual and reproductive education and services, and civic leadership skills.

Manoa Rakotoarison Antananarivo, Madagascar Manoa has three years experience in nonprofit organization, focusing on education.

He is currently the president and co-founder of the Teach For Madagascar movement.

Manoa and his team have created four original projects that aim to connect educated young Malagasy volunteers with the marginalized social class. His organization, Zoky, is based on the framework of education, good citizenship and empowerment. Manoa holds a master’s degree in public law and political science from the Catholic University of Madagascar. His academic background motivated him to initiate a social and educational movement as part of a growing civil society. He was awarded the Recognition Prize of the Ten Outstanding Young People in Madagascar by Junior Chamber International in 2016. After the MWF, he aims to spread an educational movement in order to reach all 22 regions of Madagascar to bring about unity, patriotism and development.

Marcella Katjijova Swakopmund, Namibia Marcella has over eight years experience as a psychological counselor, helping to rehabilitate individuals with substance and sex addictions. She currently works with the Ministry of Labor, where she serves as a career counselor, offering psychometric testing, motivational talks, counselling and pre-retirement counselling. Marcella is the founder of Here4Her foundation, a nonprofit organization set up to provide teenage school girls in rural areas with reusable sanitary towels and to empower them with life skills to enable them to becoming independent. With one in 10 African girls likely to miss between three to five school days per month for a lack of sanitary wear, her goal is to keep girls in school so they benefit maximally from their education. She volunteers with the Epango Charity Group, where she caters to the needs of senior citizens in her country. Upon completion of the MWF, Marcella hopes to have learned a lot about civic leadership and to use this knowledge to further grow her organization to produce and provide reusable sanitary towels for teenage girls in Namibia.

Marie-Leopoldine

Tossou Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire Marie-Leopoldine has over four years of experience in the community development sector, specially focusing on youth leadership and women’s empowerment. Currently, she serves as founder and executive director for the Smart African Women Leaders Platform, where she creates and facilitates programs to provide a favorable environment that enables girls and women to explore and develop their leadership and be empowered. She served as project and communication manager assistant in the Foundation Life Builders and as an Accountant in Aiesec. Upon the completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Marie-Leopoldine plans to implement the ICT 4 HER project, which aims at providing information communication technology skills to disabled women to enhance their competitiveness and preparedness to seize economic opportunities. She also intends to run a nonprofit incubator center to further their skills in civic engagement to more efficiently and effectively run their organizations and have a huge impact on Africa.

Martin Habinshuti Huye, Rwanda Martin holds a master’s degree in public health from Mount Kenya University, where he focused on health services management, and bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology from the National University of Rwanda. Martin is driven by a commitment to behavior change, and one day he hopes to witness a safe society free of gender inequality where all girls and boys may enjoy equal rights and opportunities. Upon completion of Mandela Washington Fellowship, Martin will use the knowledge gained to better serve the organization and the community with a focus on prevention of teenage pregnancies. He hopes to provide skills on entrepreneurship and empower unwed teen mothers to have hope for future.

Mehret Berehe Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Mehret has over four years of experience as a women’s rights activist. She currently works as a civic and ethical education instructor at the International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia and is a campaign organizer for the Yellow Movement - Addis Ababa University. As a civics teacher, she has encouraged a Socrates-style of teaching by pushing her students to question their customs. As a campaign organizer, she is responsible for organizing weekly forums for discussing gender roles. She also helps with fundraising to support girls in need of sanitation and stationary material at the Addis Ababa University. Mehret was chosen to take part in the YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa program in 2015. She has pursued her career in the educational sector because she wants to support young people and create forums for healthy discourse around issues that matter the most to their future, including gender, climate change and politics.

Narcisse Pika Kiouari Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo Narcisse has 11 years of experience in the financial services field, focusing on money transfer and mobile money markets. Currently, Narcisse is a Revenue Assurance Analyst at Bharti Airtel Congo, where his main responsibility is to mitigate risks of revenue loss in the airtel money product market. In addition to a graduate degree in banking and finance from the Cambridge International College of Douala (Cameroon), Narcisse also holds a certificate in project management from the Project Management Institute, in the U.S. Narcisse is a board member of JCertif International, a nonprofit which promotes information communications technology and cutting edge technology to boost the economy in Africa. He is also a blogger who impacts his readers with inspiring posts on topics related to leadership and civic engagement. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Narcisse plans to continue his advisory role in the nonprofit field with the hope of positively impacting his community, country and Africa as a whole.

