Five Ashesi students have been selected as 2015 Melton Fellows at Ashesi. The five students, Sabelo Dube (Zimbabwe), Nana Kwame Oteng Darkwah (Ghana), Tito Magero Ochieng (Kenya), Jean Vladimir Mayemene Fomene (Cameroon) and Beryl Akuffo-Kwapong (Ghana) are part of a team of 20 motivated fellows from around the world selected from a pool of 340 applicants this year. They become the first students from Africa to join the programme, after the Melton Foundation partnered with Ashesi in 2014 to expand into the continent.
The Melton Foundation is a leading proponent of global citizenship as a way to encourage people and institutions to collaborate on shared global challenges. The Foundation works to empower students to address seven key issues, including conflict reduction, empowering changemakers, improving education and promoting equality. The five Ashesi students will join other changemakers from Chile, Germany, India, China and the U.S.A to drive conversations on global citizenship and collaboration.
“The problems the world faces are all interconnected, and it is through the joint efforts of people with zeal that change can be made,” says Sabelo. “Being part of this network would just be a great step to achieving change in the world. As part of the network, I will benefit from having fellow friends who share the same zeal and boldness as I do to be the solution to the global challenges the world faces. That in itself is empowering.”
In September of this year, the five Ashesi students will get to attend the Melton Foundation’s Global Citizenship Conference in Zhejiang University, China, to interact with thought leaders, practitioners and global citizenship advocates to share ideas, learn skills and forge partnerships.
“There’s nothing I am more passionate about than the prospect of a beautiful Africa: a continent free from conflict, which values diversity and equal opportunity, and which responsibly cares for its environment,” says Nana Kwame. “Being a member of the Melton Foundation’s network, I will benefit from interacting with and learning from the work and experiences of other fellows, enrich my perspective and increase my skills in learning to become a better global citizen.”