Pan African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education - Goes to B-Gifted Foundation of Sierra Leone

B-Gifted Foundation of Sierra Leone, Announced as Winner of ‘Educating Africa’ Award
[B-Gifted Foundation of Sierra Leone], has been named as on of the organizations with the most entrepreneurial approach to education Sierra Leone, in the Educating Africa Pan-African Awards for
Entrepreneurship in Education. With over 350 entries from all over Africa, [B-Gifted Foundation of
Sierra Leone] has done exceptionally well to be named a country winner in the competition. It’s unique and entrepreneurial approach to  education meant that it caught the judges’ attention even despite this being the most competitive competition to date. This is the fifth time  that the Pan African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education have  been run by UK-based international development charity, Teach A Man To  Fish.
As a country prize winner, [B-Gifted Foundation of Sierra Leone], are entitled to prize winnings of USD $1,000. Now it is time to scale up! We are looking at scaling up our ICT Digital Hope education centre for war victims. Your support can make a real difference.

[B-Gifted Foundation of Sierra Leone], www.bgiftedfoundation.org uses creativity and technology  to address human rights, enhance peace and development. B-GIFTED  Foundation strives to make the world a better place with a tightly
threaded tapestry of creative ideas. B-GIFTED Foundation is a  non-profit organization that was named at the behest & in honour of an  eponymous peace activist & human rights educator, who, over time, has
used creativity & technology to buttress his growing corpus of  groundbreaking peacemaking & culture-building endeavours. Where ideas  bloom & blossom, triumph draws nigh, our programs, steadily hoisted
from the doldrums, thereby may over- leap myriad moats and mountains.

The aim of the competition was to identify and celebrate the achievements of social entrepreneurs who understand the role education  can play within their communities. ‘'With this competition we were
looking for programmes which are innovative, sustainable and create  real impact – and we have found them. By awarding them we hope to  encourage others to imitate winner’s approach and work towards more
and better education in Africa’’, says Nik Kafka, Managing Director of  Teach A Man To Fish.

More about the competition

Now in its fifth year, the 2012 Pan African Awards for  Entrepreneurship continue to reward organizations in Africa that use  innovative and entrepreneurial techniques to fill gaps in educational  services across the continent.

Entries were assessed against the criteria of entrepreneurship,  sustainability, and impact. The winners were selected by a panel of  international judges, with the top entry receiving a prize of $10,000  and the two runners-up prizes of $5,000. There is also a $1,000 prize  for the best entry for each country.

More about the winners
More detailed information about this year’s winners is available here:
http://teachamantofish.org.uk/pan-african-awards-2012-winners
More about the competition organizers
TeachAManToFish is an international non-profit organization working to improve the relevancy, quality, and availability of education in  developing countries. Our pioneering approach uses profit-making  school-run businesses to teach entrepreneurship and livelihood skills. This model allows schools to generate additional income, improving  their financial sustainability, while at the same time enabling them
to offer a more relevant and higher quality education.
For more information visit www.teachamantofish.org.uk

Educating Africa is a foundation committed to introducing cost effective and sensible education initiatives throughout Africa, and to acknowledging some of the tremendous educational projects that have
been developed across the continent. It is apparent that there are superb educational ideas, generous benefactors and intellectual capital that is willing and able to be invested in worthwhile
educational projects. However, often there is a mismatch in linking the various groups. Educating Africa seeks to bridge this gap and match up these groups.

For more information visit www.EducatingAfrica.com

For media enquiries please contact:

B-Gifted Foundation
C/O 52 Spur Loop, FREETOWN,
Sierra Leone,
West Africa

Tel: 00232-78-166966
Fax: 0023222224439

Email Us:
b.giftedfoundation@gmail.com

ITU Telecom World 2012 Dubai- Please Join us

ITU Telecom World 2012

Five days of debate in Dubai, from 14 - 18 October, will explore the radical transformation of the ICT industry and the implications for policy, regulation and competitive strategy.

This transformation is driven by game changers, the trends and technologies revolutionizing the industry and the world we live in.The Young Innovators Competition at ITU Telecom World 2012 offers social entrepreneurs aged 18-25 years old the opportunity to shine a global ICT spotlight on their innovative ideas and digital creativity.


