I was eight years old when I lost my sight. It was heartbreaking and frustrating for me but mostly for my family and neighbors. I was the first one in the community to become blind.

One of my relatives recommended Shashemena, a school for the blind which I joined till grade six. Prior to that, I had to join a local school to continue with grade seven and eight which was extremely depressing and a disaster. 

No one knew how to handle me as the school and teachers were not well equipped to handle my case. Nevertheless, I was always the top student and the teachers were constantly on the look out for other schools or opportunities that could help me become better.

I joined Yekatit 12 School for the blind in Addis Ababa to continue with my grade nine studies through the help of family and a few friends. 

I later joined Addis Ababa university to study law but unfortunately had to drop out one year to graduation. This was because my grades were very low because of accessibility challenges the school.

My overly excited community back at home did not help either. They expected me to graduate with honors and constantly put me at a pedestal telling me to make them proud. Of course I became a nerve wreck! (laughs).

I joined Kotebe Teachers College with the support of a few friends to pursue a diploma in English and a computer training program by a local NGO. I did very well that the NGO employed me to train the visually impaired while I continued studying the diploma on part time.

I passed my diploma with a distinction. However, I was still haunted by dropping out of university earlier on. I joined the University of Addis Ababa again to study a BA in Sociology. I graduated in 2015.

By the way, while still in campus, I got an opportunity to take the position of General Manager of an NGO, The Ethiopian National Disability Action Network. I worked to create a united voice in disability while still pursuing my degree. This was a huge decision to make as I was still studying. I did it and I am still there today.

IN 2015, I was selected in the highly competitive Mandela Washington Fellowship in the Civic leadership track. This changed my life. YALI is one of those prestigious fellowships that disrupt your life. I also got selected for the YALI Regional Center E.A. My life will never be the same again. I can tell you for a fact that I have grown immensely as a leader.

I volunteer with three Women With Disability Associations: The Ethiopian Women with Disabilities National Association as the vice president of the board, Equal Opportunity Association for Women with Disabilities living with HIV as the vice chairperson and FYNOTE Rehab of Women with Disability Association as the chairperson of the general assembly.

My work involves design of projects, planning, overseeing projects and resource mobilization. I am very passionate about women. I know that being a woman can have its own challenges in the work place, now add a woman living with disability, it can be crazy. That is why I must empower them. We have reached over 5,000 people through our initiatives.

I am currently pursuing my Masters in Social work at Addis Ababa University which I do on part time basis. I am committed to serve my community. This also involves improving my skills and great time management. I always encourage the youth to seize opportunities. What is your potential? How can you improve yourself?

Can you commit to involve other people and execute on viable solutions for problems in your community that can help others? Then stop dreaming, talking and just do it!

It is important to appreciate diversities, from gender, disability, culture, etc., and to use them in our solutions and resources. Africa has great resources.

My vision in the next 10 years is to see Persons With Disabilities in Africa have equal opportunities and engagements. I intend to establish my own organization that focuses on thousands of women with disabilities.

Fun? Well, I love spending time with loved ones, movies, the theater. Though my time is tight, family and friends come first. Other than that, I love eating our Ethiopian super food, Injera and dorowat.

We wish you the very best Hana Bekele. Keep up with the social impact and personal development. Soar like the eagle you are.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Helen Keller.

The post Being Blind Opened My Eyes To My Love For Positive Social Impact- My Sweet Spot. Hana Bekele appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

Birhanu confesses he experienced a poor foundation in his lower education. His former primary school had insurmountable challenges such as over population leading to at least 60 children being assigned to one teacher who in turn had to grapple over five subjects never mind they had inadequate knowledge.

At 15 years, Birhanu moved up to grade nine and began to take his studies seriously. He had no other option because the school structure was designed in a way that did not allow for anyone to repeat classes upon poor performance. His mother also passed away when he was sixteen.

He got admitted to Adama University and pursued a degree in education- business management. Upon graduation, he got jobs as a lecturer at both Adama University and Infornet college in Addis Ababa. He taught management and marketing courses for five years. He also lectured on part time basis at Unity University for two years.

Birhanu later joined the NGO world through Compassion International to pursue his passion of working with children under the Child Development Sponsorship Program as a social worker. He was assigned to East Gossam, his home town and later moved to Addis Ababa. The program reached 2,000 parents, 500 social workers and 1,000 children.

In 2016, he joined the Holistic Child Development program at Evangelical Theological College in Addis Ababa whose main three pillars are offering child development projects, nurturing of talents and gifts, and offering education.

After completing his Masters Degree, Birhanu joined the 50 courses for children and is currently involved in culture and child development for parents and guardians. This translates to child friendly teaching methodologies directed at trainers and the concept of holistic child development directly applied in teaching social workers.

