Volunteer of the week

Name:                       Samuel Kwame Darko

Age:                           25

Hobbies:                    Reading and Football

Profession:                Real Estate Agent,

                                   iHav Africa

Country:                    Ghana

Role in Ihav:             Budget Committee member

I am a Real Estate Agent graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where I obtained my first degree in BSc Land Economy.

Spent my childhood in Tema, where I had my junior and secondary education. I attended the now Tema Senior High School which really helped me come out of my reserved and quite nature into a more sociable and experimental person.

In 2009, I had the opportunity to represent Ghana at the World University games in Belgrade, Serbia, which really exposed me to the outside world in regards to diverse culture and thinking. The passion and interest I have for volunteering now was actually acquired at these games in Belgrade. Witnessing students collaborate with the elderly to organize an event as big as the Olympics really caught my attention and interest.

After that event I also wanted a platform to be a part of something similar here in Africa where such things as volunteering aren’t common. I therefore seized the opportunity to join iHav as a volunteer to be a part of the change Africa desperately needs.

I am convinced that to change the future of Africa, we must first change the mindset of young Africans in college and outside college today. Being a strong believer in the ideology of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, I know that change that Africa needs must start now and so I joined iHav.

Finally, I love football very much, sometimes I play and most of the time I watch the game on television. I am a Christian, an active member of The Church of Pentecost and I believe that with the Almighty God in the iHav boat we will smile at Africa’s challenges.

“The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you will get action”- Malcolm X

Social Networks:

Facebook       Kwame Samma

Twitter        @kwame samma

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN AFRICA and IHAV 

The challenge of youth unemployment has become a long standing song the world is singing. Simply put, the number of available jobs does not suffice the hands ready to work.

The challenge of unemployment is even more widespread in Africa. The continent is said to have about 60% of its youth ranging from 15 to 24 years as unemployed.

Despite robust economic growth of about 4.9% as predicted by the World Bank, they are yet to translate into job creation.

Many interventions have been implemented in various countries in an attempt to reducing youth unemployment. Notable among these are the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) and the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Program (LESDEP); both interventions put in place by the government of Ghana, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, one key sector that the continent has failed to take full advantage of is agriculture. In a speech delivered via video conferencing by Mr.Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, he is quoted to have said, “To reduce poverty and make sure these growth numbers reflect in the livelihoods of the people, governments need to invest more in agriculture.” He further said, “Much of the region’s growth has been led by high commodity prices, resilient domestic demand, and increase in foreign direct investments and not in agriculture and the informal sector.”

This therefore goes without saying that agriculture, which is reported by the World Bank to employ about 65 per cent of Africa’s labour force and accounting for about 32 per cent of Gross Domestic Product has been left unattended to.

A rigorous attempt at reducing youth unemployment and creating wealth in the continent requires extensive investments in agriculture.

WHAT iHAV SEEKS TO DO

iHAV Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation that has been established to support youth development through capacity building and employment generation.

This year (2013), iHAV will be organising its first project conference from the 24^th to 27^th of July under the theme: “The African Youth, Agriculture, and Entrepreneurship.” We hope to assemble 100 carefully selected youth and speakers across the continent to address the issue of youth unemployment, and how entrepreneurship and agriculture will contribute to this menace. The conference will be held for 4 days and nights.

WHAT WE WILL DO DIFFERENTLY

Several of such conferences and seminars are organised on a regular basis across the continent. Most of these seminars have ended without any action to bring ideas into fruition. But what we’ll do differently however is to implement three outstanding proposals delivered by the participants. The selection process will be done by a jury of judges who are well vested in the fields under consideration.We’ll also monitor the implementation of these proposal to the letter.

iHAV is Africa’s hope of contributing to employment and wealth creation. And it seeks to achieve these feats under the visionary leadership of its Founder and CEO, Christabel Ofori; a Ghanaian and chemical engineer by profession whose key interest is to helping the under-privileged of society.

Article written for iHav by Jonathan Adzokpe 

Picture source - www.google.com/unemployementinafrica/images

Meetour volunteer of the week...

ASAMOAH-BOADU KOFI

PROFILE

AGE:  22

Hobbies: VIDEO GAMES, PROGRAMMING, SOCCER.

Profession: COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Country: GHANA

Role in IHAV: IT HEAD

I am a computer science student at KNUST, GHANA.I grew up in Ghana and had my secondary school at Pope John Senior High and Minor seminary.In 2011, i exhibited at KNUST TRATECH (exhibition show) with an electronic. Pulpit, a security alarm system which is sensitive to light, touch and sound,and a light regulator with which you can turn on/off your lights with just a click on your computer.I won the most innovative student award in 2011 at the KNUST tratech.After the TRATECH, I got the chance to work with SABONAY TECHNOLOGIES branch in Ghana as a web developer and Software engineer and I still do work there. Nothing excites me the most about my course of study, than to envision a software problem and Plan a way to solve it.I always think G.I.P. - thus my motto. G stands for Guts, I stands for Integrity, P stands for Persistence.I stand with the assertion that, the best way to act on our vision is to quit talking and begin the action and if we fail, We simply can start again, but this time more intelligently.I owe my life to Christ because without Him, I am nothing and I believe i have made it this far with Him by my side.

 

Meet our volunteer of the week...

Barbara Aboagye

Profile...


I am a civil engineering student of KNUST,Ghana.I spent my childhood right in Ghana, attended various high schools and got the opportunity to start my secondary education in Wesley Girls high School.My life now is as a result of the holistic education I was privileged to receive. During my secondary education, I got the opportunity to serve as the co-coordinator of the energy conservation committee and learnt quite a lot.I realized that the major canker in Africa was not LACK but our inability to appreciate and make use of what we have.A seed was sown and I started to nurture the desire to be a social change maker.Also whiles in WGHS, I got the opportunity to serve as the public relations officer for ECO club as well as the Writers and Debators Club.A position which has in one way or the other boosted my ego,confidence and given me the opportunity to interact with quite a number of people who are now playing an important role in my life.Am a writer,a politician and an innovator.The most beautiful thing in life is something not gained but achieved with God,tireless effort and determination.I might not be a super hero but one thing am proud of is am loyal to Africa and I will do anything in my capacity to make Africa stand tall as one of the giants of this world. Eventhough am a yet to be civil engineer,I have great desire for the poor and physically challenged hence my desire to set up a SAVE A LIFE FUND to help any person in need and is low on money.Africa can only be a better place if we make a conscious effort to develop it hence my excitement when I got the opportunity to be a volunteer for the IHAV conference.I believe have made it far in life because of my confidence and desire to succeed which I love to term as “annoyingly confident”.Am not the best, I might not even me among the best.I might be a shadow of the real picture but my real joy is the knowledge that in one way or the other I helped made Africa a better place.