We see You!

In August South Africa celebrated Women’s Month. Memoirs of 1956 were recaptured all around us and not to keep you in the history web, I'll fast foward to 2012...

If you don’t know Ory Okolloh, I’ve got one word for you – Google!

Ory Okolloh

I attended a conference where one of the main speakers was Victor Dlamini (a thought leader of our times); he spoke about Africans making a conscious choice of producing home-grown solutions and content. It made me think of how much I struggle with ‘aunthetic’ content when researching African culture as in most instances it's compiled in a third person’s perspective.

I started following Ory on Twitter (@kenyanpundit) last year after I read about Ushahidi.com and Mzalendo.com which she co-founded. This Kenyan born change-maker is Google’s Policy Advisor for Africa who graduated from Harvard Law School. One of her goals is to explore ways to get Africans reading about Africans, and for Africa to reach internet usage levels comparable to that of the Western world. One of her greatest challenges I reckon is lobbying African governments to invest in infrastructure that will ensure accessibility of w.w.w in the continent.

Ory Okolloh

“The internet needs to be treated as an infrastructure. It’s a core, as critical as electricity, water or roads in terms of  a growing economy.” –Ory Okolloh, Forbes Africa magazine (Aug. 2012 Issue)

Think about it...because you have access to the internet, you have access to the world. You can start an online business with minimal capital compared to the conventional ‘brick and mortar’ business. Imagine the possibilities of women in rural villages trading with the rest of the world and Africa having it’s own PayPal.

ORY, WE SEE YOU!

While task teams and commissions of enquiries are being launched by our governments, citizens are developing sustainable solutions and Ola Orekunrin is one of these citizens...

Ola Orekunrin

In 2009 Ola founded Flying Doctors in Nigeria. Born in the UK she graduated in Medicine at the age of 21. Confronted with a tragic encounter of losing her little sister while she was on holiday in Nigeria due to a heart attack that could have been avoided if she had received medical help timeously, she decided to sell her car, her house and her medical training business to raise capital to start Flying Doctors. Ola booked a one-way ticket to Nigeria and today the company has 10 on-call doctors, administrators, a helicopter and jet.

OLA, WE SEE YOU!

My Mariam Makeba  feature for this post - Nomsa Mazwai

A Fulbright scholar (recently completed her Masters in Economics), winner of a South African Music Award and currently in the IPED (International Political Economic & Development) program at Fordam University in New York, she's a catalyst for social change. She continuously expresses her love for her country and how she can’t wait to contribute positively to her native continent.
 

Nomsa Mazwai

I was so proud when I went to Rapsody’s show 2 weeks ago and she did a track which featured Nomsa. With both women being social activists in their own right, I found myself embracing being a black woman who’s crossed the South African citizen border to being an ‘African’ of the world.

 
To all Women in the world – “Let the habit of excellence drive you.”

I dedicate this post to all Africans in diaspora who contribute positively to their native continent and plan to return and assist the with advancement of Africa  …We see You!

RIP – Zenzile Mariam Makeba