Khansa Ahmed is a veterinarian who hails from Sudan and specifically from the Kush Kingdom. She is a current participant of President Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative and is also currently pursuing her Masters at the University Of Nairobi. She refers to herself as Pan African and sister girl I feel you on that.

Khansa also has a sense of humor. When I first struggled to pronounce her name, she looked at me with a straight face and told me to forget the Kenyan way of spelling or pronouncing names and proceeded to teach me. She asked me to write down the letter h ten times and follow it up with “nsa” and then say it loudly. She then smiled and handed me some Sudanese fried raisins.

She is very passionate about women and is constantly looking for ways to help the marginalized communities to raise finance from self-sustaining projects like Fandora, an organization she founded.

Fandora is the first ever recycling project in Sudan. Khansa has led many workshops targeted at women to get new skills which have helped them increase their income.

Khansa’s journey involves traveling to and fro Nairobi and must constantly balance between her studies, Fandora and working as a vet. Being a vet has allowed her access to many rural areas in Sudan where she helps in protecting livestock from diseases and also helps the pastoral communities understand and practice environmental protection.

When this young African leader thinks of her continent, she sees nature, opportunity and hope. Khansa urges young Africans to work hard in the richest continent in the world. To put an end to funding from other countries and concentrate on the versatility of great and rich land, favorable weather and fresh water that enables us to feed the rest of the world.

In the next few years, this young woman intends to pursue a PhD after completion of her Masters degree. She is working on her organizations both as a vet and in recycling to empower thousands if not millions of African women.

Khansa is also a vegetarian and loves traveling. She has traveled to 24 countries and is currently looking and hoping that destiny will work its way and open a door to South America.

The post Being An Animal Whisperer Does Not Stop Me From Leading From The Front. Khansa Ahmed. appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

He is in his last year of studying Electrical engineering at the University of Khartoum in Sudan, which was as a result of being the top student countrywide in his final year of high school and scooping a university scholarship.

Mohammed is a volunteer at the AL-Mustakbal, an organization whose objective is youth development. He is involved in placing Sudanese youth in internships in Companies and in helping run a graduate education program that links graduates with mentors from all over the world with the main focus being the US and the UK.

Mohammed confessed his appreciation for having made it to the competitive YALI program. He loves the learning experience and the extensive networking opportunities available.

Fear deters many, we are all fearful at some point but this should never stop us from pursuing our goals. I am never afraid to aim for the stars. If I am not part of changing my community, who will be? Mohammed said.

His goal is to complete his Masters in Business administration within the next three years and help tap unexploited talent and resources in Sudan and Africa which will enable him to start building his legacy of societal impact.

I was born in Africa for a purpose, this purpose must be pursued. Elnoor.

Wadalnoor calls himself a chickenholic for his love of chicken and insists his community is known for making the best chicken in the world. He also says his prayer is to have a small beautiful family in the next ten years.

The post I Must Dream Big| Young leader Mohamed Ahmed Elnour appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.

It is the third largest country in Africa (after Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and also the third largest country in the Arab world (after Algeria and Saudi Arabia). The River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves.

Fatima Sallih was born to a father who is a strong activist and a loving mother who has been a strict authority figure in her life. She acknowledges her success in community based initiatives to them.

When I met the soft spoken lady, I was quite surprised by her subtle way of passing strong political and civil views.

I loved her strong yet subtle poise. I admire women who do not have to be in conversations like what garlic is to vampires-the kiss of death. (I don’t really believe in vampires but flow with me here and blame it on the movies I watch-used to watch) It’s possible to be feminine-as God intended us women to be, and still pass and get our views respected.

Fatima admits that while growing up, she witnessed the deteriorated state her relatives from Eritrea suffered in Sudan as refugees. She therefore decided that she had two options, to melt emotionally like wax subjected to intense heat or become like clay under the same heat. She chose the former- to work, live and be a part of transformation for a better country.

Things were not easy during her teenage years because she witnessed change in Sudan from an open developing country to a closed dictatorship where only one opinion was prevalent. Her values in equality which her parents and schools had instilled in her seemed to be the opposite of what prevailed in her country- lack of freedom and equality for the people.

After university, Fatima pursued a profession as an independent capacity builder and as a volunteer in civil society where she became part of community and youth based initiatives. She is also part of a group of active youth and activists who respond to disaster situations through volunteering their professional and personal skills.

Through her engagement with civil society she was able to identify along with a group of activists the need to raise the capacity of individuals with interest in volunteering in civil society and to introduce them to new methods and tools and thus contributing to the growth, sustainability and development of the civil society.

Fatima has grown immensely by being surrounded by different factions of society and has become even more sensitive to her environment. Her belief in change being possible is becoming a reality.

She now represents the minority and oppressed groups by securing and advocating for their rights. I tell you this power girl is the kind who will march in the streets, alone if need be to fight for her people. I am impressed.

The post I am a Successful, Subtle and Fearless Leader, Fatima Abdel Rahman(Sallih). appeared first on Afrikan Excellence.