A PASSION FOR CHANGE: OLUMIDE IDOWU

“We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It’s just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it was a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn’t have expected.”


Olumide Emmanuel Idowu's passion for change is the beginning of the Initiative Youth Alive Initiative (YAI). He is an inspiration to peers and people around him, born in Bauchi on August 21, 1987 to Engineer Femi and Mrs. Funke Idowu. As a teenager, He organized youth club meetings in his home during which members discussed youth related issues. A Statistics graduate of the University of Abuja, he also attended the Loyola College in Ibadan.


AG: WHAT WERE YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAMS?
Olumide: I look back to some of my childhood dreams and I sometimes smile at how aggressive I was with my dreams. Frankly, I’m actually sort of impressed with my dreams from back when I was a kid. Back then, I thought all dreams were possible to achieve if you really wanted to achieve them. The funny thing is they were possible to achieve.I told myself that I must be educated and meet the needs of the communities and it was fulfilled and am still hoping on may more to come true.

AG: YOU ARE A MEMBER OF MANY ORGANIZATIONS, HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TO YOU?
Olumide: I am into many youth organizations in which I work with and volunteer for. Youth development, to me is simply empowerment and Job Opportunity. When the youths are been empowered we have a change in the economy of the country and all thing move smoothly. Nigeria is a country with diverse opportunity and we need to tap into it and that's what we at YAI are putting in place for them to grow and use their in-built skills. The process of growing up and developing one's capacities, happens no matter what we do. The challenge is to promote positive youth development and plan quality experiences with young people."



AG: YOU FOUNDED THE YOUTH ALIVE INITIATIVE; CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YAI IS ALL ABOUT.
Olumide: Youth Alive Initiative is a youth-led and youth-run not for profit youth organization founded 2008. Youth Alive initiative is an initiative by and for young people to develop to their fullest potential and bring about positive change in the societies they live.

Youth Alive Initiative focuses on providing support and training for young people in several areas including HIV/AIDS, Peer Pressure, Self Confidence and United Nations Millennium Development Goals through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)? I implemented several projects which includes, Computer Literacy Project, The Role of Youth in Community Development, Answer Solution and Knowledge (ASK) around HIV/AIDS, Young Entrepreneurship (YES), Switch ICT Project. These projects have collectively reached 1,500 young Nigerians.

Ultimately the impact of Youth Alive Initiative is to enhance the quality of life for all members of the society.



AG: WHAT WAS THE CATALYST THAT LED TO THE FOUNDATION OF YAI?
Olumide: First and Foremost, I am passionate about community and this has always been my childhood dream. I told myself that I must start something, not an NGO but an initiative that will give the youths a voice in every field of life. This race started 2008 after I completed my leadership training with LEAP AFRICA in Abuja, I was motivated by the training and till today I can say I have numbers of youth that benefited from our opportunities both Nigeria and out side the country.

AG: HOW HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING A DIFFERENCE?
Olumide: We focused primarily on training young people in several areas including HIV/AIDS, Peer Pressure, Self Confidence and United Nations Millennium Development Goals through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), through the years we have broadened our scope to include others in need in our underserved community. We now provide support foods and goods for people in different communities and we are still planning to do more for them.
I can not really give you the exact communities we have worked but we have reach 1,500 youths which we know they feel the impact of the opportunities been giving to them.

AG: WHAT IMPACT DID YOU SET OUT TO HAVE ON YOUTH?
Olumide: The only thing I tell the youth is all about the SMART analysis, with this you can have a plan and set a goal for yourself. Young people will work with their Advisor to set SMART goals in each program area.

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Relevant
T - Timely
And it really helps them know what they are doing.

AG: GREATEST INFLUENCE IN YOUR LIFE-AND WHY (PERSON)?
Olumide: My Mother, and for good reason.She loved me when I was not lovable, despite my faults and shortcomings. She stood by me and fought for me when others would not. She encouraged me, financed me, and believed in me.

In a short word my mother has been there for me all the time and I cannot forget her. Even when I started my initiatives, she took it as a responsible to help out in all what we do. She’s a mother for all.

