EDITORIAL Together
is better
Most
African dialects have various versions of this same saying. They all
converge on the fact that two heads make a better decision than one
at
least in most cases. That is the idea behind NAYD. My vast and diverse
exchanges with people and youths of other continent have made it clear
to me that Africa for a long time, will never be like the other continents.
It will have its problems
that are very particular to it and will have its possible solutions that
will always be very different from that of the rest of the world. And
in all of these, the youths of Africa have more issues special to
them than
those of the rest of the world. This first dawned on me in a group
discussion with friends, once in England, after a youth conference.
I was the only African of the lot, the rest being
a good mixture from Asia, Europe, USA and South America. I noticed that
while most youths talked high tech and how to get the government to pay
their university bills, in my mind, I worried about extreme poverty that
causes death and corruption. While they worried about guns and food labels,
I had nightmares about children dying of hunger and a world full of illiterate
people. Though we had so much in common such as musical taste and youthful
exuberance, only a blind could miss the differences that existed in our
priorities. We sure were not at fault for this, but I knew then that
we, as African youths need to start addressing the problems we face
on the continent
by ourselves before allowing others to trace the way out for us.
That is how the idea for NAYD came about. Today, after going through that idea with many youths in Africa, I believe NAYD is the best thing that could happen to us, that is, if we succeed to make it work. In my vision, I see this massive forum where young persons involved in development or worried about the fate of the continent can share information and resources, thus making their voices heard all over the continent.
I know you believe in a better Africa.
We do. Join us and let’s
make that real.
Pochi Tamba