His Excellency the Ambassador Edward Y. Sawerengera hosted the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) fellows from Malawi, to a dinner, at the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi in Washington D.C, on 30th July, 2019.
In his remarks, the Ambassador congratulated the Fellows for making it to this prestigious program and also reminded them that many people would like to be where there are today but it was them that were chosen, this could be because of many things such as the work they have demonstrated in their communities and that this is a huge opportunity for them to learn and add on to the knowledge which they share with their communities. He encouraged them to return back home following the end of the program to help reduce the brain drain in our country and Africa as a whole.
He encouraged them to be change agents for a more prosperous Malawi and urged them to remain stewards of their ship. He further encouraged them to mentor and support someone and share with them the experiences that they had learnt through this Fellowship. He also encourages them to form an Alumni group of all the 85 Fellows that have been part of this program so far from Malawi since its inception in 2014.