A First for Pittsburgh - 2,000 Area Students Attend Daylong Forum on the Continent

Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa (Washington, DC)

PRESS RELEASE

The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh announced the largest ever education program on the continent of Africa held in the Ohio Valley. The daylong event was held Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Nearly 2,000 middle and high school students from Pennsylvania and West Virginia attended the Teach Africa Youth Forum. This program for both young people and educators addressed the lack of Africa education in American curricula by providing both groups with a better understanding and a greater appreciation of Africa and its role in the global community.

This Africa immersion program opened with a keynote panel of ambassadors, scholars, and policy makers. Students had the chance to learn from and interact with international experts on critical issues in workshops on US-Africa Relations, China-Africa Relations, Business in/with Africa, Education in Africa, as well as Media in Africa. There were opportunities for students to sample African culture with quick courses in Swahili and African drumming.

Featured speakers included:

•Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau for African Affairs

•Dr. Sarah Moten, Chief of the Education Division of USAID’s Africa Bureau

•Ambassador Lapologang Lekoa, Embassy of the Republic of Botswana

•Florizelle Liser, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Africa

• Luddy Hayden, International Government Affairs Manager in Chevron’s Washington, DC Federal and International Government Relations Office

•Dr. Gail Ifshin, Executive Director of Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership

Teach Africa, funded by the Ford Foundation, is a three-phase program. The overarching goal is to educate students about African cultures, peoples, languages, natural resources, contributions to the world, and political relationships with the United States and the world. The first phase took place in May 2006, and was aimed at encouraging area superintendents and principals to include more education on Africa in their curriculums. The second phase, held in October 2006, was a training session with more than 160 teachers from public, private, and parochial schools on new strategies for teaching about Africa. The Youth Forum is the third and capstone phase, aimed at stimulating interest and thought about Africa.

The Africa Society introduced a pilot program of Teach Africa in the San Francisco Bay and Washington, DC areas in 2002. In September 2004, former Secretary of State Colin Powell opened the last Teach Africa Youth Forum at the State Department before an audience of 1,200 students. The Africa Society is also currently implementing Teach Africa in Portland, Oregon, which will be completed on December 7, 2007 with another Youth Forum. It is the goal of The Africa Society to introduce Teach Africa in every state in America.

The Teach Africa Youth Forum was made possible by the following sponsors: Ford Foundation, Mars Incorporated, Chevron, ALCOA Foundation, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Buhl Foundation, UPMC, Bombardier, Leed’s, Giant Eagle, Citizen’s Bank, and Vivisimo.