Nearly 400 young entrepreneurs from 77 countries around the world submitted innovative ICT-based early concepts or mature projects - demonstrating how fresh thinking and talent for technology can provide real-world solutions to real-world problems and change the future for the better.
Conversation that matters
Greene has a very long history of leadership and innovation in ICT that gives hope and promise to thousands of young people in post-conflict Sierra Leone. His dedication to promoting peace and human rights via ICT has won him a number of prestigious International Awards: From Cable & Wireless Childnet Awards at the Science Museum in London 2003, to the Crossing Boundaries
Bremen Peace Awards in Bremen Germany in 2003, From the Beyond Borders International Video Competition (Personal Stories from a small planet) hosted by Listen Up in New York in 2003, to the Global Junior Challenge Competition in Rome Italy 2007, Greene's innovation has set him apart. In 2011, Greene won the prestigious ITU Telecom World Digital Innovation Fellowship at the inaugural open competition with his unique ICT initiative 'Digital Hope'. ITU's overwhelming support of Greene and other young Global Innovators was such a refreshing reminder of how Telecom is at its best to chiseling the best of global minds. Greene was also supported by his country's the National Telecommunication Commission in Sierra Leone (NATCOM), as well as individuals and friends, to preparing the much-needed presentation and exhibition materials that helped him to showcase his award winning innovative initiative. At the ITU Telecom World 2012 in Dubai (October 14th to 18th, Greene brought his interdisciplinary research experience in using ICT, and a strong edge to use ICT for peace, E-Development, and education.
Greene joined other non-profit and business leaders around the world in a five days of debate in Dubai, from 14 - 18 October, exploring the radical transformation of the ICT industry and the implications for policy, regulation and competitive strategy.
'In late 2011, the United Nations agency for ICT, designed and delivered an innovation competition and accelerator programme for young entrepreneurs and not-for-profits whose ideas could solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.'

Greene Jr, and other shortlisted participants developed their nascent idea into a product pitch ready for investment. Their workable business model was enhanced through Notosh's workshops, and Greene with his colleague innovators delivered a pitch to an audience of global leaders in technology. Greene's winning pitch received investment from ITU to take his idea to its first prototype. the young innovators were asked to keep ITU updated and later share the development of their applications in the form of blog posts demonstrating how they have realized their digital dreams of making the world a better place through ICT-based social enterprise.
A year later, UN ITU summoned Greene and other distinguished young innovators from around the world to share their projects to a galaxy of techno industries. This 'all-telling' is summed up in the specially constructed 'Young InniovatorSpace' for the budding tink tanks in the world of telecom to brandish their work to a revered and expereinced ICT audience.

In 2012 nearly 400 young entrepreneurs from 77 countries around the world submitted innovative ICT-based early concepts or mature projects - demonstrating how fresh thinking and talent for technology can provide real-world solutions to real-world problems and change the future for the better.

This transformation is driven by game changers, the trends and technologies revolutionizing the industry and the world we live in.The Young Innovators Competition at ITU Telecom World 2012 offers social entrepreneurs aged 18-25 years old the opportunity to shine a global ICT spotlight on their innovative ideas and digital creativity.  

ITU Telecom World 2012 Dubai- Please Join us

ITU Telecom World 2012

Conversation that matters

Greene has a long history of leadership and innovation in ICT that gives hope and promise to thousands of young people in post-conflict Sierra Leone. His dedication to promoting peace and human rights via ICT has won him a number of prestigious International Awards. In 2011, Greene won the prestigious ITU Telecom  World Digital Innovation Fellowship at the inaugural open competition with his unique ICT initiative 'Digital Hope'. Supported by the National Telecommunication Commission in Sierra Leone (NATCOM),  individuals and friends, Greene brought presentation materials that helped him to showcase his award winning initiative. At the ITU Telecom World 2012 in Dubai (October 14th to 18th, Greene brought his interdisciplinary research experience in using ICT, and a strong edge to use ICT for peace, E-Development, and  education. 

Greene joined other non-profit and business leaders around the world in a five days of debate in Dubai, from 14 - 18 October, exploring the radical transformation of the ICT industry and the implications for policy, regulation and competitive strategy.

This transformation is driven by game changers, the trends and technologies revolutionizing the industry and the world we live in.The Young Innovators Competition at ITU Telecom World 2012 offers social entrepreneurs aged 18-25 years old the opportunity to shine a global ICT spotlight on their innovative ideas and digital creativity.

Nearly 400 young entrepreneurs from 77 countries around the world submitted innovative ICT-based early concepts or mature projects - demonstrating how fresh thinking and talent for technology can provide real-world solutions to real-world problems and change the future for the better.

My WISE! - My Second Call! - Third Summit!

This is my second call at the WISE (World Innovation Summit on Education), an initiative of the Qatar Foundation.

Every year, I have observed, WISE becomes better and better than the previous year, and creates the platform that opens dialogue amongst those who value and hold premium Innovative Education.

