He is the founder and director for Conserv, a nature conservation aligned NGO which promotes scientific tourism, fights poaching, encourages participatory conservation and ensures food security through subsistence farming in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He was born and bred in a middle class family until the civil war in Congo devoured all their family wealth and left them in utter poverty. His father had to sell the remaining five cows to send him to South Africa. This was after seeking help from one of his friends who promised to take Adams to school.

He was in shock after arriving in South Africa as a young boy and no one came to pick him up at the airport. His called his father’s friend for over 24 hours in vain.

A security guard felt sorry for me and took me to his place where I slept. After a few days, he took me to Hillbrow- in the most dangerous part of the city at the time. It turned out that my supposed countrymen he took me to were actually Nigerians and not Congolese.

That was how he found his way in to the Nigerian Internet advance fee scams and drug peddling. He worked his way up and made loads of money which he used to help his family back home who were oblivious to what was happening to him. It had to come to an end after the police got involved and rival gangs killed his closest friends.

Being very proactive and after being in hiding for some time, he landed a job with a South African newspaper as a writer tackling community stories.

That was how I kick started a career as a journalist and soon started scooping awards. After a series of short courses in journalism, I joined Rhodes university and pursued a diploma in journalism. I was at the peak of my career with my great investigative journalism.

In 2006, I was shot three times and left for dead when I went to investigate a story of an illicit circumcision school. The story attracted a lot of attention locally and internationally. I scooped a few awards, including the Caxton’s- No guts, no story award for showing courage in the face of danger.

The fearless young leader also studied environmental management and a project management diploma at the National Occupational Institute and at the Damelin College in South Africa respectively.

He worked as a consultant in the mining industry across Africa before dedicating his life to protecting the environment three years ago.

With Conserv Congo, we currently give support to 400 park rangers across the country. We empower with specialized training, logistic support and their general well being. We are fighting erosion in the eastern DRC by planting 30 000 trees on a surface of 50ha. In the process, 100 women are empowered with temporary jobs, we green the village and save the environment.

We are running a community project on the outskirts of Kinshasa where we are farming vegetables on a surface of 35ha. Next year, we intend to add livestock as part of our food security program. We have over 40 youths and women employed on a temporary basis.

Talking to Adams Cassinga has taught me to focus on the now. To never give up and to keep striving for excellence. Well in fearless leader, keep lifting others with your valiant spirit.

Truly, trust Adam Smith when he said, “The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations”.

The post Leadership Comes At A Cost That I’m Willing to pay. Adams Cassinga appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

At eight years, his parents divorced which frustrated him and his dreams. He had no option but to get accustomed to being raised by his father, step mum and grandmother.

I was a very curious and clever boy. Even though we had financial challenges, I still had a vision, purpose and faith that allowed me to concentrate and put in extra work in my studies.

He joined high school only to drop out immediately after war broke out. Staying at home for one year was painful. His perseverance paid off four years later upon graduation.

He got a diploma in Literary studies. Papy worked odd jobs at The MONUSCO and The Entebbe Handling Service which aided in paying for his fees at the University of Kinshasa where he studied Political Science.

Graduating was great. I was overly excited and felt like I had arrived. Well, until I put my papers together and went job hunting. It dawned on me that there were thousands of others like me who were knocking on every possible door without success. I met the ugly and shameless devil called unemployment.

One not to let external factors put him down, the young fearless leader partnered with a friend and created a social enterprise, Action solidaire de jeunes entrepreneurs in Maniema (ASOJEN). Their main objective is to bridge the gap between job seekers and job providers, and to offer interpersonal and leadership skills to the youth through various platforms.

The organization has directly impacted 30 young men and women and employed seven people on a full time basis.

With a love for gender equality, Papy is currently running an awareness campaign directed at women. He feels there’s a gap in women leadership and admits to hating Misogyny with a passion.

My advice to the youth is to never stop believing and working on themselves. Learn more, do more, change lives. Stretch yourself because opportunities only come to those who are already waiting at the table with their cutlery ready to dig in.

