Project Diaspora | Page 2

Should we question Sevenly’s “philanthropic e-commerce” business model?

July 17, 2011

From time to time, my inbox is graced with a link someone came across and thought I’d be interested in checking out. More often than not, the sender is seeking my opinion on the contents of the link. I guess myself and the smartaid crew on Twitter have kind of gotten a reputation for not […]

Read the full article →

Dear Lucy, Happy Birthday

July 9, 2011

My dear sister, I have started this letter only about a million times. And a million times I have crumbled it up and thrown it away. As the years have passed the pile of words and paragraphs have sat in the hollow chambers of my heart; collecting layers of regret and sorrow. I have tried […]

Read the full article →

Leading the Way

July 6, 2011

Two years ago, I traveled with a group of about fifteen students from across Europe and North America to a small village in the Dominican Republic. We stayed in the community for two weeks trying to finish up a school building, building a public bathroom and organizing educational programs for the children. The villagers were […]

Read the full article →

WoK Annual Marathon

June 22, 2011

Helen, Jennifer and Grace at the Stone Cold movie screening. Read more here! It’s that time of the year again – marathon training time! I started training for the Marathon de Montréal 2011 in May just as my first year law exams began. For the rest of the summer, I will be training in Phnom […]

Read the full article →

The Fact That Britain’s Brainiest Family is African Shouldn’t be a Surprise…

May 21, 2011

Britain’s Brainiest Family is Black and Has 9-Year-Old High School-Bound Twins — what a catchy title for a compelling story about the British-based offspring of Nigerian immigrants — Chris and Ann Imafidon — blessed with what is seen as extraordinary brains.  I discovered this and another related compelling article, during my routine search for blog post content […]

Read the full article →

Notes from Secretary Clinton’s Global Diaspora Forum

May 21, 2011

I spent this past week in Washington, DC attending Secretary Clinton’s Global Diaspora Forum. The UN foundation invited me to participate on a panel discussion the Global Diaspora’s role in tackling global problems. The power of the Diaspora as change agents is not something new to us here at Project Diaspora. Since 2007, we’ve been […]

Read the full article →

And What About Africa’s Youth Class?

May 11, 2011

In recent times, there has been much talk about Africa’s emerging middle class and its potential to foster reform on the continent. However, little emphasis has been laid on the fact that Africa is also experiencing a youth bulge.  In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, one in three persons is between the ages of 10 and […]

Read the full article →

Africa’s middle class definition should include the Diaspora

May 9, 2011

The Guardian’s Poverty Matters blog has been publishing some analysis on Africa’s middle class. According to research reports they cited, 1 in 3 Africans on the continent can be classified as middle class. The Guardian’s tight definition of Africa’s middle class is those individuals spending between $2-$20. It is quite a large range and actually […]

Read the full article →

Is there hope for Zimbabwe?!

May 4, 2011

A few weeks ago, Zimbabwe made headlines for yet another public display of gross violation of human rights. At least 45 citizens who run human rights organizations and/or publicly defend human rights have been unlawfully detained. Even though, 39 of these have been released, the rest could face the death penalty if convicted. For over […]

Read the full article →

Before you volunteer to build that school…

April 24, 2011

It’s that time of the year again.  When students are looking to find something that’ll keep them busy during the summer months and corporations and foundations are reviewing summer internships applications.  This is the time when international non-profit organisations begin mass campaigns, distributing flyers and trying to recruit students to take advantage of the “amazing opportunity […]

Read the full article →

Shoes: the least of our problems

April 5, 2011

I’ve spent the last week thinking about what to write for “A Day Without Dignity”. Lately, I’ve been getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of uninformed people and organizations, both large and small, who continue to show zero restraint in effort to demonstrate how socially aware they are. The Smart Aid crew of bloggers has […]

Read the full article →

Reminding Ourselves: A Day Without Dignity

April 5, 2011

I’m writing this post in support of “A Day Without Dignity”, a counter-campaign launched by Saundra S. of Good Intentions are not Enough to critique TOMS shoes “A Day Without Shoes Campaign” Now every year, TOMS launches an awareness campaign to raise awareness about “shoelessness”. In their words: I think sometimes we forget what we […]

Read the full article →

‘RUINED’ at ARENA STAGE- FOTC Mother’s Day Fundraiser

March 29, 2011

May is a great time to honor mothers, and in that spirit, Friends of the Congo, Arena Stage, and DC Arts and Humanities council, are bringing together a Mother’s Day fundraiser at Arena Stage; with a semi-private reception, the special showing of the play of the 2009 Pulitzer prize for drama, RUINED, and followed by […]