Onyedika Ekwerike Lagos, Nigeria Onyedika Ekwerike has over three years experience in designing, planning and executing intervention programs. He is the founder and executive director of Postpartum Support Network Africa (PSN Africa), an organization set up in 2015 to raise awareness about postpartum depression and provide support to mothers suffering perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Onyedika is a clinical psychologist, he is a first-class graduate of psychology from Lagos State University and holds an master’s in clinical psychology from the University of Lagos. He is passionate about maternal mental health, and is keen on improving access to mental health care for mothers in Africa while he also aims to stamp out the stigma and dispel the myths associated with mental illnesses in Africa. His organization, PSN Africa, has educated and screened over 1,000 mothers and presently provides support for mothers in four African countries. He looks forward to learning a lot during the fellowship, and to use the acquired knowledge to build his organization in order to help mothers across Africa.

Raisibe Mahapa Limpopo, South Africa Raisibe is a social scientist with four years experience in research, education, public health and monitoring and evaluation. She aims to become a social entrepreneur who conceptualizes and implements programs that effectively contribute to the enrichment of youth across Africa and beyond. She is currently conducting her Ph.D. studies in sociology at Wits University. She serves as the director of WiseUp Foundation and is the head of Monitoring and Evaluation at Wisecomms. Upon completion of the Washington Mandela fellowship, Raisibe aims to continue her work in youth empowerment with a focus on education and community development.

Ruby Goka Accra, Ghana Ruby has worked as a dental surgeon for over eight years. She is a specialist in Restorative Dentistry at the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho where, with the help of the nonprofit Oral Health Express, she is leading the drive to promote oral health awareness in the region. Ruby is also a six-time Burt Award for African Literature winner in Ghana and is currently running a campaign to stock the regional library with books and to institute a mobile library among government schools in the region. Ruby is committed to helping African children learn to develop the habit of reading for pleasure and to ensure that the books read reflect their experiences and environment featuring characters who are “just like them.� For Ruby, African representation in literature for children and young adults matters because if African children see themselves in the books they read, they will be inspired to reach higher. Upon completion of the MWF, Ruby plans to expand the mobile library project to other regions of Ghana and to continue to spread awareness of oral health issues through outreaches and screening exercises.

Sharifu Kiragga

Tusuubira

Nabweru, Uganda Tusuubira is the executive director of the Uganda Sickle Cell Rescue Foundation, a non-governmental/nonprofit organization that was formed with the aim of promoting awareness and sensitization to fight sickle cell disease in Uganda. Sharifu has over four years experience advocating for people living with sickle cell disease as well as trying to address the associated social stigma around the disease. Sharifu lives with sickle cell and provides a firsthand narrative that addresses issues of care, behavior, stigma and discrimination. He intends to champion case study research showing the gendered dynamics and interplay of how the disease affects men and women differently in both rural and urban settings. Sharifu plans to continue advocacy while engaging and inspiring communities to join in the fight against sickle cell disease and its associated stigma within their localities.

Ibrahim Hassan Jijiga, Ethiopia Ibrahim have been working with the United Nations World Food program in Ethiopia to help rebuild lives and protect livelihoods in drought and conflict-affected coomunities in Eastern Ethiopia. He is currently the director of KALI Ethipian Rural Libraries Initiative that aim to increase access to educational materials and facilioties for rural socities and especially for women and girls who have been left behind by the push to eradicate illiteracy. In his flagship, Ibrahim has established three rural libraries in South Eastern Ethiopia that are run by women and serve a community of about 3900 people. He hope to increase the number of rural libraries to 20 by 2017 with the help of international donors who have expressed wish their support. He believes education is key for change. Ibrahim look forward to network and to acquire knowledge at the MWF that will enable him to solve problems in his community and achieve improvement in youth, girls and women’s lives especially.