At the WISE Summit, this Fall, I listened attentively to the debates and discussions and I heard of how teachers and educators face social and financial levels that are low in the Arab World. This pricked my mind instantaneously. My mind nudged me back to my country, Sierra Leone which still realizes ridiculously low salaries for teachers and lecturers with painfully lower and sometimes irregularly served. These short comings of social and financial status of teachers seem to go across the board and experienced by many countries; even to those countries we deem more affluent. This is indeed a short coming that needs to be addressed and assuaged if we are bent on talking and taking steps in delivering quality and innovative education around the world. We need to bolster the C21st Century learning skills, but in doing so, there needs to be a great incentive for our teachers in terms of improving their status, and financial level. I have experienced this first hand in Sierra Leone where my mum has been a dedicated teacher for over 3 decades, and I sense the pangs of it directly or indirectly through losing out lectures when lecturers have to go on strike due to such lack of incentive. Sadly, this trend still prevails as I realized that Lecturers at the University had to go on strike again on my return to Sierra Leone from the end of 2011 WISE events on November 4th. Back at the WISE debates and forums, this was an issue that was harped upon and well articulated by Dr. Muhammad Faour, who is Senior Associate at the Cornegie Middle East Centre in Lebanon, during his speech at WISE 2011. This Faour believes 'will help in bringing creativity and will allow teachers to upgrade their skills, adapt to different situation and enthusiastic and dedicated about their profession'. "Apart from the working condition of teachers, Faour also identified leadership competence of those in authority such as the Ministries of Education and proper management skills of school Administrators or Principals as amongst the enablers of change in the education system." The delivery method being used is still memorization or lecture based rather than critical thinking and problem solving". He goes on to say that "it is important to promote and develop the C21st century skills or key competent skills in classrooms such as communication in native and foreign languages, basic competence in maths, science and technology, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, social and civic competence and cultural awareness" he said. The highlights of the 2011 WISE event was the inaugural WISE Prize for Education won by Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh which carried a $500,000 and a gold medal. In recognition of his 40 years career dedicated to alleviation of poverty through education. Her Highness Sheikha Moza noted that "education is a source of power, when we use this power properly and for the right purposes. In accepting the WISE prize for education, Abed said, " I am humbled by such a great recognition, and will like to thank the Qatar Foundation for initiating this magnificent prize, and for honouring me and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), with its first instalments. I have discovered time and again in my four decades of work with BRAC, that education is the fundamental catalyst for change. Throughout the workshops, forums, and debates, I was thrilled at the fact that these words of Fazle Hasan Abed resonated in the statements and activities of the delegates, as they showcase the divergence of approaches from different countries to help solve difficult solutions through education. I found time to catch up with friends and colleagues I have met in the previous year and the plethora of new friendship through education that WISE and Qatar Foundation have offered. Andrew Benson Greene Founder at B-Gifted Foundation ITU Telecom World Digital Innovator Fellow 2011 (Geneva) Jeanne Sauvé Scholar McGill University 2004/5 (Canada) www.bgiftedfoundation.org

If You Bump Into The Richest Man In The World, What do you do?

Answer: Innovate...

I seldom knew (and so do my other Digital World Fellows), that during the intensive last few days of our workshops in readiness for the final ITU International open fray, in Geneva, we could be met with Carlos Slim http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim who "as of 2011 is the richest person in the world, for the second year in a row. He is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and América Móvil and has extensive holdings in other Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso SAB, as well as business interests elsewhere in the world."

That´s just what technology does. It has the magical wand to bring people polarized by geographic difference, cultures and economic status. In an Entourage with another high profiled person; Dr Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) a trio of personalities, walked into the small hall guided by a professional camera crew. In this small hall charged with new ideas and vision, we experienced that it has a pressure proof for us to fine tune our ideas that were yet raw and crude and needed some refinery.

Both Carlos Slim and Dr Hamadoun Touré, agreed that the young leaders in that room, have the responsibility to make technology meaningful for the lives of others and that we all in that room, were ambassadors of our countries, working hard to change the world in a positive way via technology. There messages remained ingrained in our minds if not our hearts.

I was one of those who thanked the entourage for initiating the idea of bringing the best brains in the world to pit their wits against one an other in a true competitive spirit in a bid to find divergent solutions in solving global problems through tele communications technology.



