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They said such exchanges would help tell the African story from an African perspective.
Four Zimbabweans represented the country at the Global Change Makers Summit that ran concurrently with the Europe Africa Youth Summit. The summit was held in Brussels the capital city of Belgium from 22 to 28 June.
The summit was attended by 60 participants drawn from Africa and Europe and 10 peer facilitators from New Zealand, Pakistan, India, Ireland, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, USA, South Africa and Bangladesh.
The four were, Michael Chavinda, Brucelee Dube, Khanyile Moyo and Gilmore Moyo.
Gilmore Moyo was a facilitator.
Global Change Makers is a global network of young social entrepreneurs, community activists and volunteers between the ages of 16 and 25. Its mission is to empower youth to catalyse social change.
In an interview yesterday Gilmore Moyo said the experience gave them an opportunity to dispel misconceptions about Africa.
He said it was unfortunate that some Africans only portrayed the negative aspects of the continent.
“We as Africans portray our continent in a negative way as a continent ravaged with famine, war and poverty. But there is another side to it. There is more to Africa than that and such exchanges would help tell the African story,” said Gilmore Moyo.
He said they were surprised to note that Brussels had beggars on its streets, something that was not often depicted in the media about Europe.
“We see that Europe is all glitz and glamour but it is not all about that, there are people who live in abject poverty. This, you do not see in the media. People think we Africans are poor and uneducated, but after we speak at such forums they are surprised to hear that we can articulate ourselves well,” said Moyo.
He said some Africans had made a name for themselves in portraying the bad side of the continent.
“I met a Zimbabwe-born British photojournalist, Kate Holt, who has been nominated for countless awards in England for her work on the war in DRC. The whole summit stirred up a lot of emotions and showed us how as young people can improve our countries and the continent,” said Moyo.
He said the other participants such as Khanyile Moyo, recited an extract of her short story in a book called Silent Cry: Echoes of Young Zimbabwe Voices published by Amabooks.
“Michael did a dance in collaboration with South Africans that left the crowd stunned,” said Moyo.
The list of speakers were Ambassador Ajay Kumar Bramdeo (African Union), Alba Riobo Souto of EuropeAid, Brenda King of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Diane Mbarushiamana of the Social Entrepreneur from Rwanda based in Belgium and Dorine Rurashitse the Programme Manager of Africalia.
Online Reporter