Thank you for joining us today Audry. Can you begin by telling us a little bit about yourself and your background?
"Of course, thank you. My name is Audry Chivanga, from Zimbabwe. Growing up, I witnessed several social problems in my community, from an incredibly poor healthcare system to widespread poverty. I think seeing these issues all around me as a little girl ignited something in me. From a young age I became obsessed with finding solutions to local problems. I studied in Harare and I finished my advanced level in 2021, and after that I was blessed to get a place at the African Leadership University in Rwanda under the Mastercard Foundation scholarship studying software engineering." I like to think that my personal triumph paved the way for many.
Incredible. As a university student studying in Rwanda, what led you to apply to the Millennium Fellowship?
"As I had mentioned, I have been passionate about community upliftment but I never rooted my work in the Sustainable Development goals - that is to say I had heard about the SDGs but I could not tell you anything about them. So when I saw the Millennium Fellowship’s call for applications and what the program offers, I saw this as my chance to be theoretically empowered by learning about the SDG framework, and at the same time be practically engaged by implementing a social impact project. I decided to apply, get the skills, and be empowered to tackle my project and create meaningful impact. I wanted to understand the topic of social impact in general so that I knew the right direction to follow. Through the Millennium Fellowship, I feel more confident and empowered enough. As we learnt in the curriculum, there is a difference between being helpful and helping - I needed to learn these lessons so I could be the best leader for myself and my community."
When I saw the Millennium Fellowship’s call for applications and what the program offers, I saw this as my chance to be theoretically empowered by learning about the SDG framework, and at the same time be practically engaged by implementing a social impact project.
Do you mind telling us more about your project with Africa Innovative Network?
Growing up in Zimbabwe, I used to see how rich our country was, mainly in youth, but at the same time, there were a lot of problems, like I mentioned earlier. What troubled me was that despite the youth being the largest and most energetic demographic group, all we could do about the issues ailing us was to complain. There was too little action.
I realized there were very few true communities of support for those of us who were quietly passionate about making a change.
That is when I got the idea of creating a platform where we could connect our different talents to our different potentials. This rapidly grew to become a community for us to innovate and have open discussions on how we can solve problems. In having these open discussions, the most prevalent, 'low hanging fruit' that sparked my interest was a problem many of us saw in our communities- long queues in African hospitals.
One time I was at a health facility, and I witnessed the death of an African child in a queue right in front of me. This experience was shocking. After enrolling to study software engineering, I realized my skills might not be enough and a community might just be what I needed. The journey of creating change is more of a ‘we’ than ‘I’. The healthcare sector of my country, for example, requires a multi-stakeholder approach involving people of different expertise. The most important thing is for us to collaborate, stop complaining about the problems we see and start acting on them. So as a Millennium Fellow, I started the African innovative community to do this. Currently, we have a network of 200-250 young people from different African countries.
The project started by asking questions like- What if we start making things happen here? What if we start collaborating? So now we evolved to encourage each other to solve local problems in their communities? For example, someone in search of a website developer can come on the platform and since it is a collaboration platform, people can contribute. This way, you don't have to build a solution for a whole problem alone. Our project has been recognized by the national newspaper of Zimbabwe, the Herald.
The "African Innovative Community" was not just an initiative; it was the embodiment of a dream. A dream where African youths were armed with knowledge, innovation, and the tools to create change. Structured themes like "Innovative Monday" and "Futuristic Friday" were designed to mold a proactive and innovative mindset among its members. This initiative directly aligns with several of the SDGs including Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), and Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9). By targeting these SDGs, the community is not only pushing for individual growth but is also contributing to a sustainable, inclusive, and empowered Africa for all.
This is an amazing project! Can you tell us about your experience as a Millennium Fellow generally, how has the journey shaped you?
I'm humbled to say that I experienced a real mindset change as a Fellow. In as much as I was always engaging with the community to try to solve problems, the Millennium Fellowship changed my perspective on identifying problems and the way I try to solve them. So these decisions improved me as a person.
During the Fellowship, I learned about building human-centered solutions and involving community members in all decision-making processes. So it helped in changing my perspective. So it was my time to transform my mind to see solving problems differently.
Thank you very much. So the next question I would like to ask is, what is your biggest advice to, prospective millennium fellows that want to apply for the next course?
To prospective Millennium Fellows, I would say as they implement their projects, in as much as they want to impact many lives, they should know that it's not about the quantity but the quality. You can impact very few people and that impact will be felt significantly. So they should focus on the quality of the project more than the numbers they have. Be content with the quality of work you are pouring into your community.
Connect with Audry on LinkedIn.
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