International Institute For Global Leadership
Issue #120 * December 2011
www.global-leadership.com
Asheville, NC. USA
Guest Editorial
Who Are You?
Bikundo Onyari (Kenya)
onyarib@yahoo.com
Spiritual Beings?
Not long ago I used to think that we are our bodies and nothing more. There was nothing more than that, until I was able to learn that we are more than our physical bodies. This discovery shocked me from my belief system that I had developed over the years. The message was so clear that I couldn’t believe it, that we are all spiritual beings housed in our bodies. This seemed to be complicated stuff especially because I wasn’t a religious person and subscribed to Karl Marx thought that religion is opium to the masses.
I dismissed techniques that promoted spirituality like meditation and prayers. I was just like any other normal person living life as it is or better still taking one day at a time. I remember there are times I used to struggle so much and look for answers when I was engulfed with complicated situations. In any case my rational mind was my guide and I had to listen to it every time. I didn’t care to know who I was provided I was alive I could make it out there. This made me a special person I called the Average Man, who was neither this nor that. He was just there in middle and couldn’t take a stand about something. In reality I never stood for something and didn’t want to oppose anyone. I wanted to be good to everyone and that’s how I was brought up.
I limited myself because of my body and this seemed so boring and felt like I was in a cage. Breaking from that cage has been a difficult task because it has been conditioned in my mind. Everything I saw was projected from my physical me.
The Discovery
My doubts grew less when I discovered that I am a spiritual being having a human experience. That was a powerful break because it made me realize that I was more than my body. Being a spirit meant that I wasn’t male or female. I could have been either and fitted perfectly. It is my body that decided my sex.
What are my reasons for bringing up the issue of spirituality? I have been talking about purpose and the best way to know one’s purpose is to remember that we are all spiritual beings that have a reason to be here. We didn’t come here to flow with the life the way it is. We came to influence the live we are living by ensuring the world is better than it is. However the world cannot be better until we are purposeful. I at times look at the babies who come to the world everyday. Most of us are in agreement that children are bundles of joy and true blessing. However do ever wonder if they have any influence on this life?
To be frank with you, I bet that spirituality is the World Bank of Humanity. That’s where our strength and passion lies. All the answers that we seek are inside us, in that part that we have ignored for so long – our spirit. I know of so many people who are everyday looking for answers in their lives. If I told them that the answers to their questions lie with them, they would think I am bluffing.
The Spiritual Challenge
I want to challenge each and every one of us to rediscover who we really are by reviving by connecting to our spirituality. I am not suggesting to the following of a particular religion. All of us need to find our own path that will lead and connect us to the Creator or Ultimate Power. Someone else experience cannot be your experience until you are able to have your own experience and journey to the truth. That way it will be easy to discover our purpose and pursue it as if all our lives depended on it.
www.andekenya.co.ke
www.thefaceofkenya.com
www.bikundo-onyari.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/bikundo
What Our Students Are Saying
Babirye Mercy (Uganda)
These books are really helping me discover myself, develop my esteem and understand how to apply success principles in my life. I have more confidence in realising my dreams although they sometimes look a bit too ambitious. Thanks again.
What Our Students Are Reading
Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
by Robert K. Greenleaf ($15.61)
Twenty-five years ago Robert Greenleaf published these prophetic essays on what he coined servant leadership, a practical philosophy that replaces traditional autocratic leadership with a holistic, ethical approach. This highly influential book has been embraced by cutting edge management everywhere. Yet in these days of Enron and what VISA CEO Dee Hock calls our “era of massive institutional failure,” Greenleaf’s seminal work must reach the mainstream now more than ever. Servant Leadership helps leaders find their true power and moral authority to lead. It helps those served become healthier, wiser, freer, and more autonomous. This book encourages collaboration, trust, listening, and empowerment. It offers long-lasting change, not a temporary fix and extends beyond business for leaders of all types of groups.
Valuable Resources for Personal & Planetary Transformation
Consciousness-Based Education Association
www.cbeprograms.org
The Consciousness-Based Education Association (CBEA) is a non-profit, educational organization that provides practical, scientifically validated educational programs, technologies, and consulting services for new schools, existing schools, and after-school organizations.
