ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the News category.

Call for Application: Young African Leaders Initiative

A new program by the Obama administration seeks to discover new young leaders across the continent of Africa, and train them to become more empowered to deliver a new leadership experience.

The program will bring 500 young leaders from Africa (50 from Nigeria) to the United States next June for six weeks of executive training in one of three areas—civil society development, public administration/management, or entrepreneurship.  The training will be followed by a summit meeting with President Obama and then internships in the United States and Africa for YALI fellows, which would last six to eight weeks.

The application process, from December 5, 2013-January 27, 2014, is self-nominating: throughout Africa, individuals are able to access a website (accessible through www.youngafricanleaders.state.gov) to fill out an application.

 

Call for Application: Young African Leaders Initiative was published on January 8th, 2014, with the tags , , under the News category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

At Ake Arts and Book Festival

DSC_0034DSC_0063DSC_0046DSC_1178WP_20131122_039WP_20131122_008WP_20131122_015WP_20131122_005WP_20131122_032DSC_0069For the last six days since Tuesday November 19th, writers, artists, book lovers, poets, and a few politicians, have gathered in Abeokuta for the maiden Ake Arts and Book Festival. A brain child of writer and poet Lola Shoneyin, the Festival played host to hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of visitors in the rock-head town, home to Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka – himself a presence at the event which took place at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto.

The Festival featured the launching of Wole Soyinka’s play Alapata Apata as well as the command performance of the (Caine Prize-winning Rotimi Babatunde’s) stage adaptation of Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. There was also a number of “Book Chats” and dialogues with authors, as well as art exhibitions, symposiums, book fairs, one-one-one conversations with Wole Soyinka, poetry reading, among very many others.

Other writers and artists present for the Festival include Chibundu Onuzo (The Spider’s Daughter), Tope Folarin (Winner of the 2012 Caine Prize for African Writing), Peter Akinlabi (notable poet), Teju Cole (Open City), Ikhide Ikheloa (writer and critic), Victor Ehikhamenor (artist, and author of Excuse Me!), Molara Wood (blogger and author of Indigo), Binyavanga Wainaina (One Day I Will Write About This Place), Eghosa Imasuen (Fine Boys), Ayodele Morocco-Clarke, Igoni Barrett, Christie Watson, Remi Raji, Marlon James, Pelu Awofeso, Tolu Ogunlesi, Toni Kan, Ayodele Olofintuade, Chuma Nwokolo, Kunle Ajibade, among very many others. There was also the governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi and the Commisioner of Health in Ogun State, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka.

Pictures courtesy of KT and Tamilore Ogunbanjo

At Ake Arts and Book Festival was published on November 25th, 2013, with the tags , , , , , , , , under the Art, Fun, Literature, News category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Cocktail at Terra Kulture by Nollywood Workshops

WP_20131123_011WP_20131123_012WP_20131123_014WP_20131123_015Saturday night at Terra Kulture, at an event by Nollywood Workshops to introduce GIST – a resource for actors, movie producers, directors, and other movie practitioners. GIST, according to the Nigerian director Bond Emeruwa, is sponsored by a number of collaborators from in and out of Nigeria (and the Gates Foundation) and supporters in Hollywood and Bollywood who have deep and abiding interests in telling stories that carry factual and reliable health information. To achieve the overall aim of making Nollywood (and Hollywood/Bollywood) pay more attention to the veracity of the health claims made (even in passing) by characters in their movies, GIST is providing access to information resources that movie directors, producers, and actors can use before, during, and after the move-making process. It is free.

WP_20131123_010WP_20131123_008At the cocktail were the directors of GIST, including the aforementioned Bond Emeruwa (a TED fellow and a veteran of Nigerian movie industry) as Co-Director, Chris Dzialo, PhD (visiting from Los Angeles), Aimee Corrigan (from Boston), Eke Ume, and Temie Giwa (GHC Fellow and GIST Nigerian Program Manager). The actors present, about fifty of them, included Kunle Afolayan, Emeka Ossai, Tunde Kelani, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Yomi Fash Lanso, among very many others.

More about Nollywood Workshops here and here.

Cocktail at Terra Kulture by Nollywood Workshops was published on November 24th, 2013, with the tags , , , , , under the Art, News category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Barrett and Wainaina in Lagos

PRESS RELEASE —

Twitter09e4c13_jpgQuintessence will, on Saturday the 19th of October, host the first readings of the Nigerian editions of critically acclaimed books by two authors.

book-reading-quintessenceIgoni Barrett’s Love is Power, or Something Like That has been described as “Something alive, like that,” by none other than Nadine Gordimer. In this, his second collection of short stories, Igoni, with humour and tenderness, introduces us to an utterly modern Nigeria, where desire is a means to an end, and love is a power as real as money.