AG: YOU ARE ALSO A WRITER, WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT WRITING? ANY PUBLISHED WORKS?
Olumide: Yes I love writing and I mostly write on real life issues, poems and comics. I have numbers of articles I have written and been published in some magazine both in Nigeria and outside the country. Well, presently I don’t have a published book now but still working on it.

AG: FIVE WORDS THAT CAN BEST DESCRIBE YOU AT THIS MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE
Olumide: Innovative, optimistic, dynamic, determined and loving!

AG: FIVE WORDS THAT MIGHT DESCRIBE YOU IN FUTURE
Olumide: Professional, Compassionate, Respectful, Reliable and Resourceful.

AG: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR CAREER IN FUTURE?
Olumide: The five points mentioned will capture what I intend to achieve in future.

1. Make time to facilitate the change.
2. Identify my values in me and my friends.
3. Maintain my Commitment.
4. Create a network of contact.
5. Create learning opportunity.

AG: Thanks and all the best...

It's all about Couture : AMSALE ABERRA

"When I see that look of confidence on the bride's face…that's when I know it's the right dress—if she feels comfortable and confident, she will look and feel beautiful."

Aberra, who is known professionally by her first name, is the co-founder, co-CEO, and creative director of the Amsale Design Group, which includes the Amsale, Christos, and Kenneth Pool labels. Her wedding and eveningwear is sold in her flagship boutique on Madison Avenue, at leading U.S. retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus, and in prestigious stores internationally.

Amsale Aberra's career as a couture bridal and eveningwear designer happened by necessity. While planning her 1985 nuptials to film executive Neil Brown, Amsale scoured the stores to find a simple, refined wedding dress. She found little in the way of clean, sophisticated gowns, and discovered an untapped niche in the bridal market—elegant and understated dresses.

"Everything was so overdone and with too much ornamentation," says Amsale, who was sure that her taste in gowns was shared by many other brides-to-be. Amsale placed a classified advertisement for custom-made gowns for other brides-to-be who shared her taste in sophisticated, understated designs. And so, with a few responses, a sketchpad full of designs, and a small team of couture sewers, Amsale started her business out of her New York City loft apartment.

Since then, the name AMSALE (pronounced Ahm-sah'-leh) has become synonymous with the "forever modern" wedding dress. Her collections are designed for brides who desire a fashionable, sophisticated and timeless look. Amsale believes: "Twenty years after the wedding, I want a bride to be able to look at her pictures and be as happy with the way she looked as she was on her wedding day."

Amsale's love of fashion began as a young girl growing up in Ethiopia. However, Amsale never considered becoming a designer: "In Ethiopia there were no fashion designers. I never knew that designing beautiful clothes was a profession to which one could aspire."

Amsale convinced her parents to allow her to leave Ethiopia in order to study commercial art in New England. While in school a revolution broke out in her native country, which forced Amsale to stay in the United States to support herself and complete her undergraduate education at University of Massachusetts - Boston through a number of odd-jobs. With limited financial resources, Amsale admits "I would design and sew my own clothes because I couldn't afford to buy new things. That's when I first thought of becoming a fashion designer."

Amsale left Boston, enrolled in New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and began her career as a design assistant for Harve Bernard upon graduation. Two years later, Amsale launched her custom bridal-gown business with her "forever modern" approach to sophisticated design.

Amsale's design philosophy has redefined the perception of the timeless wedding gown. Her innovative twists to time honored hallmarks of the traditional wedding gown—reintroducing "illusion design," modern updates of the traditional bustle, and tasteful color accents including the now-famous "blue sash" gown—have become so popular among prospective brides that they have been recognized as modern classics.

She extends that viewpoint of individuality to her collection of chic and refined gowns for the bridal party, and in the Amsale Evening collection of couture evening wear—both lines a natural progression from the sophisticated and modern styles of her bridal collection. Amsale's ball gowns, cocktail dresses and evening suits have been featured on the fashion and party pages of all the top fashion magazines, and worn by celebrities and socialites including Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Selma Blair, Salma Hayek, Lucy Liu, Heather Graham, Kim Basinger, Deborah Norville, Vivica A. Fox, Vanessa Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Heidi Klum, Katherine Heigl and many others. Producers turn to Amsale when they need beautiful designs for films and television programs; her gowns have been featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "Grey's Anatomy" and "27 Dresses."

