環(huán)球英語 — 782：Creating Leaders in Africa

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Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.

Voice 2

And I'm Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

Skilled, intelligent people live everywhere in the world: in wealthy countries and poor countries. But there is a problem in developing countries. It is called "Brain Drain." It happens when a country's most educated people leave the country. Often, these people go to wealthy countries to find jobs.

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These people hope to make their own lives better. But for the countries they leave, losing them causes many problems. But is it possible for people to improve their own lives, and their countries too? Fred Swaniker would say yes.

Voice 1

Today's Spotlight is on the school Fred started: the African Leadership Academy.

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Fred Swaniker grew up in many places in Africa. His family has a history of starting schools. Fred shared his reasons for starting the school at the 2007 TED conference in Tanzania.

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"I am an African. I was born in Ghana, and grew up in Gambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. I have worked in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania. With each part of Africa I lived in, I fell more deeply in love with my continent. With this love, came a desire to see Africa grow and do well. So I kept asking myself "What will it take to make Africa grow?"

I looked at other successful countries. I saw that those countries grew because of people with new ideas. People who made these new ideas become real. I knew that if this was going to happen in Africa, we needed leaders. We needed a system to help these leaders. We must work to increase the number of people who can think new, important ideas. People who can make those ideas happen. And so was born the idea for African Leadership Academy."

Voice 1

Fred wanted to give young people a place to grow into great adults. He wanted to connect these young people together. He knew that these skilled children needed to be friends with each other. He wanted them to work together to lead Africa in new directions.

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"So many skilled young Africans cannot get far because they do not have those friendships. They may have an idea or a desire, but they do not have any connection or person to help them make those ideas come true."

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So Fred worked to create the African Leadership Academy. He worked with other educators and business people. Together, they formed a group to build the school. They collected money from companies and groups. With this money, the group purchased an old printing building in Johannesburg South Africa. This building became the African Leadership Academy.

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Fred employed five people to travel to schools across Africa. They looked for the best students. He also wrote to 1,600 school leaders. He asked them to choose their best students for the Leadership Academy.

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The school opened its doors to students in 2008. It is a boarding school. The students study and live at the school. They attend the school for two years, their final two years of schooling. Most students are between the ages of 16 and 19.

Voice 1

Students from any African country can attend the academy. It does not matter if they are rich or poor. In the first year of school, 80 percent of the students did not pay anything to attend the Academy. But Fred Swaniker is not just giving the education for free. He has a special agreement with the students.

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The students have "forgivable loans." When a student turns 25 years old, the school will call him. If the student is working in Africa and plans to continue for ten more years, he does not have to pay the money back. But if the student is working anywhere else in the world, he will owe all the money, and interest on the money too.

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Successful business people from all around the world have come to the school to speak to the students. Fred hopes that these business leaders will be examples for the students. He wants the students to someday start their own businesses.

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"Africa will not come out of poverty unless we become successful business owners."

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Fred believes that many Africans seek out dependable jobs. But he thinks that more people in Africa need to be willing to take risks. He hopes his school will encourage students to do this.

Voice 1

But who are the students at the African Leadership Academy? The students come from over 29 different countries. Most students are from Africa, but some are from the United States. You may remember a Spotlight program about one of the students from Malawi. William Kamkwamba built a windmill in his village to create electricity. William hopes to someday start an energy company to provide electricity to all of Africa.

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Tabitha Tangoi is another student at the Academy. She is from Kenya. When she heard about children in Kenya who did not have school books, she decided to do something to help. She started a group called "A Book for Change." This group collects books for school children in Kenya. In only a year, her group has given over 3,000 books to poor children.

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Medhi Oulmakki is from Morocco. Medhi is part of the Aquarium Acting Troupe. It is a group that uses theatre to make positive changes in poor communities. The group travels across Morocco to educate women about their rights. He says, "Theatre is a great way to fight negative ideas." People listen to new ideas when they come in the form of theatre.

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Miranda Nyatha is a student from South Africa. When she was young, her school was having problems. Teachers were unhappy and refused to work. The school searched for a new mathematics teacher but could not find one. At the age of 16, Miranda decided to do something to help.

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"I saw the need for me to start afternoon and Saturday classes. I taught mathematics, but then expanded to science and geography."

Voice 1

Miranda hopes to encourage more young leaders by putting skilled teachers in schools all over Africa

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These are just a few of the students at the African Leadership Academy. All of them have the ability to make Africa a better place. All of them have the ability to be great leaders. And Fred Swaniker believes that with the help of the Academy, all of the students will succeed.