Meet Our New Students
We are please to welcome six new active students this month. They are from
Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Togo & Uganda
Kuntuo-Asare Richard (Ghana)
Kuntuo-Asare Richard is my name but my dad usually calls me Nana Kuntuo-asare after my grandfather of blessed memory. I am from a family of four children, three boys and a girl. My mum and dad are Christians and also both farmers. My father is into cocoa cultivation and has a lot of citrus farms. My hometown Assin Foso is a small town and a district capital in the central region of Ghana.
At 30, I have first degree in African Studies (majored in History and Politics) from the University of Cape Coast and also a diploma in Network Administration from NIIT in Accra. I am an enthusiastic person who loves to shape the lives of other people in diverse ways. A youth activist and an advocate for development, I like to impact whatever knowledge I acquire on other people especially the youth. Community work has been part of my life since early years and has initiated numerous youth oriented programs to help my folks.
As an African and a former African Studies student, I love books authored by Africans especially the late Professor Adu-Boahen and also love to watch historic movies.
My goal is to advocate for change in the lives of young people in the fields of Education, Sports, Agriculture, and Religion to mention but a few. I believe in the fact that with time every person can change and change for the better. So indeed, I am a naysayer in all my endeavours and do not compromise defeat and failure.
My hobbies are reading good and educative novels and Information technology. I have participated in series of Information and Communications Technology seminars and personally organize Information and Communications Technology workshops for various institutions free of charge in my community as a gesture of giving back to my society.
For now, I am trying to build upon the quality of my leadership skills in order to improve on a project I have started a year ago. This project seeks to help the youth in my area become conscious of their vision of absolute development and also revive the ‘can do’ spirit which for now is dormant. Concerning this project, I have been able to organize series of educational tours, leadership conferences, free teaching in the basic schools and also designed a radio talk show program on our local FM station (Nkwa FM) that discusses issues affecting Youth development in my locality and how to find solutions to such pressing issues with interested and necessary stakeholders.
It is my dream to get partners that can help push my ideologies into practical reality and extend my Youth advocacy into wider areas of my Ghana and Africa as a whole. Religiously, I am a Pan-African Christian.
Eddie Ombagi (Kenya)
My name is Eddie Ombagi, a 22 year old graduate of Language and Literature from Moi University, Kenya.
I consider myself a politician of conscience. I suffer at heart when I see Africa in the deep miseries it is in. I lament inwardly when I see Africa being ravaged by drought and famine, consumed by wars and conflicts and led by leaders who do not understand the essence of being African. Yet amid all this, Africa is a land of plenty, with beautiful people proud of our being African, our sensuality and emotion, our song and dance, our gaiety and spring of step, our resilience, our laughter that springs from the heart, our ability to love and capacity to learn, the beauty of the negress and swagger of the negro, the spirit of ubuntu, the fountain of humanity, the ideals of pan africanism.
I dream to be part of the New Africa, to lead the African Renaissance. To offer hope to our people, to ensure that we reclaim our spot in the global arena.
I am an African Union youth volunteer therefore I have travelled quite a bit and this has informed my political ideals and beliefs. What I have learnt in my sojourn is that Africa is one, our experiences are singular, our dreams and aspirations are united. If we harness our power as Africans, then we can move mountains.
I read quite a lot. In fact I have a small library. I read biographies like ‘Unbowed’ by Wangari Maathai, ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ by Nelson Mandela. I read political books like ‘The Machiavellian Moment’, ’48 Laws of Power’ by Robert Greene and ‘The Art of War.’ I read self help books like ‘The Alchemist’, ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ and ‘The Monk Who Sold My Ferrari’ to name but a few.
