Towongo Angelo Alfred-URI Ambassador South Sudan

Towongo Angelo Alfred was born on the 28^th of February 1987 in the Southern part of Sudan which is presently the South Sudan; during the civil war which took two decades. He relocated to Uganda at the age of 12 and was raised in Adjumani District ,later in Arua in Uganda West Nile; and then in Kampala.

When he was young, he had a keen desire to become a Journalist because he loved listening to the BBC in particular he loved tuning in to listen to Alfred Taban who used to report for the BBC from Khartoum. That is where he believes he came to develop the interest of becoming a Journalist.

But after joining the  Ordinary Level and then later to the Advance level in 2001-2005 respectively, Alfred decided to pursue a similar  cause somewhat to his dream Career at the University and settled on a  Bachelors in Library and Information Science at the Uganda Christian University Mukono. He is  looking forward to do his Masters in Management Information Systems or in Information Technology.

because of the Love and spirit of his new Country, The newest state in the World,that came out of war and a lot trauma ,he came to realize that a lot is  needed to be done for this country by both the young and old alike and even the wounded heros and People now living with disabilities ,who all  need to be part and parcel of the reconstruction of the state. This is ultimately why he would like to use the knowledge he will  obtained from the University and  disseminate and sow the information seed of Reconciliation and peace building so as to realize peaceful co-existence and help others forget the past and focus on the future.

He would also like to design a project which gives the youth and other stake holders an opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and confidence and love for the new country. One of his ambition as a United Religion Initiative Ambassador for South Sudan is to encourage the  youth to take up leadership roles  and help encourage them to take ownership of their civic duty to their country. He would also like to push for the youth to realize that  it is critical for them to help nurture the leadership in their country for themselves and ultimately for the next generation of leaders to come. This, he believes will help secure a future of sustainable peace, security and democracy in South Sudan.

During the referendum while he  was a student  at the Uganda Christian University he visited home  (South Sudan),and was shocked that the citizens were not aware of the  referendum. Being an inborn leader, Albert quickly helped form a task force called ‘South Sudan Referendum Students’ Task Force (SSRSTF) of which he was the persons concern with Mobilizations . The task Force mandate was  to educate, disseminate and make people aware of how and why to vote during the referendum.

Alfred is also currently the spokes person of the Central Equatoria Inter University Council. (CEIUCO).This is an association that brings in the Students of Yei County, Laniya County, Morobo County, Juba County, Kajokeji County, and Terekeka County, of Central Equatoria States together to share development ideas.

He is also the  editor and contributor of the  LIGHT OF THE NATION magazine which is published twice annually by the Uganda Christian University South Sudanese Students’ Association (UCUSSSA) .He also runs a blog  “Have South Sudanese Forgotten the Importance of Prayers” which focuses on the importance of prayer. The blog was inspired by the realization that after realizing peace, many of his people no longer remember pray yet they  were the same people who prayed  for so many days and nights during the war.

Alfred likes meeting new friends and seeing new places. He would like the opportunity to meet  inspirational leaders such as  Kofi Anan, Thabo Mbeki,  Good luck Jonathan,Dr. Jimmy Wongo, and Alfred Lado Gore.

He loves reading and watching Soccer; he is a huge Manchester United Fan.

Sebazungu Theodomir URI Youth Ambassador-Rwanda

Sebazungu Theodomir is the Co-Founder of the Rwanda Women Empowerment Project (RWEP) and the Youth Ambassador of the united religions Initiative (URI) representing Rwanda for the year 2012-2013.

He was born, raised and educated in Rwanda and he is currently in his fifth year as a medical student in the Faculty of Medicine at the National University of Rwanda.

Since 2011, through Rwanda Health Education Project, Theodomir has served as a peer educator for Family planning, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health in secondary schools, youth centers and health centers in Rwanda.

Prior to joining the United Religions Initiative, Sebazungu Theodomir was the Coordinator of the Advocacy taskforce and the Director of the publication of the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR).

He has been the chief editor of MEDSAR`s website www.medsar.net and its affiliate Newspaper dubbed “MEDSAR VOICE Magazine”. He has participated in various health conferences and forums held in Rwanda and abroad and contributed to the signing of The World Cancer- Free Declaration among many other online petitions. He was a delegate in the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) which was held in Addis Ababa from the 4^th -8^th of December 2011. He was also among the delegations present in the Integration for impact conference which was held in Nairobi-Kenya from the 12^th -14^th of September, 2012 as well as the Global maternal health conference held in Arusha, Tanzania from the 15^th -17^th of January 2013.

Among other trainings, Theodomir has been a participant in  a 4 days training for young champions organized by the East African Community and the Ministry of Health from the 4^th -8^th November 2012 in Kigali Rwanda.
Sebazungu is also a member of the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA), and has completed a 5weeks long training on political advocacy.

He is absolutely passionate about promoting health and the wellbeing of all persons especially in Africa. In addition to promoting healthcare, Theodomir enjoys Surfing the Net, travelling, listening to Music, watching the nature. He fluent in Kinyarwanda, French and English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Crystal Ball.