I always find time to give back. Currently, I am working with the U.S Embassy in Kinshasa under the MOOC (Massive Online Courses) program as a facilitator.

I am also working with the YALI team down here to ensure as many youth as possible apply for the program. That even those that do not make it, at least have an option of joining the open YALI Network.

My experience after getting selected for YALI RLC was life changing. I actually applied to the center over 10 times and got selected at the eleventh trial.

My fellow youth, you need to wake up and realize we have all the resources in Africa. We are growing at an accelerated rate. Are you willing to sit at the table or down at the carpet eating crumbs with the dogs? The choice is yours to make.

Papy’s vision is to reach and impact over 500,000 youth in the next 10 years in DRC. He hopes to be the go to advocate for social interests for his community.

When he is not dipping his hands in the serious stuff, Radjabu loves to dance, sing and socialize over a plate of ugali and sombe (cassava leaves in palm oil). I must engage in this dish for I have heard so much about it.

The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a wholehearted and strenuous effort.-Chanakya.

Keep roaring Papy and taking this continent to the next level.

The post Africa Is Too Blessed To Be Stressed And Too Rich To Be broke. Masudi Radjabu Papys appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

Patrick Lembo, a young African leader who hails from DRC (former Zaire) agrees with us. Born in a rich polygamous family, he was privileged to study in the best international schools in DRC. As a child, he was shielded from the reality of the many challenges his country faced as well as the culture of his people.

During the first war of Congo in 1996, he was forced to the harsh reality of his country by being driven from a rich lifestyle to becoming internally displaced and losing friends and family in his own country. This was an event that forever changed his life and made him long for change and good leadership.

The second Congo war in 1998 which went on to see an open rebellion till 2003 made him bitter and he decided enough was enough. This would see him embark in pursuit of leadership for his beloved country.

Patrick confessed that after he went to the University of Lincoln in England to study for his degree in Sport Development and Coaching, he was completely cut off from his country of birth and somehow lost his zeal towards making things better for his people.

It wasn’t until coming back upon finishing his studies and working on a cholera team in the most remote areas of DRC that he got to realize how rotten the systems were. That education was not easily accessible for some. This experience got him back to his long forgotten purpose and the leadership task at hand.

For the last six years, he has been down a path of training others including wide variety of groups in DRC, schools (some of which he owns), community based organizations, army personnel, NGOs (Oxfam GB, OXFAM, NDI) and even political parties with which he is currently working on a democracy strengthening program.

I am particularly respected within the political sector. Both the youth and women from the ruling majority and the opposition, in some of the highest positions in the land-who are often at loggerheads, listen when I give them advice. It sometimes scares me. Patrick.

Patrick also holds another degree in Community Development from Kenya Institute of Development Studies. He confesses his love for Kenya as this is where he found out about the YALI program directly from his mother who at the time worked for a USAID funded program. He is ecstatic to be a Mandela Washington Fellowship semi-finalist after having applied twice.

The young leader sees Africa as home, a beautiful place and where there is hope. He also believes like most people that politics and prison always seem to go hand in hand. He is not cowed by this and has accepted that getting into politics and transforming the system from the inside will allow him to have a greater impact on the lives of people. He is set on running at the next local elections and is anxiously waiting for the electoral commission to announce the dates.

I do not regret anything, since helping others is my passion. I believe in my purpose in life. Never give up young Africans. If life bites you, swallow it whole. If life stings you with a needle, go find yourself a sword and stab it. Most importantly, be yourself. If you’re crazy like me, don’t be afraid to show who you are or to become someone you are not. You’ll enjoy what you do better that way”. Patrick.

I pressed Patrick to tell us of any crazy thing he has ever done. Well, he shared of a scenario where he forcefully tried handing out his CV to the President of DRC. What happened to him immediately after this life threatening incident was a story he insists was going to take up another interview and pages upon pages of humor and drama.

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