Binyavanga Wainaina, storyteller, essayist, and force of nature, won the Caine Prize in 2002 for his short story cum essay Discovering Home. This brilliant story has now been fleshed out into the incredible memoir of life lived, and home found, One Day I Will Write About This Place.

At 2 pm on Saturday 19 October 2013, Farafina presents the Nigerian editions of both books at the event of the year: Igoni and Binyavanga under one roof. We hope you can attend this double-billed reading, which will hold at Quintessence, Plot 13, Block 44 Parkview Estate Entrance, off Gerrard Road, Ikoyi. This links to the a blog post with further details of the event is here.

Barrett and Wainaina in Lagos was published on October 18th, 2013, with the tags , , , , under the Literature, News category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

WAAW FOUNDATION 2014 Scholarship Application opens September 1, 2013

WAAW is pleased to announce its 2014 scholarships, offering $500/year for need-based female African students admitted to a University, College or institute of higher learning in Africa. WAAW Foundation is a U.S. based non-profit organization focused on Working to Advance STEM Education for African Women. WAAW promotes Science and Technology education among African girls, and works to ensure they are engaged in technology innovation for Africa.


Eligibility: Female students of African origin living in Africa, less than 32 years, have gained Undergraduate admission to a University or College in Africa and studying a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) related degree course. Candidates must demonstrate financial need and excellent academic record. Special consideration is given to underprivileged students such as orphans, girls impacted by HIV or students in first or second year of study. 
*Please note that WAAW does not fund graduate (masters, MBA or phd) programs, second or subsequent degrees, students older than 32 years, non-STEM focused courses or Diploma degrees.

Benefits: Scholarship recipients receive an award of $500 for the 2014 academic year, or the equivalent in their country’s local currency. Prior scholarship recipients may reapply for renewal the following year, with proof of continued excellent academic performance.  

The Application Process: WAAW will accept online applications from September 1 through November 30, 2013. Applications submitted prior to this date will not be received or reviewed. Scholarship applications are reviewed by the WAAW foundation Scholarship Committee, and awards are announced by February 2014. Application deadline is 12 midnight of November 30th, 2013. Instructions on how to apply are below.

How to Apply: Visit the WAAW foundation web site at http://www.waawfoundation.org/scholarships and complete the application form online. Follow the application instructions carefully. You must finish your application in one sitting. You will be required to write essays on your future career goals and how you expect the WAAW scholarship will assist in fulfilling those goals. We also require two letters of recommendation, from academic mentors and or job supervisors. Only shortlisted candidates will be required to mail current University transcripts directly to WAAW Foundation by November 30, 2013. Application documents must be submitted electronically via our online forms. We will not be accepting paper applications this year. All applicants are strongly encouraged to follow us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/waawfoundation.

Examples of courses that are not eligible to apply: Nursing, ICT, diploma, mass communication, Social Sciences, Accounting, Business administration, Economics, Education. etc

Please email Unoma@waawfoundation.org for partnership and sponsorship opportunities.

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ABOUT WAAW FOUNDATION

WAAW (Working to Advance STEM education for African Women) Foundation is a US based non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the pipeline of African girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) related fields, and work to ensure that this female talent is engaged in technology innovation for Africa.

HISTORY

In January 2007, while working to obtain her Ph.D. in electrical and computer Engineering at the Texas A & M University, Dr. Unoma Ndili Okorafor, moved by passion, a personal awareness of the huge technological and digital divide between Africa and many developed nations, and the recognition that female education as well as technology innovation play a crucial role in economic development and poverty alleviation of any nation, founded WAAW foundation. WAAW is a non-profit tax exempt 501(c) organization (EIN 20-8576703) incorporated in the state of Texas, U.S.A., on the 5th of January 2007, and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria.

Our Vision

To train and engage women leaders who contribute to technology and economic growth in Africa. To become the premier international partner of choice within a global movement dedicated to ending poverty in Africa through female education.

Strategic Direction

WAAW Foundation believes that female educations along with technology innovation are two key drivers that will accelerate economic development and alleviate poverty in Africa. One of our over arching goals is to bridge the technology innovation gap between Africa and developed nations, by lessening the disparity between the number of African girls versus boys entering STEM fields. Our strategy is to:
(a) Engage African girls in the process of promoting STEM education at all stages.
(b) Build a sustainable and connected community that empowers girls in STEM to help themselves and each other via peer-to-peer mentoring.
(c) Build a repository of localized STEM resources that employ locally available, low cost resources to promote STEM education and innovation.
(d) Build an ever-increasing pipeline of women leaders in STEM through a feed forward process.
(e) Focus on sub Saharan Africa to build critical mass.
(f) Engage international partners and bring significant value to our partners and funders.

WAAW FOUNDATION 2014 Scholarship Application opens September 1, 2013 was published on September 18th, 2013, with the tags , , under the Academic, News category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.