Country: Ethiopia

About: As a teenager in Ethiopia, I helped organize one of the first youth-led efforts to support  two  million people affected by famine and drought. Since then, I co-created new platforms to elevate African diaspora stories and creativity. As founding faculty at the African Leadership Academy and later at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. I equipped hundreds of youth to be entrepreneurial leaders. I continue to drive learning and innovation on youth leadership, changemaking, economic opportunities & entrepreneurship with a keen eye on the trends shaping the future through my work with IREX and other global organizations

Recipe for Change: 

1. Find your “engine” – an issue or cause revs you up, maybe it’s a question or problem you’re deeply intrigued by. Change takes time and maintaining your stamina, dedication, and hard work over the long haul will mean tapping into your deepest intrinsic motivations – curiosities, past injustices that get you fired up, values and dreams you possess. These will be the engine to keep you going towards the change you want to see even when it gets challenging!
2. Become an avid learner who is humble and relentlessly inquisitive about the problem you are trying to solve. Keep digging and learning from those at the grassroots who are closest to the problem – gaining this depth of insight and then connecting the dots, finding patterns and trends is the space you can innovate and find solutions that will resonate
3. Find out what skill or strength you can offer, and hone your craft – there are many kinds of changemakers – find out which one you are going to be at this point in your life (I like the graphic by Deepa Iyer who outlines different roles we can all play in social change as a guide – attached)
4. Unlock the power of collaboration – partnerships can help you amplify your impact immensely. Most problems are too big to tackle alone and many have made strides you can continue to build on or that connect to your efforts. Look for collaborators with aligned visions or commitment to addressing the problem and unlock great potential for change!

Recipe: BuTiCHA an Ethiopian chickpea recipe

This is a healthy, easy to make dish. The ingredients are more accessible than most Ethiopian dishes! It is usually made in Ethiopia during the lent season when Ethiopian Orthodox Christians eat only vegan meals.

INGREDIENTS:

Chickpea powder (gram flour) 

1 large red onion, finely diced 

1-2 green chillies, finely diced  

1.5 garlic heads, crushed and pureed 

1 tomato, finely diced

Oil 

Salt 

Chilli powder

Cardamon (korerima) powder,  to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Peel and dice the ginger. Soak the ginger in a cup of water.
2. Prepare chickpea flour by sieving and adding chilli powder (Ethiopian berbere), salt, canayene powder (Ethiopian mitmita), cardamom powder (Ethiopian korarima), mix with water. 
3. Turn the stove on to medium heat and put the ginger water in a dish and add the mixed chickpea paste mixed in the previous step.
4. Stir continuously (without pause) until it is cooked thoroughly and turns into a thick and heavy porridge consistency. When it is cooked, turn off the heat.
5. Put the cooked chickpea porridge on a plate and make it flat with your hand all over the plate and put it in the fridge to cool and set.
6. Remove the chickpea porridge from the fridge once it is set and dice it into squares.   
7. On a separate pan, fry the onion, garlic, tomato and green pepper with oil on medium heat. Add spices – chilli powder or paprika (Ethiopian berbere), salt, canayene power (Ethiopian mitmita), cardamom powder (Ethiopian korarima) and a pinch of salt
8. Turn the heat down to low heat. Add the diced chickpea squares into the pan and slowly stir to mix everything until everything is evenly heated.