Celebrities giving back
Akon and Rihanna open up to global media about why they have charity foundations and share the work they are involved with in Africa.
A lot people have the ambition of being rich and famous. The sad part about today's generation is that not many remember where they come from or how long the journey was, and who helped them get where they are. A few, who have done remarkable charity work for their communities and beyond, include musicians Akon and Rihanna.
The two, with different charity organisations, believe in knowing where you come from and giving back to get more out. “Giving back is important to me and it should be important to everyone. If you have the ability to help and lend a hand, no matter how big or small, you should definitely make that your responsibility,” Rihanna told the Daily Mail.
Since rising to fame, Rihanna has become a vocal philanthropist. In 2012, she launched her Clara Lionel Foundation charity in honour of her grandparents to improve health, education and arts and culture around the world. Through this push, Rihanna helped to advocate for more than a quarter of a billion children who are not currently in school, as well as about 330 million students who are studying at the schools they're in.
In May last year she launched the Clara Lionel Foundation's Global Scholarship Programme, dedicated to giving people in nations such as Cuba, Haiti and her home country Barbados, the chance to study at universities in the United States. “I don't think it is fair that children carry the burden of financial limitations at such a young age. We want college graduates in our programmes and a lot of these kids are really smart and doing well in school, but they don't have the finances to take it any further than that. That is why we started this programme,” said Rihanna on Instagram.
At the beginning of this year, the singer made the trip to countries like Malawi in her role as Global Ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education and on behalf of her Clara Lionel Foundation, meeting with key educators, government officials, students and mentors, People reported. Because of Rihanna's charities, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations honoured her with the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award.
Akon on the other hand, according to Digital Spy, has recently spoken about how he finds charity in Africa problematic. The singer and rapper grew up in Senegal and teamed up with Shell to create an innovative football pitch in Nigeria that allows the local community to play football at night. He also has his own initiative, Akon Lighting Africa which started in 2014 which aims to provide electricity to Africa. Akon has done more for Africans in one year than most charities have done in decades as his charity has up to date provided 600 million people in rural communities across Africa with electricity.
In an interview with Digital Spy the Sorry artist said people should be in a position to empower themselves and believe that they are capable of doing things by themselves. According to him people are just waiting for the outside world to come and constantly give and there isn't the motivation to want to build it up on their own. “Charity is just giving. You have to be able to put yourself in a position to appreciate what you have been given. It has been years of constant charity in Africa and nothing has stemmed from it,” he said. He recalls having seen a number of charity organisations come into Africa just to constantly give, yet there hasn't been any structure building or no environmental development. He says it is about time Africans start doing things for themselves.
Akon also opened up about how going from growing up in a town without electricity to living in the US changed his life. “Had I been in Africa without that access, I don't think I'd be Akon today. Ultimately coming to the US to get that option and to see the difference in what life had to offer motivated me to become better,” he explained. He also encouraged more African artists to start giving back and take the lead in changing their countries.
Next week, tjil will look into local entertainment personalities and how they give back to their communities and country at large.
June Shimuoshili
The two, with different charity organisations, believe in knowing where you come from and giving back to get more out. “Giving back is important to me and it should be important to everyone. If you have the ability to help and lend a hand, no matter how big or small, you should definitely make that your responsibility,” Rihanna told the Daily Mail.
Since rising to fame, Rihanna has become a vocal philanthropist. In 2012, she launched her Clara Lionel Foundation charity in honour of her grandparents to improve health, education and arts and culture around the world. Through this push, Rihanna helped to advocate for more than a quarter of a billion children who are not currently in school, as well as about 330 million students who are studying at the schools they're in.
In May last year she launched the Clara Lionel Foundation's Global Scholarship Programme, dedicated to giving people in nations such as Cuba, Haiti and her home country Barbados, the chance to study at universities in the United States. “I don't think it is fair that children carry the burden of financial limitations at such a young age. We want college graduates in our programmes and a lot of these kids are really smart and doing well in school, but they don't have the finances to take it any further than that. That is why we started this programme,” said Rihanna on Instagram.
At the beginning of this year, the singer made the trip to countries like Malawi in her role as Global Ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education and on behalf of her Clara Lionel Foundation, meeting with key educators, government officials, students and mentors, People reported. Because of Rihanna's charities, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations honoured her with the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award.
Akon on the other hand, according to Digital Spy, has recently spoken about how he finds charity in Africa problematic. The singer and rapper grew up in Senegal and teamed up with Shell to create an innovative football pitch in Nigeria that allows the local community to play football at night. He also has his own initiative, Akon Lighting Africa which started in 2014 which aims to provide electricity to Africa. Akon has done more for Africans in one year than most charities have done in decades as his charity has up to date provided 600 million people in rural communities across Africa with electricity.
In an interview with Digital Spy the Sorry artist said people should be in a position to empower themselves and believe that they are capable of doing things by themselves. According to him people are just waiting for the outside world to come and constantly give and there isn't the motivation to want to build it up on their own. “Charity is just giving. You have to be able to put yourself in a position to appreciate what you have been given. It has been years of constant charity in Africa and nothing has stemmed from it,” he said. He recalls having seen a number of charity organisations come into Africa just to constantly give, yet there hasn't been any structure building or no environmental development. He says it is about time Africans start doing things for themselves.
Akon also opened up about how going from growing up in a town without electricity to living in the US changed his life. “Had I been in Africa without that access, I don't think I'd be Akon today. Ultimately coming to the US to get that option and to see the difference in what life had to offer motivated me to become better,” he explained. He also encouraged more African artists to start giving back and take the lead in changing their countries.
Next week, tjil will look into local entertainment personalities and how they give back to their communities and country at large.
June Shimuoshili
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