Carlos Slim and the ITU World Digital Fellows 2011









Andrew and Dr Hamadoun Touré, (ITU Secretary General)









Several weeks before the final notifications were sent across to deserving finalists and when the shortlist numbers of ITU Digital Fellows was announced on the Official ITU Telecom Website, I have been focusing and set my mind on how technology can help give a new and fresh thinking to the whole notion of digital divide, but this time, with a little twist on how it could be a salve in the wounds. Indeed, it is a real ease of pain.

My project entitled ´Digital Hope´, like the rest of the presentations came off from our PowerPoint, as needed much trimming to the rules of 6 minutes, 10 words per slide and a specific PowerPoint format. All of the participants in one way or the other had to change their initial style of presentation and even content to meet the standardized criteria set in motion for the contest. Several pitching were done and fellows scrutinized, analyzed, criticized and edited the work of one another to come to some form of perfection.










My pain is that from 1991 to 2002, the people of Sierra Leone suffered the consequences of a brutal civil war. Amputation was used as a Weapon of war. The amputation of Civilians portrays the long years of fighting. During the war, terror tactics was physical mutilation. Although there are as yet no reliable statistics, an estimated 20,000 civilians suffered amputation of became wounded by machetes and axes being used to sever arms, legs, lips, and ears. Victims of amputation have not only been the direct victims of several years of conflict, but have suffered from social stigmatization and marginalized from the mainstream of technology and the information society.In these amputee camps, I saw firsthand, the misery, hunger, and humiliation that smoulder after a decade of war and violence. I saw the maimed, the diseased, the broken-hearted, these amputees made forlorn by machetes of brutal rebel onslaught. I also saw bare-footed children, with swollen, protruded stomachs, amputee fathers with heads bowed, pale amputee mothers, with sickly babies, (some of these children are also amputees), themselves, and grandparents in utter despair. I saw the grave meaning of human rights violation, poverty, hunger, and could have easily felt forlorn and despairing like the amputees themselves. But some inner strength overrides this feeling. That strength is inspired by my vision for change in the plight of these victims by the magic of telecommunication technology. These amputees felt deprivation and marginalization to the bones. But I did not shy away at the sight of what I fathomed at these amputee camps. I could not be deterred by the sounds and horrendous stories of death, utter savagery and brutality, and gross human rights violation. I instantaneously thought that much like the Holocaust Genocide, and their victims and survivors, these survivors of amputation, these amputees in Sierra Leone can recount their stories and experiences, even though sordid and bitter to the rest of the world via new multimedia tele-communication technologies so that the society will learn from this and that such violations will never be repeated again. Through this idea, technology can also be used as a vehicle to examine the social, personal, and historical issues surrounding disfigurements resulting from war and conflict.

My Idea.
My idea is to provide tele communication technologies and multi media technologies to amputee victims of the war. It may sound weird if you view it from a short sighted prism. That is exactly what sets me apart. I realized that amputees can use their extra limbs to access computers. These technologies can give them a powerful voice in the mass media, and become an extra ordinary tool, that they can use to bear witness to their plight, thereby bringing about attention, hope and healing to people who are almost forgotten victims.

I believe that in providing them these technologies, we are giving them an extra arm, that can somehow, atone for their missing arms. These technologies will allow them to reach-out, in a way that has never been experienced before. Technology literally becomes a virtual outstretching arm that provides the leverage for the amputees to overcome their difficult situation. In so doing, we are giving them a true and authentic voice in the mass media, untainted by the lens of mass media journalism. We are undoubtedly bringing full blown attention to their plight which seems to be always forgotten.
We are thus providing them with the tools that supersede their crutches, wheel chairs, prosthesis, and providing a kind of disability supplement. We are bringing those once marginalized to use the vehicle of technology which they otherwise will not have. We are affirming that modern technologies does not discriminate against those who are poor, the vulnerable, those who are marginalized, and those who can ill afford as a result of the overwhelming difficulties they face.

I once told some of my colleagues at a workshop that ´we need to innovate, explore and experiment new technologies that are user friendly, and that can help the physically challenge and suit their daily needs. We have to adapt technologies that can allow these categories of end users apply the technology to suit their situation and for their diurnal needs.´

These technologies can create a ´Middle Path´where all of us can work through devoid of our physical conditions and circumstances. In taking them through that path, and through that journey, we are taking away from them their physical disabilities and through technology and interaction, they will feel a sense of normalcy, online community support, through networking, sharing and communicating.


If Carlos Slim could have come closer, I could have whispered in his ears, the words, ´´We innovate´.







Andrew Benson Greene
ITU Digital World Fellow 2011 (WINNER)
Jeane Sauve Scholar - McGill university Canada 2004.
Founder at bGifted Foundation

http://youtu.be/AQzaM_jUBrI