by Elizabeth Tina Fornah | 8 Dec 2021 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Contest winners, Educators' Catalog, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
My father was the light in my life — until he left. A setback, for sure, but my mother and I persevered. Now I know courage bows to no obstacle. (Shutterstock/Anna Ismagilova) This story was co-winner of the first prize in News Decoder’s 10th Storytelling...
Elizabeth Tina Fornah of the African Leadership Academy relates the pain that so many young people experience when separated from a parent, but her story rises above self-pity as the narrator discovers courage in her refusal to bow to inevitable obstacles. “This is a painful, yet relatable reflection on the challenges of pursuing survival and the determination to succeed,” News Decoder Trustee Faith Abiodun said. “This writer has such a way with words that a difficult topic becomes almost enjoyable. Brilliant and gripping at the same time.” Throughout the highly personal account, Tina Fornah leverages the image of light to lend continuity as the narrator grows in strength and understanding.
Exercise: Ask students to describe their relationship with their parents and whether the expression “there is light at the end of the tunnel” captures their feelings as they contemplate eventually leaving home.
by Jeremy Solomons | 18 Nov 2021 | Africa, Economy, Technology
Shunning the traditional tool of aid, investors are focusing on innovative technology and entrepreneurship to ensure healthier development in Africa. (Photo courtesy of Business for Health Solutions) As Africa slowly emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, public and...
by Jean Bosco Sibomana | 5 Nov 2021 | Africa, Culture, Kepler, Personal Reflections
“Working hard should matter. Do not be afraid of hardships.” A Rwandan reflects on being challenged and on change. (Photo by: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via AP Images) Below is a poem by Jean Bosco Sibomana, who works at News Decoder partner Kepler in Rwanda....
by Ange Theonastine Ashimwe | 3 Nov 2021 | Africa, Culture, Educators' Catalog, Kepler, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
We are made of molecules, stardust and comets — small matter. I am 21, and I just want to love and be loved — because love is all there is. (Photo collage courtesy of Ange Theonastine Ashimwe) 1. I guess, now, I am twenty-one, and I still wonder what it means to be...
In many parts of the world, turning 21 years old is a milestone that signals a transition into adulthood. For Ange Theonastine Ashimwe, a student at Kepler in Rwanda, 21 is a “green-light number.” In her prose poem, she uses memory and metaphor to reflect on her lived experiences, contemplate our smallness in the universe and consider how much more there still is to learn.
Exercise: Ask students to reflect on a birthday that felt significant. What was happening in their lives? Why did it feel like a milestone? Then make a creative piece that explores those feelings.
by Kamuskay Kamara | 2 Nov 2021 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Contest winners, Health and Wellness, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Kamuskay Kamara grew up in the streets of Sierra Leone’s capital. He saw young people in the clutches of drugs and now is saving their lives. “I want to actually change the lives of young people.” Kamuskay Kamara has created an NGO to combat drug...
by Jeremy Solomons | 29 Oct 2021 | Africa, Environment
Africa has contributed very little to global warming. But the continent is the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change — and already suffering. Children in Madagascar. The United Nations estimates that at least half a million children under the age of...
by Jean Pierre Hakiza | 26 Oct 2021 | Africa, Kepler, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
My landlord — “Mum” — treated me like her own son. But I procrastinated — and now regret I never showed her the gratitude she deserved. Beatrice in 2008. (Photo courtesy of Jean Pierre Hakiza). At school, I learned that procrastination is our first enemy...
by Barry Moody | 28 Sep 2021 | Africa, Human Rights, Politics
A civil war in Ethiopia and mounting criticism of Rwanda’s leader are increasingly imperiling U.S. strategy in volatile eastern Africa. Rwandan President Paul Kagame (C-R), Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel (C) and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed...
by Stella Mapenzauswa | 22 Sep 2021 | Africa, Educators' Catalog, Health and Wellness, Women
In Africa as elsewhere, many schools have shut classes due to COVID-19. With more girls at home, teenage pregnancies have spiked in some nations. A new-born baby in Chiradzulu, southern Malawi, 26 May 2021 (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi) In much of the world, COVID-19 has...
COVID-19 has dominated headlines for the last year and a half. But the public health impact stretches beyond the virus. School closures did not just interrupt learning; they removed an essential form of protection for vulnerable youth. News Decoder correspondent Stella Mapenzauswa reports on the alarming rise in teenage pregnancies across the African continent since March 2020.
Exercise: Ask your students to enumerate some of the unanticipated consequences of the pandemic in their community. How are schools or governments addressing those challenges now?
by Jessica Moody | 6 Sep 2021 | Africa, Educators' Catalog, Politics, Religion
Islamist extremists are threatening fragile nations in West Africa. Will Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban yield lessons for France in the Sahel? A soldier guards a Western military base in Gao, Mali on 6 June 2021, days after France announced the end of its...
When it comes to world politics, major news outlets often focus on one place at a time, obscuring important events unfolding elsewhere that can cause geopolitical ripples. In this article, News Decoder’s Jessica Moody shines a light on extremist violence plaguing West African nations in the Sahel, the semi-arid region below the Sahara. She draws parallels between French military involvement in the region and the United States’ recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, highlighting the global challenge of preventing extremist groups from proliferating in fragile states.
Exercise: Ask students to search news sites or newspapers for a global story that is not on the front page, then have them share their findings and explain why we should pay attention.
