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Inspiring stories of young global leaders who overcame adversity to make a difference fuelling LAINS's mission to empower Africa's next generation.
When Young People Take the Lead
When Young People Take the Lead
Real Stories from Around the World
Real Stories from Around the World
The economic and social environment is now changing at a faster rate than before and in every corner, you will find young people who are not waiting for permission but are aeger to grab situations as they come. They are fixing problems that adults have ignored for a very long time. You might still hear someone say that teenagers are too inexperienced to make real decisions but look closer around you. From a village in Kenya to a crowded neighbourhood in Brazil, the evidence tells a different story. Youth empowerment is not a slogan but its reality as it is a living, breathing movement. This is evident when a girl picks up a microphone to speak against child marriage in a public fora. Even when a boy plants a tree where a forest once stood and has been affecyed by deforestation. When we give young people the right tools and a little trust, they do not just improve their own lives but they lift up entire families and whole communities. All over the world all eyes are on youths to transform communities and villages.
One of the most powerful examples comes from a young woman who refused to sit quietly. Her name is Malala Yousafzai. She grew up in a region where powerful people declared that girls had no place in a classroom. Danger followed her every public word. But she kept speaking. She wrote about her dreams of becoming a teacher. She asked why her friends were forced to stay home. Her voice travelled across mountains and oceans. Millions of people, many of them strangers, began to demand education for every girl on the planet. In 2014, she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history. That prize was never handed to her as a gift. She earned it through raw courage. Today, because of her stubborn hope, there are schools standing in places where girls had none. Her story reminds us that empowerment often starts with a single sentence spoken out loud.
In Kenya, a group of teenagers noticed that their land was turning brown and brittle. The rains came late each year due to the effect of climate change. The rivers shrank as could be seen by low volumes of water. The elders blamed the government saying that as they grew up this never happened but a handful of young people decided that action is better than compalints. They formed a group called Youths for Green Action. No one paid them to start but they were very determined. They simply borrowed tools from their parents and began planting seedlings. They walked from school to school, teaching small children why trees hold water in the soil. Besides teaching them they also played games with the children so as to capture their interest. Within two years, they had planted over fifty thousand trees across their county. The UN Environment Programme’s 2024 report on youth-led restoration projects, noted that similar groups in Kenya increased local rainfall retention by nearly eighteen percent. Not only did the landscape turn green again, but young people also found work collecting seeds, running tree nurseries, and teaching farming families about sustainable land use. This was not charity but this is young people solving real problems with their own two hands. This kind of bevaiour comes from young people who are concerned about the future.
Bangladesh in South Asia, a young man named Rahim lived in a village without a single paved road. Most of his friends had already left for Dhaka, the crowded capital, where they slept in tin sheds and worked long hours in garment factories so as to earn a living to support their families back home. Rahim did not want that life so he went on to borrow an old computer from a relative and taught himself basic graphic design using free online lessons. It took him long hours but he was very much determined. Soon he found small jobs on freelance websites where he earned enough in one week to match what his father made in a month of farming. He was so happy about this and surprised too but he did not stop there. He went on to open a tiny learning centre under a mango tree. He taught his neighbours how to use the internet safely and responsibly. Today, more than fifty people in that village work online for companies in London and Sydney. They are proof of what experts call digital empowerment. The International Labour Organization (ILO) stated in 2025 that youth in rural Bangladesh who receive digital skills training see their average income triple within eighteen months. Rahim never waited for a job advertisement but was proactive by creating his own economy.
One continent such as South America, the struggle looks different as compared to other countries. In the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil, a young woman named Camila watched her younger brother fall in with a dangerous and bad crowd. She knew that without something positive to hold onto, many teenagers in her neighbourhood would end up in trouble with the police or worse as they would be found on the wrong side of the law always. Camila loved to dance. She had learned samba and forró from her grandmother who was very good at it. So she cleared a space in an old community centre and started free dance classes every afternoon. At first most parents were not too sure what she was up to so only five children came. Within a year, over eighty young people were showing up. They learned discipline, teamwork, and the joy of creating something beautiful. Several of her students now perform professionally with one of them teaching dance to younger kids in a nearby favela. Camila’s dance school did not receive government funding for the first three years. She raised money by selling homemade snacks at local markets this she did with so much passion. Her story shows that empowerment can look like a dance move, a paintbrush, or a football.
Education either in school or through taught traition remains the most critical part for lasting change. But we are not talking about the kind of education where students memorise facts and repeat them in a test. True empowerment comes from learning how to think on your own, not what to think. In the United States, a group of high school students noticed that many people in poor countries get sick from drinking dirty untreated water. They remembered a science lesson about natural filtration using sand, charcoal, and crushed seeds. Then they went further as their mission was to solve challenges facing people as a result of water borne diseases. They invented a cheap filter that costs less than two dollars to make which cme as a result good reserach. They started a small company and now provide clean water to villages in Haiti, Guatemala, and even parts of rural Kenya. Such intervention was not because their school told them to start a business but sheer good heart to help others. Teachers at the school encouraged curiosity as a way of unleashing students potential and that alone made all the difference.
Across Africa, youth empowerment is spreading through entrepreneurship programmes. In Zimbabwe, where LAINS is based, young people are learning to turn small ideas into real income. Stories are told of a nineteen year old woman in Mutare who started making reusable sanitary pads from locally grown cotton. She now employs other young women and sells her products in differebnt townships. Another young man in Bulawayo is said to have built a solar powered phone charging station using recycled car batteries. He charges a small fee and now supports his younger siblings’ school fees and other necessities. These stories are not rare but they are happening each and every day. The challenge is that many of these young leaders lack access to mentors and small amounts of start-up capital. That is where organisations like LAINS step in. We do not believe in giving handouts but we believe in giving guidance.
Global institutions are finally catching up. In 2025, for the first time in history, more than forty percent of youth development funds went directly to groups run by young people themselves. That number comes from the Global Youth Fund Report 2025, which tracks how international donors allocate resources. Why the shift? Because leaders have realised that a nineteen-year-old in Lagos knows more about the problems in her street than any expert in a faraway office. Whether the issue is climate change, public health, or new technology, young people are no longer just participants. They are the architects of the solution.
Let us bring this home to Zimbabwe. The Youth Empowerment Team at LAINS draws on the real-life experience of Cosmas Nemutenzi, who served as Nashville High School Chairman and learned early that young people rise when they are trusted. We run workshops where teenagers learn to negotiate, to speak in public, and to manage small projects from start to finish. We listen. We treat every young person who walks through our door as someone who already has something valuable to offer. because they do.
You might be reading this and wondering what you can do. Maybe you are a teacher who sees potential in a quiet student. Maybe you are a parent whose child wants to start a vegetable garden but does not know where to begin. Maybe you are a young person yourself, tired of being told to wait your turn. Here is the truth: every big success starts with a small, awkward first step. Malala started with a blog no one read. Rahim started under a mango tree. Camila started with five kids in a dusty hall. You do not need permission. You just need to begin
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