Read the full article →

A glance at the events in Libya

March 13, 2011

News reports in the last couple of weeks have been filled with ongoing events in Libya. For those who haven’t heard yet, there have been a series of hair-raising violent protests going on in Libya. Some political analysts claim that Libya is on the brink of a civil war given how ferocious the demonstrations have been. […]

Read the full article →

What We Can All Learn from a Japanese Woman Affected by the Disaster and an African Woman Off-the-Grid

March 12, 2011

I dedicate this blog posting to all the victims and survivors of natural and man-made disasters. Yesterday morning I woke up to the horrifying news about the earthquake in Japan, which as if that wasn’t enough, was followed by a tsunami, possible radiation exposure and forecasts of another, and most likely, more devastating earthquake.  As […]

Read the full article →

Under the African Carpet

March 9, 2011

Countries are a lot like persons. As a political science student, you learn to appreciate countries, their histories, their idiosyncrasies, their weakness, their strengths. And your textbooks are replete with personifications: France denounced the UK’s proposal in the European Union; Canada is seeking to be a member of the UN Security Council; Russia invaded Georgia; America prepares to occupy Iraq; China is the sleeping giant that has awoken. Even country leaders are immediately identified with their countries.

Read the full article →

Rebranding Africa: Let’s Simply Start by Connecting the Dots for a Kid in Podunk!

March 2, 2011

My last couple of blog posts on Project Diaspora have focused on best practices to improve service delivery on the continent and mobile solutions to potentially improve visitors’ experiences when they travel to Africa. As I contemplated this current blog post, I looked through my notes to find an inspiring idea. I wasn’t inspired by […]

Read the full article →

Dr. Mo Ibrahim: Wealth creation is important for development

March 1, 2011

Back in 2007 when I attended the first East Africa Investment Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Dr. Mo Ibrahim speak. I remember then being in awe of his vision for East Africa’s business potential. Even then he was preaching the benefits of businesses building socially conscious business models. I […]

Read the full article →

Tukeni Teejay Obasi: Coming of Age as an African Diaspora Youth

February 25, 2011

We all have those conversations in university that we summon from the recesses of our memory from time to time, like a ruminant, calling them forth, chewing them again and sending them back to the darkness to be re-summoned when the need arises. The one where your friend asks you how many pet lions you […]

Read the full article →

African Bloggers Statement on David Kato and Uganda

February 25, 2011

“We the undersigned wish to express our deep sadness at the murder of Ugandan human rights defender David Kato on 26th February 2011.  David’s activism  began in the 1980s as an Anti-Apartheid campaigner where he first expressed a strong passion and conviction for freedom and justice which continued throughout his life.   David was a […]

Read the full article →

Africans Are Hospitable, But What’s Up With Service in Africa?

February 23, 2011

I received a letter last week from a young African woman (whose identity I’ve omitted, in deference to her privacy), currently a graduate student in a leading hospitality management program in Europe.  What first struck me about her was that she had taken the time to send me a letter, when she could easily have emailed me, […]

Read the full article →

How to get World Vision to stop sending gifts-in-kind to developing countries

February 15, 2011

It’s been over a week since the Super Bowl ended and just as long since the World Vision USA scandal about sending 100,000 over-printed shirts to developing countries hit the web. To date there are now 44 (including this one) blog posts dealing with this particular topic. To which World Vision USA has only responded […]

Read the full article →

World Vision USA: Not with the shirts again, stop it already!

February 12, 2011

World Vision USA plans to ship 100,000 discarded NFL shirts to developing countries after the Super Bowl. No, it is not Jason Sadler again. A respected chorus of smart aid critics are setting their targets on World Vision’s practice of donating the NFL’s “misprinted” shirts. This is a practice that has to be stopped because it is terribly destructive to local economies.

Read the full article →

HOPSTOPping Through Uganda…When Will That Be Possible?

February 11, 2011

One of my favorite iPhone apps is HOPSTOP, founded in 2005 by US-based and Nigerian-born entrepreneur, Chinedu Echeruo.  Why I love this app is that it enables me to easily map out my travel route (by foot, rail or bus) when I’m visiting places across the US, with which I’m unfamiliar and provides me with […]

Read the full article →

It’s Amazing What 140 Characters Can Give Birth To!

Thumbnail image for It’s Amazing What 140 Characters Can Give Birth To! February 8, 2011

As I write my first blog posting for Project Diaspora, I do so with the backdrop of change being fueled in Northern Africa by various social media, at the core of which are the 140 characters at a time on Twitter that have enabled those affecting and directly affected by the change to mobilize support […]

Read the full article →