At 27, Lasu Jacob is working to address the twin problems of youth unemployment and food insecurity in his native South Sudan.
Jacob plans to teach young people in South Sudan techniques he learned when he came to the United States that will enable them to grow more crops. That will “reduce hunger, create more jobs and reduce poverty,” he said.
Jacob is one of 34 young community leaders from 21 African countries who participated in the first cohort of the US Department of State’s Community Engagement Exchange (CEE) program.
The CEE program attracted 100 aspiring community leaders from 69 countries to work at US nonprofits in 2022. Over several months, they received leadership and development training to advance their work in their home communities.
As part of his internship, Jacob worked on a farm in North Carolina where he learned high-yield farming techniques and skills to lead and lead a non-profit organization.
“The CEE program was a wonderful experience for me,” said Jacob.
Teaching non-violence in Cameroon
In 2017, regional violence in north-west Cameroon forced Tomia Zongkazih Eka Chu and her family to flee their homes. She made and sold juice to fund her education, but saw many of her classmates drop out.
Her experience inspired her to help found Children’s Fate in 2020, a non-profit organization that teaches displaced and disaffected young people the skills to start their own businesses.
Tomia Zongkazih Eka Chu (far left) helped found Children’s Fate to work with children and youth affected by violence. (Courtesy of Tomia Zongkazih Eka Chu)
As a CEE fellow, Chu worked with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. There she got to know the management of a non-governmental organization, received leadership training and worked on non-violent conflict resolution.
Back in Cameroon, Chu has already expanded her nonviolence program to include leadership and nonviolence training.
She said her experience with the CEE program and the Martin Luther King Center “changed my attitude towards violence… [and] what I could do to help these violent youth in my country.β
𧡠The King Center is pleased to welcome Community Engagement Exchange (CEE) Fellows, Tomia Zongkazih from Cameroon π¨π² and Shokhinakhon Bakhromova from Uzbekistan πΊπΏ. Fellows will be responsible for working on projects focused on social justice and nonviolence that… pic.twitter.com/HAJB1RwN9Z
β The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center (@TheKingCenter) September 19, 2022
Connecting people from Malawi around the world
Bonface Massah, a member of the Malawi Human Rights Commission, overcame his own experiences of discrimination to speak up for others. He worked with the CEE program as a technical mentor and helped several grantees learn how to interact with people with disabilities.
Bonface Massah is Country Director of Standing Voice, an organization that defends the rights of people with albinism in Africa. (Courtesy of Bonface Massah)
Massah traveled to Washington and Detroit to meet with fellow CEE mentees, whom he encouraged to recognize and confront their own personal prejudices and those in the communities they serve.
He said the CEE program helps grantees “rethink some of the things people do in the world, maybe beyond what we do in our own countries.”
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