Stories about West Africa, by Africans, dominated News Decoder’s latest Storytelling Contest, which showcases original work by young authors. Winning stories looked at West Africa and freedom of speech in the United States. Three students from the African...
I joined protests against police brutality in my home country of Nigeria and saw them almost become a war, then a rude awakening for youth. Protesters in Umuahia, Nigeria, October 2020 (All photos courtesy of Eje Studios) This story was a runner-up in News...
Joy Chinaza takes us into the streets of Nigeria to join young people protesting against police brutality. Like youth elsewhere this year, she is driven by anger over rights abuses perpetrated by police charged with protecting civilians but who instead turn weapons against minorities. A shared sense of injustice motivates Chinaza and millions of others around the globe, making her story a metaphor for youthful outrage. But the personal details in the tale by the African Leadership Academy student, including the beating her own brother suffers, add poignancy that sets her account apart. Make sure students note how the first-person pronoun draws them into the story. And how her outrage — so common among youth — is tinged with ambiguity at the end.
My family fled civil war in Liberia to a refugee camp in Guinea in West Africa. I learned the power of resilience and the value of diversity. The author, in white next to the woman on the right, at the Kouankan refugee camp in Guinea This story won first prize in News...
News Decoder’s goal is to create a global community, and Varlee Fofana has added his unique voice to the conversation with an essay about growing up in a refugee camp in Guinea. Not many News Decoder students have had to flee civil war as Fofana did, yet many play football, as the author did to connect with other refugee children. Gathering wood, plowing farmland or selling kerosene might not be common chores for most News Decoder students, but they, too, face challenges. Ask your class to read Fofana’s story and then, in up to 600 words, describe a personal experience that shaped their life and character. Encourage them to follow Fofana’s example by using simple words and an unassuming tone to draw readers into their world.
For years, Ivory Coast has been split politically and at times torn by outbursts of violence. Youth are working for peace in the West African nation. Voters at a polling station during the first round of Côte d’Ivoire’s presidential election in Abidjan, 31...
Ivory Coast has a complex political story, but Adayé Sosthène Yvan N’guettia keeps it simple in his story about youth working for peace in the West African nation. Many young people are upset over the state of the world that they will inherit, but N’guettia shows initiative by interviewing three activists toiling for change in Côte d’Ivoire. He listens and offers telling quotes, using a deft hand to drive home his message. Growing up is about discovering the world, and some students — N’guettia among them — see the challenge as a learning adventure. Ask your class to read N’guettia’s story, interview three activists and, using the activists’ words, summarize what they’ve learned.
Two savvy Africans urge frustrated youth activists to drive political change by holding officials to their word and harnessing innovative ideas and words. Are you a young person yearning for change and a better world? Do you feel that global leaders are not listening...
Marouane El Bahraoui worked months on an article on Libya. The Moroccan’s efforts won him a chat with the U.S. envoy — and a Decoder award. Marouane El Bahraoui, a Moroccan student at the African Leadership Academy, wins September’s Decoder in the...
Africa is often misrepresented in the media as a poverty-stricken safari-land. Who benefits from such stereotypes? How can we reshape the image? Outsiders and Africans themselves often resort to stereotypes to represent the continent — wild animals, jungles and...
Once ruled with an iron fist by a dictator, oil-rich Libya is now ravaged by war. With foreign powers meddling, a political solution is badly needed. A sniper fires towards Islamic State militant positions in Sirte, Libya, 21 September 2016. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)...
The author, Marouane El Bahraoui, is a Student Ambassador at the African Leadership Academy, a News Decoder partner school. He spent seven months researching Libya, working closely with News Decoder editors to sharpen his focus and add authority to his reporting. What started as an incipient interest in the North African country matured into a nuanced view of a highly complex geopolitical situation. El Bahraoui’s story caught the admiring eye of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, who contacted the young author to chat about Libya and Morocco, El Bahraoui’s home country. “Who thought that a U.S. ambassador would read my article?” El Bahraoui said. This story shows the kind of potent reporting that a determined and curious student in our network can produce for a global audience.
Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. can spur change around the world. Youth can play a key role in the fight for equality, says a young African educator. Young people around the world can learn from the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States to spur...
As protests for racial justice sweep across the U.S., young people are demanding an end to persistent inequities around the world. A Black Lives Matter protest in London, 7 June 2020 (photo by Charlotte Crang) We asked young people in News Decoder’s network to...