The strength of any people is their youth. The Gems Initiative looks after school children, teenagers and youths. Unfortunately, abject poverty, high cost of living, unaffordable tuition, unemployment, underemployment, lack of social welfare services, the nosediving societal value system, and multiplication of bad influencers have consigned the supposed strength of our society to hustling and struggling on the one hand and corner-cutting or outright fraudsters on the other hand. While we condemn bad examples and influencers, we believe that the hustling and struggling camp could be aided to acquire capacity.

Again, we lack the capacity and depth to reach all African youths in this wide bracket. We acknowledge that not even the government parastatals, IF well managed, can cater for these millions of our people. However, we are convinced we can take care of a few – as our limited ‘out-of-pocket’ resources can afford to. In partnership with sister organisations, churches, groups, societal leaders and reputable persons, we identify and sponsor their education, vocational training and business start-ups.

In the long term, we believe and pray that poverty’s biting hold on Africa will be abated. As people are liberated from afflictions and constraining circumstances, we will partner with relevant government and non-government organisations, groups and bodies to lead youth capacity-building and empowerment projects. Mentoring, career and lifestyle coaching platforms will be set up to achieve this.