 

Some of us need palm readers or fortune tellers to tell us what our future beholds. Others just think up their future and visualize it to the minutest detail. Whatever does it for you; we all work and hope towards a better tomorrow. I believe my tomorrow is better than my today and our yesterday. Here’s what I see in my crystal ball…

I feel peaceful within my own person and within my surroundings. I am at ease during election periods and do not fear my brethren from a different community or ethnic group. I am elated that the electorate vote in competent leaders based on their potential and credentials and not based on what their last name is! This is the future of real democracy.

I see an educated world that does not discriminate on race, gender, sex, age or creed. The future facilitates universal free primary school education to all equally. Education they say is the key to all success stories. Education I say is the commencement of understanding ourselves and others and how to live peacefully in this beautiful world. With this education we will undeniably accept that different is good. We will celebrate our different skin tones, shapes and sizes, different religions and cultures as opposed to forcing others to conform to our ‘correct’ standards. 

My future is filled with happy healthy well-nourished people. Good food is in abundance and droughts and famine are fiddles our grandmothers tell us to scare us when we are being naughty. Basic amenities such as food, clothing and shelter and clean water are available to all. Slums and shanties are things of the past. Everybody has access to a decent meal and a proper place to call home after a hard day’s work!

A very near tomorrow has no HIV/AIDS, malaria, cancer, to name but a few deadly diseases that cost us hundreds of lives prematurely. Medical breakthroughs will have resulted in vaccines and cures for most of these lethal maladies. No longer will we have alarming statistics of deaths that can be prevented and cured. The life span of ordinary healthy peoples will consequently increase meaning more productive years which is excellent for our economies to thrive in.

Most of all I see Africa depicted in its prime in the media. Free of disease, bad governance and poverty that have been synonymous with it. I see the cradle of mankind living to its full potential and a food basket to herself and others. I want an Africa that can enjoy her natural resources as much as those who exploit her do! I would love to see Africa and other third world countries being at equal bargaining power with other key players on the international arena.

In the scenes of tomorrow, you and I have embraced to the letter the late Nobel peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai’s vision of conserving our environment. She meticulously noted that if we do not take care of our environment, our environment will not take care of us. Tomorrow we are taking these words to heart, we are planting more trees and felling fewer, reducing our gas emissions and are opting for greener and safer means to generate energy.

With clearer structures in place, the youth are not only seeking formal employment but understand the importance of innovation and setting up their own business empirors.With the world now a  global village new opportunities are emerging every day and these must be seized with zeal and passion that the youth all over are already demonstrating.

To get to this mirage of a tomorrow, current issues that today’s world face must be addressed with the urgency it deserves. Terrorism which aims at the destruction of Human Rights whilst attacking democracy the rule of law and the respect for humanity are at the fore burner of issues that need to be dealt with yesterday to get to the future we all envision and deserve. State must all unit to fight this battle and I am sure this battle can and will be won.

Creating the future we want starts at an individual level. What am I doing to make 2013 better for myself and the world? Individuals must take ownership of making a better world first so that when we hit the ground running together, we know we are all doing the mile.

States must continuously review their commitment to attaining the millennium development goals and other individual states objectives and visions.Continous assessment and reviewing of these targets is paramount to help stay on track.

With mist in my eyes while still straining to look through my crystal ball I see a peaceful beautiful green haven with blissful healthy diverse people of all walks of life living life and loving it!

 

 

Miss Nyambura Mundia

 

Nyambura Mundia was born on the 30^th day of March in the year 1986.She was raised and educated in Nyeri which is located in the Central Region of Kenya and moved to Nairobi in the year 2005 to pursue her tertiary education in Journalism and Public Relations.

While at school, she was passionate about theatre and  joined the National Theatre as a thespian  and a poet, and convened a monthly creative space for women which was dubbed ‘ Amka Women’s Creative Space’ at the Goethe Institute, which eventually gave birth to “ Fresh Paint” an anthology of distinguished literal pieces by women of Kenya.

As a volunteer with Hope World Wide Kenya and National Blood Transfusion Service in 2009, she co-steered in the formation of pledge 25 Kenya – a young blood donors club and serves as an Advisory Board Member of the same to-date.

She was selected as URI- Africa Peace Ambassador in 2010 and organized an interfaith blood drive on the USA embassy bomb blast commemoration day; marked on 07 /August /2010 involving 5 faiths dubbed “ Blood Drive for Peace”.

Among her other projects include the 500 smiles picture project that involves Pediatric Cancer cases from Kenyatta National Hospital, which she not surprisingly serves as the Public Relations adviser.

Miss Nyambura recently, organized a Cleanup project in Kibera that attracted both the local administration & international prominence.

Nyambura is currently the URI/ Africa Office administrator and alumni of URI-Travelling Peace Academy and has recently resumed school to pursue a Bachelor in Divinity.

As a young leader, she is actively involved in peace building initiatives, interfaith cooperation and is closely affiliated with Damietta Peace Initiative, Franciscan Peace Project, and Muslim & Christian Relations Centre in the capacity of a Youth facilitator.

Miss Nyambura certainly has a keen interest in the arts, history and old poetry and is an avid traveler and is devoted to giving back to her community!