– Green #Innovators in action
By Strive Masiyiwa
This week as young people in Glasgow, London, Sydney, Paris, and many other places are marching in the streets demanding urgent action to protect Planet Earth, I read about a young Kenyan entrepreneur who with some of his friends has tried to tackle both pollution and poverty (including their own) in the Kibera slums near Nairobi.
#ShoutOut to Wyclife, and his two friends Saviour and Wycliff, who as teenagers a few years ago shared a love of art but faced not a few challenges… including no money and lots of nearby trash polluting their neighborhood.
Their #Solution was to recycle rubbish like old beer cans, and transform it into metal artwork to sell to make money for themselves and families. Thus was born the Sun Valley Art Collective, a project they founded that’s now expanded to teach art skills to other youth living in Kibera’s slums.
I don’t know Wyclife myself, or the details of all involved, but take a look at some of their #Innovative artwork made from recycled trash in this small project. It’s amazing! https://www.facebook.com/artsunvalley
A co-founder of this project, Wyclife is a burn survivor who was trapped in a fire in his Kibera home the night before his second birthday. [His name was to be Wyclef, he wrote, but the magistrate misspelled it on his birth certificate].
Over the next seven years, he had to have 17 operations to treat the burn scars. Now I understand he’s at university studying I.T. and working to support his education with his art.
I read that over the years, this young entrepreneur has been bullied a lot, and called names because of his scars.
Have you ever heard the expression: “There but by the grace of God go I” ?
Fires like this in high density places are a huge problem across Africa as most of you know. And many many people do not come out alive. The poverty that often leads to this dangerous situation is a whole other discussion.
While I believe all of you on the platform know this, I want to say it clearly: There’s NEVER an excuse to bully anyone, of any age, from anywhere, for any reason. Whether in person or online.
__ #SayNoToBullying
Wyclife had an older cousin who helped him cope with the situation: He helped him stand up to bullies, taught him to walk with his injuries, and also to believe in himself. When this cousin sadly passed away, young Wyclife had to deal with bullying on his own. I imagine this was very tough.
If this young man has the courage and vision to #EntrepreneurIt amidst quite a few challenges, surely you can too.
Be the person who tries to help those being bullied, and who gives support. And also be the #Innovator who not just picks up the trash, but imagines its opportunities for you as an entrepreneur.
Whatever you do, don’t be part of the #Problem!
• Strive Masiyiwa is a telecommunications guru and founder Econet.