Amsale's Madison Avenue boutique, which opened in September 2001, has fulfilled Amsale's desire to present her designs in a setting that reflected her "forever modern" vision. The 5,000 square foot boutique is an urban space with a gallery-like atmosphere that provides a sleek, sophisticated canvas and the perfect backdrop for Amsale's elegant designs. The boutique offers a full range of designs from all of the brands within the Amsale Design Group, including Amsale, Amsale Bridesmaids, Christos and Kenneth Pool. The Kenneth Pool line is designed by Project Runway alum, Austin Scarlett, while Amsale Aberra is the Creative Director for the Amsale and Christos lines.

Amsale Aberra, in December 2009 was appointed and sworn in as member Board of Trustees of her Alma matter, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

In addition to the Madison Avenue boutique, Amsale's bridal designs are found nationwide at the finest boutiques and specialty retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

Source: Amsale Official Website
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York

A SOARING VOICE-PRUDENCE MABHENA

Music by Prudence tells the uplifting story of Prudence Mabhena’s struggles to overcome poverty and discrimination. Prudence’s story is one of abandonment by her mother and father’s family, and then of a new home at the King George VI School for the Disabled

Prudence Mabhena is a Zimbabwean singer-songwriter, who is central figure in the 2009 Academy Award wining documentary directed and produced by Roger Ross Williams, Music by Prudence.

Prudence was born with a congenital disease known as Arthrogryphosis which deforms the joint of the body. The disease cost her both legs and makes it difficult to use her arms.

The Zimbabwean society into which she was born considers children with disabilities as carrying the taint of witchcraft. Families of children with disabilities are assumed cursed, because of this, many disable children are forsaken and hidden from the rest of the society. Prudence and other members of her band called Liyana, all disabled, have managed to prevail over stereotypes and inspire the same people what once saw them as cursed.

After the parents abandoned her at the age of 4, her maternal grand mother, a rural farmer took her in and raised her. Her grandmother taught her to sing, she kept prudence by her side while she worked in the fields. Her grandmother would sing to her, and Prudence found solace in music and music fed her soul.

Prudence created her own “family” with the other disabled children she met, who shared her passion of music in the King George VI School in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, . The band, Liyana was born as a class project and draws upon the talents of eight musicians, all born and raised in Zimbabwe. Even with the challenges of working in team, in barely an hour, Liyana had produced four great tunes. From the start they had a special flair for communicating musically through various subject and musical styles, including gospel, reggae, and traditional Shona music.

Music, Prudence says, brings joy into her life, according to Williams, director of Music by Prudence, she sings all day. in the film there's a scene where she sings while having her teeth brushed by a carer.

Prudence a versatile vocalist of the band has her voice likened to that of Miriam Makeba, the South African Emancipation Singer. Other members include Tapiwa Nyengera, Energy Maburutse, Honest Mupatse, Marvelous Mbulo, Vusani Vuma and they specialize in marimbas, African drums, shakers, keyboard, and piano.

In 2006, Liyana won the Crossroads Africa Inter-regional Music Festival in Mozambique and went on tour Sweden, The Netherlands and Belgium. In July, 2007 as featured performers at the Bulawayo Theatre, Liyana concluded with a new song “Never give up”, a title that is especially meaningful because it is the mantra learned at KGVI School that inspires them to this day.

Roger Ross Williams, the director/producer of the film, allowed Prudence and other members of Liyana to tell their own stories through interviews and Prudence did some narration of the film. It’s truly a phenomenal experience to see a film in which people with disabilities tell their own stories from their own perspectives.

Prudence says she has forgiven her family for their mistreatment. Her father with streaming down his face begged for her forgiveness at the airport when she returned to Zimbabwe after the Oscar ceremony.

Prudence now a teacher at the school where she discovered how to put her joy in music has a optimistic attitude about the good her music is doing and hopes her work with Human Right Watch will bring attention to the needs of people with disabilities in the Third World.

Source:

Music by Prudence
Wikipedia
Media Dis & Dat
NPR