Youth Ambassadors
Tanya Muzinda
15 year old Motocross rider from Zimbabwe. Tanya was inspired by her dad who was a rider himself and started riding when she was only 5 years old. She became the first woman in Zimbabwe to win a championship since the start of professional motocross racing in 1957. At the age of 9, Tanya was appointed as a European Union Ambassador for Youth, Gender, Sports, and Development. Tanya took part in her first international race in 2017, in the United Kingdom where she finished in third place but also became the first female to win a heat since 2012. Tanya’s goal is to become the first black woman to win a Women’s Motocross World Championship. Tanya is a committed advocate for girls education and has a goal of paying school fees for 5000 children in Zimbabwe. She took the first steps towards this goal when she paid school fees for 100 children in Epworth in August 2019.
Aya Chebbi
Tunisian activist who is the first ever African Union Youth Envoy and the youngest diplomat at the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Cabinet. Aya is the founder of multiple platforms such as Youth Programme of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring coaching the next generation to be positive change agents, Afrika Youth Movement, one of Africa’s largest Pan-African youth-led movements and Afresist, a youth leadership program and multimedia platform documenting youth work in Africa.
Takunda Gatawa
17-year old Zimbabwean-South African aspiring footballer who is currently playing for the Orlando Pirates FC Youth Academy in South Africa. Takunda, who takes Advanced Programme Maths, plans to study Engineering or Architecture. He has worked with the P-STEM Foundation, a STEM advocacy organisation. Takunda has always had a keen interest in finance, starting to find innovative ways to earn and invest his own money from the age of 8. “I want to be part of a new Africa, one full of development, prosperity and opportunity in all countries, not just in one or two cities. Only the youth can make that happen and the time for talk is over."
Qden Blaauw
Qden (16) who comes from Parow in Cape Town started playing the piano at the age of 8.
The child prodigy who also composes his own music, was soon taken under the wing of Shane Goodall and has been winning competitions and performing in local and international concerts since then.
In 2016, at the age of 12, Qden became the first child from Africa to be selected to attend the prestigious Allianz Music Camp in Poland where he received a master class from the acclaimed Chinese pianist, Lang Lang.
In 2017, he achieved the remarkable feat of performing as a soloist with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Free State Symphony Orchestra.
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Sarah Momanyi
14-year old Sarah is a chess prodigy who was born in Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi which is built in a wasteland between two industrial zones. Its one of the toughest places to live.
She stays with her grandmother who rescued her from her alcoholic mother who tried to sell her as an infant. Her father is absent.
Sarah was discovered by a Chess Academy which was started in 2015 by Sports Outreach Ministry (SOM) in Mukuru to help slum children make a difference in their lives. She was one of their pioneer students.
In 2016, she represented SOM in several tournaments and won several awards.
In 2017 and 2018 she won the Kenyan National Chess Championships in her age bracket. In 2019 she represented Kenya at the African Youth Chess Championships in Namibia.
Sarah's dream is to become a Chess Grandmaster and a doctor.
Viemens Bamfo
in 2019, at the age of 12, Viemens Nana Amissah Bamfo became one of the youngest ever university students in the world after earning admission to the University of Ghana to study public administration.
The gifted whizz-kid had to leave school at the age of 9 because of financial constraints. However, this setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it allowed his father to home school him and discover his academic gift.
For Viemens, the campaign for Financial Education to be taught in schools is personal. Every year, around 45% of students drop out of primary school in Africa. This is the highest drop out rate in the world and condemns most of these children to a life of poverty. Financial Literacy can help end the cycle of financially insecure households.
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CampaignFIA
Susannah Burger
Susannah’s vision is of a self-sustainable and prosperous Africa. This vision drove her to start a petition in 2019 calling for Financial Literacy education to be included in schools. In her petition she wrote: 'We go to school for 12 years of our lives, but we come out not knowing a thing about taxes, mortgages or anything else related to money. School should be preparing us for real life and thus financial literacy should be part of our education.’
The talented musician who comes from the Rustenburg area in South Africa, matriculated IEB 2019 in the top 1% of the country in four subjects and will soon start University studies.
CampaignFIA
CampaignFIA
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