I am greatly satisfied and fulfilled in having impacted hundreds of children. I love it when we offer social, emotional and life skills to these emerging crops of leaders.

This young leader was recently selected as a participant in the YALI Regional Center where we met. He admits that the young African leaders he met exceeded his expectations and he cannot imagine how Africa will pan out in the next 10-20 twenty years.

I have developed a program for children using the 7 habits of effective people, a course taught at YALI. We tested it immediately I got home after the program. It was a success with 90 children aged between 11-14 years being impacted through the program in three phases and in under three weeks.

The children responded very well. Most of them discovered their leadership skills. I am currently working on a consistent monthly program for these African children.

Birhanu encourages young African leaders not to forget children when they are pursuing their passions and transforming their communities.

If you know your vision, interests and gifts then you are already successful.

In the next 10 years, this fearless young African leader is looking to complete a work in progress, starting up an East African child development seminary. The program will include research and culture, life skills training programs, and child development courses aimed at thousands of African children.

Culture is the second creator of humanity. We must equip our children because think about it, these are our leaders in the next 10-30 years.

The post Called To Serve The African Child. Habteselassie Birhanu Tilahun appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

We cannot leave Ethiopia just yet before engaging with a young lady and champion of women’s empowerment, Roman Girma Teshome.

I was born in Ethiopia as the second child of three siblings. My childhood was spent focused on school and the curriculum because my family highly valued education.

Last year in July, I graduated from Addis Ababa University Law School with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree scoring one of the highest GPAs from my batch. I am currently working as an assistant lecturer of law in Dire Dawa University in Ethiopia.

If there is anything I love, it is advocating for women, they hold a special place in my heart. I volunteer with UN women. I was recently chosen as one of the Global Champions for Women’s Economic Empowerment from around the world.

This beautiful yet fulfilling task allows me to engage in different online and offline advocacy activities to empower women. This calling has opened huge opportunities for me in interacting and networking with other champions passionate in women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. 

When I am not speaking, singing or drumming Women’s rights, you will find me researching and writing scholarly articles on contemporary legal issues. I have published some in international law journals.

My gut has human rights protection, gender equality and social justice written all over it. This will see me head to Budapest, Hungary in a few months to pursue more knowledge on these issues. 

I like the look of things currently in Africa. By teenage hood, more African children are having an urge to change and shape this continent. There is a love for mama Africa like never before- a great awareness or maybe reawakening!

This is why I believe that leadership is having a positive influence on others. Being a role model and helping others climb up the ladder. I know young people from my community look up to me and I therefore always strive to help them discover and use their potential. Success for me is endless. We must all be deliberate in pursuing that journey. 

I am continually working on building my leadership skills. I apply for leadership opportunities every time I see a chance. This is actually how I got to YALI, through networking with my friends, I found out that some were alumni and I hit the next application button.

Being here has helped me widen my perspectives and completely shifted my paradigms. Don’t you just love meeting like-minded folk and especially from different countries? 

My advice for young African leaders is for them to know that life is full of opportunities, grab them! Pocket them! For crying out loud, run with them! Make yourself a better person because success is determined by how we use opportunities at our disposal.

I can’t forget to mention that we should never underestimate others. We should treat others with respect because you never know who you are engaging with and besides, everyone you meet adds a lesson to your life, good or bad.

The next 10 years? At the moment, I am working on pursuing my Masters in Human rights and humanitarian law which should begin in a few months in Hungary. I intend to engage in the same field after and hopefully get my PHD before I turn 30. That means I have six years left to work at it. I plan to work in the UN system as an expert and researcher in human rights.

Well done Roman! I can attest to your hard work and kindness. You are a true leader. I hope to meet you again soon in Ethiopia over your favorite meal Tibis, shiro with injera and engage on your progress.

The post I Might Be Small But Mighty Defines My Dedication To Mama Africa. Roman Girma Teshome appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

Today we travel back to Addis Ababa to engage with a great young leader, Henok Wendirad. Henok is one of those smart, funny, random and crazy people.

I shared a class with him recently and I got the privilege of being in the same small group with him, and please pardon me as I refuse to engage you in his wild, crazy, random and out of the box ideas in this blog.

Henok graduated from Addis Ababa University, faculty of Veterinary Medicine with a CGPA of 3.24/4. He is the current overall winner of 2016 Startupper Total accelerator program in Ethiopia. He is waiting for the Pan-African level competition among first place winners from 34 African countries. He is also a current participant of President Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative.

When I was at the university, I was very interested in finding new ways to treat sick animals. For the first time in the history of the Uni, I introduced the concept of alternative therapies for animals via acupuncture, massage, hydrotherapy and homeopathy.

