JC:HEM Student Comes to America to Begin Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders

Greetings from the University of Illinois. I landed in US a week ago to embark on my Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.  https://yali.state.gov/washington-fellowship/

I am privileged to be one of 1000 fellows selected from a pool of 400,000 of young successful African youth, for their established records of accomplishment in promoting innovation and positive change in their organizations, institutions, communities, and countries.

I am an active citizen and ambassador in my community. I started initiatives on helping and  contributing to the community by organizing community professionals toward voluntarism and citizenship in their community. I opened up free adult classes where people learn literacy and numeracy skills. We engage with young idle people and drug addicts, and we help show them how they can  enroll in technical schools and acquire the skills they need to survive. We help young girls by engaging with their parents to allow their daughters to go to school.

Because of my JCHEM experience and transformation, I am an agent of change in my community, and I have been selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship based on my commitment and leadership. Thus, I owe this to Jesuit Commons Higher Educations at the Margins who enabled me to be here. Without them, all of this would have not been possible. The JCHEM Initiative is productive and generates dedicated young leaders for the community. I thank you so much for investing in and transforming our lives.

Ubuntu Ahmed