I am a leader. I have been a leader in my brief life. I will be a leader till I die. I have written several papers on youth empowerment and education which I have presented in conferences and workshops. I have organized seminars in my university on university student leadership. The seminars were meant to orient student leaders on leadership skills and orientations. I run a youth organization that creates awareness to the young people on HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancies, risky sexual behaviors and behavior change education. In the university I founded a group called Student in Community Organization (SiCO). We engage the community around the university on best environmental practices and civic participation. Among the student population, we organize regular public lectures where we invite respected leaders in different fields to speak to us. We also hold HIV/AIDS awareness events and Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) sessions in school. We partner with Walter Reed Project (WRP) to offer the services. I am a member of the World Youth Alliance where I do advocacy work on Human Rights and Dignity. I am a fellow with the African Union Youth Program where I do volunteering work on matters of youth empowerment and advocacy. I am an Ambassador with the Millennium Candle Campaign (MCC) where we advocate for the attainment of the MDGs. I am a writer and blogger. I write poems and short stories that have been entered in several competitions. I am in the world for a purpose; I am trying so hard to know what it is.
Ajinadu Abdulazeez (Nigeria)
My Name is Ajinadu Abdulazeez, from a polygamous family of 14 and I’m the second child in the family. I’m from Adavi local Government in Kogi State, Nigeria. I grew up under the care of my parent until the age of 13 when I left for my Secondary Education at a boarding school.
I finished my primary school at Sacred Heart Nursery and Primary School, Kabba, Kogi State, after which I went to Federal Government College Ugwolawo, Kogi State, for my Secondary education. After obtaining my Senior Secondary Certificate Education (SSCE) in year 2005, I proceeded to University of Agriculture Makurdi to Study Statistics and computer Science.
As a person I like leadership and I always want to guide, Influence and Motivate people. This has made me to join the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) while I was an under graduate. During my time as a SIFE student, I was involved in Community Development Projects such as:
1. Prison Reform and Entrepreneurship Project (PREP), this project was designed to help the prison industry redirect the man power and creativity of criminals to entrepreneurship so as to facilitate their correctional process and also help them Generate income for themselves while in prison. PREP also serve as an avenue to compliment the propose rehabilitation of reintegration of the prison inmates
2. Entrepreneurship Drift (e-DRIFT) is another project designed for teenage secondary school students in Makudi the Benue state capital so as to introduce them to entrepreneurship and team work while in secondary school.
3. Women in Free Enterprise (WIFE): This project designed to promote gender equality and women empowerment for women in our community, by teaching them skills that will help improve on their business and also start a new business so as to be able to contribute to their family income.
These projects gave me the opportunity to work with people in the real world and I was able to appreciate the importance of a team work, it also helped me to regulate and manage my emotions as an individual in a team. Other skills I have learnt through these projects are time management skills, Communication skills, project management skills and public speaking.
Part of my goal is to study in Canada and United States of America. After my studies I want to be an educator, book writer and business consultant.
My favourite movies are The Pursuit of happiness and the great debaters, and the books that have inspired me are 360 degree leader by John Maxwell, Good to Great by Jim Collins and 21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership by John Maxwell.
I like travelling and it is my desire to visit Mecca, India, China, Dubai, South Africa, Paris, Rome, and USA. I also like playing computer game whenever I’m less busy. My greatest dream is to be the part of the people that would make the world a great business team where everybody matters and are important towards achieving a balanced and better world.
Nyakpo, Koffi Anani (Togo)
I am from a large family composed of ten children. My parents are farmers. I have a cool and calm nature. I am patient. I like honesty and integrity in life. My first desire is to be in public administration as change maker in my country. I want to become a rich man undertaking my own business. This will allow me to be widely helpful in great generosity, from my family to others. At this time my major goal is to invest in personal growth and development. It is this spirit which brought me to IIGL.
I have travelled many times in Ghana , neighbour country of Togo . I have read books. The one which captured deeply my attention is ”Think and Grow Rich” of Napoleon Hill.
In 2002, I was trained by Red Cross- Togo : ”First Aid Worker, Community Agent of Health”
In 2004, I have been Trainee at an organization: ”Mission Mondiale pour la Femme et l’Enfant Déshérité” I worked as particular Secretary of the President.
In 2006, I participated a campaign with an NGO named ”Synergie des Jeunes pour le Développement”. It was about Sexually transmitted diseases.
In 2010, I participated the fourth campaign of population and habitats, general registration in my country Togo.
