Two social re-orientation activists of African descent are guests on this week’s African Voices ChangeMakers, a magazine programme of the Cable News Network (CNN) sponsored by telecommunications services provider, Globacom.
The duo of Kennedy Odede, a Kenyan social entrepreneur and canvasser for free education, and Stephen Asante, a mental health advocacy campaigner, will be engaged on the programme.
Odede, 37, a polyglot who is fluent in six languages, founded Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) which makes clean water and medical care accessible to urban slums across Kenya. He also runs free education for girls in the densely populated demographics of the country as well as helping individuals start small businesses.
He is a Young Global Leader (YGL) at the World Economic Forum and an Obama Foundation Africa Leader. He is also a New York Times Bestselling author who was awarded the 2010 Echoing Green Fellowship, and listed on the Forbes Under-30 Top Social Entrepreneurs in 2014.
On his part, Asante is the founder of a non-governmental organization, Mental Health Advocacy Foundation, in Accra, Ghana, which promotes the prevention and control of mental illnesses in Ghana and fights to change perceptions on mental health in the same country by providing education and advocacy for the mentally challenged and their families.
His organization equally collaborates with the Ghanaian government to improve mental health services while working with local organizations to reduce the stigma associated with mental afflictions in the country.
African Voices ChangeMakers will be on DSTV Channel 401 on Saturday at 9.30 a.m. Repeats of the edition will be aired the same Saturday at 12 noon; on Sunday at 4.30 a.m., 7.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. and on Monday at1.30 a.m.