Hyde Park Speech Forum

April 11, 2012

During my first semester of college, Fall 2012, I was selected to participate in the College of
Communications annual speech competition. I was nominated by my Intro to Human Communication
professor Dani Bernat, and selected as one of five participants to present a persuasive speech during the
spring semester. On April 11, 2012, I gave my speech titled Hope For Africas Future Through Education
which was inspired by my passion for helping children in underprivileged countries receive an education.
The summer prior to the start of my college career, I embarked on a two-week mission trip to Nairobi,
Kenya where I volunteered at a slum school in Mathare, which is the second largest slum in the country. I
absolutely loved the opportunity to share my experience with more than one-thousand of my Kent State
peers and faculty members as well as my friends and family. I ended up taking first place at the competition
in which I got my name engraved on the trophy that is displayed in Taylor Hall as well as an educational
scholarship. This experience represents my ability to overcome new obstacles such as my fear of public
speaking to large audiences, winning a prestigious award, and sharing one of my biggest passions with
other people. I feel like this competition happened ages ago, and although I am five years older now, I can
look back and say this victory kick started my love for communication studies for the rest of my college
career. I was fully reassured that this was an area of study I could succeed above and beyond in. I am
excited to take my confidence as a public speaker and ability to convey complex ideas while utilizing ethos,
logos, and pathos whenever necessary to convey myself in the most effective way possible. I have attached
the final outline of the speech I memorized for the competition as well as the link to the Prezi I used in
conjunction to the presentation.

1. Introduction
When we were young and just beginning our first years of school, we dreamt about the people we would
aspire to become like a ballerina, doctor, or teacher. We were freely given this opportunity to dream for
our future, because we live in a country where our nations leaders require all children to attend primary
school. They realize that the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow.
Children living in many African countries, however, are not afforded the luxury of education that
students like us too often take for granted.
According to unicef.org, instead of going to school, children in Africa are deprived of their right to an
education, because their families cannot afford school fees, because their communities are too poor to
have school facilities, or because they are working to provide for their families.
Providing an education for the countrys youth is the key to a better Africa in the future, because it
empowers new leaders with the knowledge and ability to fight the most prominent issues in their country
such as internal warfare and poverty.
In order to fully understand why an education for Africas youth is so key to Africas growth as a
country, I will first go over the problems associated with this issue, next I will outline the causes that
keep schooling unattainable for these kids, before finally providing real solutions towards solving this
education crisis.
So, lets begin with the problems.
2. Problem
Because children in Africa are deprived the fundamental right to primary education, a negative domino
effect on the society as a whole occurs. Once these uneducated children grow up, the International
Monetary Fund states that these adults who lack basic skills have greater difficulty finding well-paying
jobs and escaping poverty.
This is a huge contributing factor to the ever present, growing and consistent poverty problem that is
widespread across the majority of Africa. However, the issue is not simply making sure each child in
Africa has the ability to gain head knowledge. The core problem lies on a far bigger scope which is
that the children lack the basic needs of survival such as proper nutrition, clean water, and health care.
What people fail to realize is that while providing for their basic needs is of utmost importance, those
relief aids are only temporary fixes to an ongoing problem.
By investing in their education now, one is setting them up for success in the future, which is just as
imperative as satisfying their immediate needs. Think of it as, helping them help themselves.
As imperative as this seems, we are going to now look at why this has not become a reality for Africas
youth as a whole.

3. Cause
The cause of this issue weighs primarily on the lack of government funding to promote education across
all socioeconomic classes in Africa.
A lot of the times, the poorest areas (such as slums) are seen as an embarrassment to the nations leaders.
Therefore, instead of addressing the situation to look for possible solutions, they would rather pretend
like the situation doesnt exist.
According to UNICEF, The problem in many developing countries is that governments lack either the
financial resources or the political will to meet their citizens' educational needs.
Therefore, the problem continues to exist, because the government has allowed it to. Most commonly
however, parents simply lack the funds to be able to provide for an education for their children since the
government requires tuition for public schooling even at the primary level.
I realize sometimes with problematic situations as extensive as this, hope for change and a new future
can seem impossible. However, I want to ensure you that there is hope for these forgotten children of
Africa on both governmental and personal levels.
4. Solution
On a national level, universal primary education was made one of the Millennium Development Goals by
the year 2015. For this to become a reality the United States and United Nations need to bond together
to help allocate funds & resources to Africas government.
On an individual level, students right here at Kent State University can become involved I ntwo ways
either by joining the on campus UNICEF group or participating in a solution that is very near & dear to
my heart.
This past summer I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to volunteer at a slum school/church called AIC Zion
which is located in Mathare; the second largest slum in Kenya. This school is the last hope for children
living in these slums to gain an education.
So during one of the days while I was working, a beautiful little girl, no older than 10, came up and gave
me letter. In carefully written addressed to me, she asked me if I would please sponsor her so that she
could continue pay her school fees; a fee that was a meager $4 a month.
This experience was so enriching for me, that when I came back to the states, I knew I wanted to
continue to try and make a difference in these kids lives. So I helped found and am now a board member
of, Welcome the Children, which is a non-profit organization with one of its international missions
being to support the kids at AIC Zion.
I would like to encourage you to visit, www. welcomethechildren.org and donate today to allow another
child in Kenya to stay in school.

5. Conclusion
Obtaining an education should be something that every child has the opportunity to achieve no matter
who they are, how much their parents make, or where they were born.
No childs life is any lesser than the next.
Today, I went over the problems, causes, and realistic solutions for solving Africas education crisis.
I want to encourage you to make a personal commitment to one of the options I have given you.
Your life can impact another life.
Its as possible as youre willing to make it.
So, dream for a dream. Dream, for their dream.