Mwebaze Kanaahe Brian (Uganda)
Brian K M. Bilal better known by his first name *Brian* and not ‘Brio’..Nickname K-1 is a Public Health Youth Specialist (Read FREAK), with a high zeal and zap in youths participation and involvement in national and international matters. He masterminded the involvement of HIV-Positive youth in regional programs while with UNAIDS in Zambia (2005). This stage drove him to accept representing the Uganda Red Cross Youth to Copenhagen as a Youth Leader (2009/10) and on his return catalyzed the HIV/AIDS Life Skills Program underway in Pallisa district. He still serves with the Red Cross Youth on the Uganda-Denmark Working Group that designs, plans, monitors and evaluates youth empowerment programs (you could call it a consultancy) on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, Environment, Maternal & Child Health program.
He has (and still) represented youth on a number of platforms of British Council, World Youth Alliance, Africa Water & Youth Movement and the United Nations Youth.
He is a first born from a family of 6 and has a trade mark slang “Hello Fear” which (as he likes joking) Gospel Sensation Kirk Franklin ‘Stole’ to use as the name of his Music Album. In this, Brian suggests correctly that the reason we don’t really get to where we want to be stems from not only making polio-infested choices but also an intrinsic fear of being there. His growth spurt was ignited when a Lecturer told him he would become ‘just a school teacher’ while a sophomore student at University. With his ‘Impossible Is Nothing With Control’, he has since added a Master of Public Health to his name. As of now, he is a DrPH at University of Sydney and hopes to meet his former lecturer and smile in his face. He looks forward to being in public health leadership at international level. When asked what he will be in the next 5 years during the interview with Global Health Corps, he responded ‘I Will Be One Of Those Dudes That Will Bomb The International Health Arena With A Jaw-Dropping-Dunk Characterised By Evidence & Practical Policy. To Do That However, I Need To Be In Solidarity With Like Minded Brains’ And That’s What He Is Looking For. Up to now, he’s got no idea whether the interviewers understood it but time will tell. He questions quite a lot about the methodology of how things are done and seeks to have a paradigm shift from the original status quo citing out that even the previously most rigid religions have hard tougher times to be flexible enough to use media and theatre while preaching.
While not reading practically everything he sets his eyes on, Brian prefers to run around the globe asking himself ‘What Is New Here?” and meeting amazingly cool like-minded youths with a mission in life. He always moves around with a soccer ball and prefers to call himself a Factual Free-Style Ardent Soccer Player, Fan of Uganda Cranes, ScVilla, Arsenal & Barca Since 1986. He believes that Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha Must have played football because there isn’t any other sport that defines RESPECT-INTEGRITY-PASSION & HOPE- his Core Doctrines in his Life Philosophy 🙂
Kisakye Moses (Uganda)
I am a male aged 25, currently i am a student at Uganda Christian University undertaking Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and social Administration ( SWASA). I have just returned from my internship with Child 2 Youth Foundation an Organization that supports sponsorship for vulnerable children, community development, sowing hope initiative for HIV /AIDS victims, water and sanitation. I am due to complete my course in July 2011.
I have participated in different Community Driven Development projects as a volunteer and i have gained experience in dealing with different vulnerable groups such as orphans and widows.
I have been a member of the interact club of St.Lawrence citizens high school and i was the coordinator / chairperson of the club. As a leader i gained a considerable amount of experience especially in communication and coordination of the different activities/projects that the club undertook.
.
I love reading books about life experiences, how to prosper in life, religious books among others I also like traveling, meeting new people, learning new things; sports i.e football and rugby, watching movies especially action and love stories.
I come from a family of 11 and i am the last born, i come from the central part of Uganda ( Buganda) and my favorite dish is matooke and chicken.
Graduates
The following student(s) complete one level of study last month:
South Africa
Enock Pedze
Level Three
Ethiopia
Bereket Alemayehu
Level Two
Cameroon
Yieh Odette
Level Three
Student Progress
We had 20 students from 9 countries complete a total of 33 books in September. These students were from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leon, Togo, Uganda & Zimbabwe.
