There is a revolution going on in the diaspora where people are using entertainment to help build economic development on the continent of Africa. Omega Bugemebe Okello raises money for surgical beds by singing in benefit concerts and Riz donates money from some of his albums to raise money for a water charity. A new group of men has come up with an innovative way to raise money for different needs on the continent–partying for a good cause. Stephen Munabo and Kevin Ousman from the organization Men from Africa, granted Jamati an interview to talk about the creative way they aim to make a difference in the lives of Africans in the diaspora, and on the continent.

Jamati: You have an event, “I am 1 of 1000 Africans“, coming up on July 3, 2008. What served as the idea for the event?

Stephen: We had originally started with an idea to hold events to help people called “Celebrate for Life”, where we would have people raise money for charity, or to sponsor a child for school. The idea developed into what will be our first event which was to get at least 1000 Africans mobilized to do something for Africa. We wanted it to be a Pan-African event that would create an opportunity for busy people to give back.

Ousman: Africans will always show up for a party so we thought, why not help Africa by partying? We are targeting a younger population that will be willing to come out and have fun for a good cause. The good thing is that the help is not limited to Kenya or Cameroon. We are here to make a difference in the entire continent wherever help is needed.

Jamati: How do you plan to reach out and connect the East and West?

Ousman: One of the best ways to do this is to pick charities that work in Africa in general. Our current charity of choice, Africare, doesn’t currently do anything in Cameroon. Our focus is on charities that do things in Africa as a whole and that should encourage a pan-African response.

Stephen: As far as the diversity of the organization is concerned, we plan to reach out to other organizations and thereby create a brotherhood of men that help and bolster each other. This will enable us to come together as we help each other and we will then be able to do little events to help us build Africa and make a difference.

Jamati: What criteria do you use to choose the organization you are going to help?

Stephen: There is no real criteria. We try to focus on the organizations that are tackling the problems that are relevant to Africa.

Ousman: We do try to focus on the ones that make the largest impact or have the largest effects. We want a healthy population so that it can help stimulate a healthy economic development. We want to impact economic and social growth by focusing on health issues like malaria and HIV/AIDS. This will help stabilize nations. We also want to raise money for libraries, buy books for schools, and help raise money for scholarships.

Jamati: Do you plan to partner with organizations that have similar goals?

Stephen: We will definitely come together with similar organizations. One of the things we want to do, however, is educate our families and people here so that we can help them develop their personal growth and become financially stable. Some of the money we raise will be used to provide workshops and seminars that will help create wealth, learn how to build credit, and purchase real estate.

Ousman: This ties into the personal growth component of the organization. We want to create a clean line between the philanthropic charity, and the business enterprise side of the business. They business enterprise side of the business will help build wealth and help Africans grow economically. There is definitely a difference in my life here as opposed to my life in Africa. Here I can work and earn the money to get the things that I want. In Africa people are dying young from simple diseases like the common cold or flu, simply because they do not have enough money to purchase medication, or they don’t have access to basic healthcare. One of our goals is to recruit high school students from here and have them go on volunteer missions to Africa to help educate and share information with the young people in Africa.

Jamati: So are you focused on making an impact primarily with young people?

Stephen: We are going to start with young people as we are basically young ourselves. We will eventually get older and hand over the reins to the younger generation.

Jamati: How to you plan to ensure that the money you send is actually used for the purpose that it is intended?

Ousman: We plan to eventually be able to go back to Africa to make sure that the goals we set are achieved. Although we can’t always keep an eye on every single penny, but if $5000 is sent and only $2000 is used in the manner that was needed, it is still making an impact and a goal is being achieved. We eventually want to go there and be the footsoldiers, in a manner of speaking, and make sure that all of the money is going where it should.

Stephen: We have limited resources right now but, with our supporters we can make a difference. There are people relying on us to help them achieve–cousins, parents, siblings–and we can make a positive impact by making a contribution.

To learn more about them visit their website.