I was a star in promoting positive thinking among clinicians. I remember I even went ahead and proposed that the University pursues this path of conventional medicine in order to minimize the risk of drug resistant diseases but they declined. He laughs.

Henok’s youth has not been buttered cheese bread all through. He has had to overcome many challenges while enjoying his triumphs. When he was a fourth year student, his life took a turn one day when his best friend accompanied him to a nearby lake to swim. They were both horrible at swimming. His best friend drowned as Henok watched helplessly. This event changed his mindset and life forever.

Death was alien in my mind before that accident. I now live every day to the fullest because death can decide to sting you any minute.

Henok is the Co- founder and managing director of Mak-Addis Tutors. Before he founded it, he confesses to being a jack of all trades at some point in life. He has done it all, from selling potato crisps to hawking clothes

He confesses that finding his purpose through Mak-Addis is the most fulfilling work he has ever done. He gets to have direct impact to thousands of people through tutoring and to offer employment to others.

The young African leader won the 2015 accelerator program, Reach for Change competition for social entrepreneurs and bagged USD 2,000. He was placed to compete for the final competition that would have seen him bag 20,000 usd but he had to make a choice between YALI and the competition in February this year.

He chose YALI and says it was the best decision he ever made. I mean who says no when President Obama selects you for his program amid fierce competition? He urges young Africans to become go getters, to work and strategise like there is no tomorrow.

Learn to acknowledge that fear is a response to a stimuli that needs your action, not traction. Don’t fall for fear. Learn to use your fear as a lever to push you upward and onward. Be willing to fail as quickly as you can and get the lesson fast. Don’t repeat the same mistake twice- you only live once and hence can’t afford it.

Wendirad thinks of billions of seeds waiting to bear fruits when he thinks of Africa. He has not yet planned where he will be in the next 10 years because he is as spontaneous as they come. He loves to help people he meets along the way and just wants to keep it simple, fun and smooth.

I am an easy person. I love our Ethiopian dish, Shiro. And I look forward to continue teaching my kids our Ethiopian culture so that they will not forget their heritage.

Keep up the great work Henok Wendirad, you are a true representation of a young African Leader.

The post Don’t Let My Crazy Fool You, African Leadership Is My Number One. Henok Wendirad appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

If you have visited Ethiopia, you will agree with me that it is truly a land of brilliant and beautiful people and cultures. This week we interact with an Ethiopian beauty Misrak Tekle, who is fearlessly influencing her community.

When Misrak is not busy engaging her community, she loves making a traditional food called Kitfo which consists of minced raw beef, is marinated in mitmita (a chilli powder-based spice blend) and niter Kibbeh (a clarified butter infused with herbs and spices). The word comes from the Ethio Semitic root k-t-f, meaning to chop finely or mince.

I ate it when I last visited Ethiopia and I must say she just made me crave for it. We celebrate you Misrak, you are a true young African leader.

The post My Tough Childhood Cemented My Leadership Journey. Misrak Tekle appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

My name is Yillikal Hassabbie, currently participating in president Obama’s YALI program. I was born in a rural area of Ethiopia to farmers. When I was five years old, I lost my sight due to measles. We were very poor and had no money to visit hospitals that were located far away. After this unfortunate ordeal, the best decision was to enroll me to a boarding school for the blind which was a bit far from home and all my aspirations seemed to have died that instant. I had no dream as a child, all I could think of was how my family was surviving due to lack of money and extreme poverty.

When I later joined secondary school, I began to dream and to spot and seize opportunities. After school, I joined a teachers training college, got my diploma and began teaching history in high school. This was hard especially with a salary that was not sustainable but I still managed to join university on the side to pursue my dream of becoming a lawyer.

I graduated and became a zonal public prosecutor for three years and mark you I was also doing my Masters in International law at the same time. I later became one of the top regional prosecutors in Ethiopia.

Here I am, one of the most highly paid prosecutors but I was feeling empty, a void I cannot explain. I decided to follow my dream and passion of helping others. I joined different universities as a lecturer of law which I really love by the way and as we speak, I am also the vice chairperson of an Ethiopian Association that works with the blind. My work involves teaching and learning, community servicing which involves training and advocacy and research on main mandates.

I heard about the YALI program from a friend who attended the Mandela Washington Fellowship last year and I decided to apply, my first application was unsuccessful but the second one got me here. The experience has gone beyond my expectations. My vision has changed, my leadership skills will definitely change. There will never be comfort zone again in my life.

My plans in the near future is to move my association to accommodate all blind people in Africa. I want blind kids to dream and know they are worth it. Every African dream must be fulfilled. I encourage all young Africans to be passionate, confident and purposeful.

Everyone was created for a purpose and we must search and accomplish it. When I think Africa, I think of growth, optimism and bright futures.

The post Blindness Will Never Stop Me, Yillikal Hassabbie appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.