Ziyad Rube Abdule (Ethiopia)
· Giant Steps
· Real Magic
· Keys To Success
· How To Win Friends
Bereket Alemayehu (Ethiopia)
· Nonviolent Communication
Dennis Korbla Amego Penu (Ghana)
· Keys To Success
· PsychoCybernetics
· Success Through Positive Mental Attitude’
Richard Nana Kuntuo-asare (Ghana)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Eric Omari (Kenya)
· Difficult Conversations
Eddie Ombagi (Kenya)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Joseph Philip Abue (Nigeria)
· The Leadership Pill
· The Unprocessed Child
Afere Laurence (Nigeria)
· Matrix Energetics
Ajinadu Abdulazeez (Nigeira)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Ayoade Anthony (Nigeria)
· Unlimited Power
Ken Offor (Nigeria)
· Educating For Human Greatness
Paulinus Ekanem (Nigeria)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Charles Kabera (Rwanda)
· Money: Understanding Alternatives…
Quintin Berestford Small (Sierra Leon)
· Keys To Success
Mustapha Klah (Sierra Leon)
· Law of Attraction
Nyakpo Koffi Anani (Togo)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Brian Mwebaze (Uganda)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Moses Kisakye (Uganda)
· As A Man Thinketh
· Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Harriet Opondo (Uganda)
· Goal Achievement Through Treasure Mapping
Busani Sibindi (Zimbabwe)
· Real Magic
Statistics
New Enrollments
9 enrolled in September
85 enrolled in 2011
Book Assessments
28 in September
282 in 2011
Books Shipped
25 in September
421 in 2011
Cost of books
$479.01 in September
$8,461.62 in 2011
You Make It Possible
We extend a special thanks to the following 20 individuals and/or organizations from four countries who contributed to IIGL during July. Your ongoing support makes this work possible.
Deb Silver (Israel)
Kosi Davui (Togo)
Edmee DiPauli (UK)
Felix Iziomoh (Nigeria)
Deb Rosen (USA/WI)
Margie Tice (USA/NC)
Ron Walker (USA/VA)
Lou Stewart (USA/NC)
Judith Royer (USA/ND)
Corine Wilson (USA.FL)
Peggy Moore (USA/NC)
Heidi Stewart (USA/NC)
Heidi Fallene (USA/WI)
Jane Basswitz (USA/WI)
David Banner (USA/WI)
Lynn Murguia (USA/AZ)
Virginia Essene (USA/CA)
Pampered Chefs (USA/WI)
Julie Loosbrock (USA/WI)
John Hornecker (USA/NC)
Barbara Mader )(USA/NM)
Michael Lightweaver (USA/NC)
Wanda Gail Campbell (USA/AL)
Janae & Barry Weinhold (USA/NC)
Make A Difference
Dream Team 22
In January 2009 we launched a new idea which blends two previous endeavors: The Master Mind Group and the 22 Experiment. We are calling this Dream Team 22 and our goal is to have 220 people contributing $22 per month. We understand that money is energy and that to sustain and build IIGL we need a lot of people pouring their energy into this endeavor on a regular basis. We also know that not everyone can afford to commit $22 a month – especially our students, who live in countries with economies in which this amount can be equal to a weeks salary. So we are offering two options for those who wish to become a part of the Dream Team. One can commit to a $22 a month contribution or to spending 22 seconds each day holding the vision of IIGL becoming financially sustainable by the end of 2009.
Will you join the Dream Team and help us create an energetic foundation to support the transformational work of IIGL? You can really make a difference in the world by making a modest contribution of time or money. To make the $22 a month commitment or a one time donation, click the link below. To become a member of the Dream Team 22 by committing 22 second a day to help us hold the vision, contact Michael for details: lightweave@aol.com
Checks on US banks, payable to the International Institute For Global Leadership, can be mailed to PO Box 18909, Asheville, NC. 28814, USA. Contributions may also be made by credit card by clicking the link below. Contributions are tax deductible under the 501 (c) 3 tax code of the United States Internal Revenue Service.
To Contribute By Credit Card, Click Here
Newsletter Archive: Click Here to view archived issues of the Global Leadership News