A Port Elizabeth youth facilitator and playwright is one of the 700 African youth leaders set to make their way to the United States next month to participate in this year’s Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative.
Xolisa Ngubelanga will participate in the civil leadership category of the initiative at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.
Ngubelanga will join the university for a six-week leadership skills programme.
The Rhodes University part-time MA Creative Writing student is the founder of Jo Kinda, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to educating pupils from various township schools in the Eastern Cape through drama, public speaking, reading and the arts in general.
“When I grew up I was exposed to books and I am now a living example of what reading does to the human mind,” he said.
“However, I grew to notice that I was more exposed to colonial knowledge than what I identify with and that is what brought about the need to produce content that solidifies the existence of the black community.
“Literature created an opportunity for me to find myself and that’s what we are trying to do as Jo Kinda – to create the same opportunity in townships, because township life generally revolves around destruction.”
The award-winning writer and director has also made waves on local and international stages with a string of plays he has created over 15 years in the industry.Ngubelanga was awarded the Standard Bank Ovation Award 2017 for his political production, Flamebook.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative has been empowering young sub-Saharan African leaders with knowledge, skills and networking opportunities since 2014.
“I hope to attain and bring home insight, a new level of professionalism and efficiency that is on a global level, but most importantly I want to build contacts so this door of opportunity stays open for the youth,” he said.
The programme will run from June 20 to August 1.
While Ngubelanga is in the US, his production Pieces of an African Drum will be in the arena at the National Arts Festival.