Interview with Bongani Ncube of Oracles d’Afrique
Bongani Ncube (23 years old), Founder of Oracles d’Afrique , a computer scientist, a writer, a poet, a freelance journalist, a British Council Global Changemaker. Who believes that the intersection of one’s passions and ones talents need not necessarily lie in one specific domain.
Who is Bongani?
I’m a crazy mix of writer, poet, Global Changemakers, blogger, Computer Scientist… I honestly find it difficult to define myself.
What is Oracles d’Afrique? And what do you guys do?
Oracles d’Afrique is part of a Global Changemakers Regional Action Project called African Oracles that we started at the Harare Youth Summit in 2010 to tackle some of the issues that face young people today. We wanted to use arts as a way to start what we believe is a necessary conversation about issues such as racism, stereotypes as well as give youth a platform to show themselves to the world. We are based in three countries (Zimbabwe, Algeria, and Kenya) and we run a variety of activities that range from youth workshops in all three countries, an online youth webzine to a theatre group in Kenya.
What motivated you to start Oracles d’Afrique?
I wanted to make a difference. As a group we saw what we believed was a problem and our efforts so far have been aimed at finding a solution to addressing that problem.
What were some of the challenges you faced as a young person starting their own project?
Some of the challenges I have faced include getting support from the local community. Some of the institutions we approached to help us with technical support flat out refused to help us but we persevered and found ways around the obstacles we faced.
What do you want to achieve with this project?
Our main goal is to create a community of empowered youth who have access to information that helps them to change the world around them. We want to educate, entertain and at the same issue a call to action. We call our followers and participants “Oracles” in that they are able to envision a future which is vastly different and better than their present. And we want to create them not in just the three countries we are working with, but in the whole of Africa.
Your biggest achievement yet?
I suppose being invited by the President of Mozambique to visit Mozambique and also getting the opportunity to visit him at his home and talk to different sections of youth in Mozambique. It was an amazing experience which began with presentations we made as Global Changemakers at the World Economic Forum on African 2010, he was impressed with our vision and felt it was important for us to visit his country.
If you were a President for one day what would you change? Why?
I think the biggest thing I would change would be most African countries obsession with the past and the mentality that we seem to have that the world owes us. We are ultimately responsible for our future as a nation (and as a continent) and blaming everything on the events of decades past will get us nowhere. I would start focusing on the long term future of the region and begin making more friends than enemies.
Your advice to young people?
Never be afraid to take the initiative in changing the way things are. Just because it’s the way it has always been done doesn’t mean it is the best way to do it and your existence has the potential to change the course of the future but only if you stand up and take the challenge to just do it.
