Warm Greetings from Chicago!!!

In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the difficulty and volatility in the world around us with a large measure of hopefulness- it is this large measure of hopefulness that reaffirms the potential for change in the world we live in.

As we enter this second year in existence as a foundation in the US, I often sit and ponder on this very aspect of hopefulness and the potential for change. Hope and change are two integral parts of human nature that drives us to make our world a better place.

Young Africa-USA started this year on a new note to attract donors and connect with large foundations and organizations to create awareness and get the support we need to achieve our goals in Africa. We continue to stay engaged with Computer Sciences Corporation in Falls Church, Virginia and have made a connection with International Fund for Agriculture Development in Washington DC. With both these organizations our presentations have been very focused on development projects with the emphasis on sustainable  independence and self reliance in the communities we serve in Africa. We continue to appeal to individual donors thus building our network in Chicago.

It was a pleasant surprise when I received an e mail last month from four girls from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois . The girls stated that as part of their World History project they had picked Young Africa to show case the power of development and progress when youth have been given the right opportunities. They put together a powerful Power Point presentation on Young Africa  and have been interested in staying connected and involved with our work.

This month I travel to New York city to meet with Christian Karega the founder of Zimbabwe Education Fund (ZEF) and her business partner Tanesha. Both Christian and Tanesha will be going to Zimbabwe in July and plan on visiting our campus in Chitungwiza and Epworth.

We continue to build relationships with large foundations that work in Africa and along the way we hope to be able to make the positive long term difference in the lives and future of the youth of Africa.

So in the spirit of this season of spring, here's to hope and change.

Please continue to check us out on the Young Africa fan page on FaceBook for recent news and updates from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Bernadette

Young Africa-USA