Africa Community Engagement(ACE)

Nelson Kwaje , a South Sudanese technologist and activist has for the last 3 years focussed on enhancing trust between communities. 211 check f act checks COVID-19 misinformation, creating awareness of this in communities and enabling calming down if required.   DEFYHATENOW has trained 500 journalists, youths, activists in hate speech mitigation techniques in South Sudan, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Sudan. (There is a live demonstration of both technologies on the chat). Aware that not everyone is on-line, initiated 'Voice Post' which uses (blue) bicycles to raise awareness of COVID-19, cycling 15-20km per day through villages using a megaphone. He is happy that digital media has become the most widely medium to convey information now. He recommends the facebook COVID-19 information centre. Alfred Sigo leads Pwani Youth Network , a grassroots based CBO in 3 coastal counties of Kenya. Involved in mask distribution with the Dept. of Health, demonstrating proper use and disposal of m...

Briefly introduce Yourself I am Abraham Manguwo the Founder and Executive Director of Foundation for Rural Development (FORUD) an NGO based in Malawi. I have worked directly with donors, communities and key stakeholders and understand the importance of building trusting relationship between people and our organization. Why did I choose to become a community activist? To promote participation in development activities, facilitate development agenda and problem solving, raise awareness on issues that negatively impact lives at the grassroots level. What kind of Community work are you involved in? I am involved in implementing education activities on Sexual Reproductive Health, Climate Change, Human Rights, Youth Economic Empowerment, Women and Girls empowerment, social support to the elderly, disabled, children and other vulnerable groups, hygiene, food security and nutrition. What Inspires your work? The coordination between Community stakeholders and proj...

Briefly introduce yourself  My name is Kisubi Denis I live in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. I am the Founder and current Team Leader of a grassroots youth led and youth serving CBO called Give Hope Uganda. It seeks to advance and promote quality and improved health and well-being for adolescents and young people with specific emphasis on promotion of sexual reproductive health and rights, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, entrepreneurship and skills development. Why did you choose to become a community activist? I said 'enough is enough' in 2016 and with health campaign talks and environmental conservation activities I managed to unite my community and bring the spirit of togetherness. What kind of community work are you involved in? I do health advocacy, Campaign Advocacy, Culture and Sports Advocacy through Sensitizing, Mobilizing, Dialoguing, Lobbying and Informing my community the challenges affecting them. What inspires your work? Young people, listening to th...

I've had a few updates from my friends around Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa in particular where many people live on less than 1$ a day and 80% are self-employed, when Government's close everything that generates their income it has an immediate impact on their survival. Just 2 days of isolation will impact the whole family. Many live a hand to mouth existence, surviving by working and buying food for that da y. When the curfew is implemented in the Kenyan slums for instance it is not possible to support the family, but people are being beaten or even shot trying to do that. Maybe this is the reason some African Governments have not taken early action to prevent the spread of Covid19, but we know from other parts of the World delay is deadly - Italy and the USA are two terrible examples. Dr Habsita is working 1,000 miles away from her family in the public health sector in Chad. She is worried, lonely, and mentally and physically exhausted. One day this week she performed three c...

Briefly introduce yourself My name is Robson Chalwa a community activist from Zambia. I am a co- founder of Eagles of Change community based NGO. I hold a degree in Political Science with Public Administration from the University of Zambia. Why did you choose to become a community activist? I desire to see a better society. I saw many problems in my community and felt responsibility to address some of them. I realised that change starts with me, if there was someone to solve some of the problems in the community that person should be me, and this is what inspired me and my colleagues to form Eagles of Change. What kind of community work are you involved in? Through Eagles of Change I help the fight against drug and substance abuse, HIV/AIDs and Child marriage using sport as a tool for social change. We target children and youths. Currently, we have 70 boys in football and 20 girls taking part in netball which is integrated with educational activities. Beside sport, we manage anti- drug...