Inspire Africa... A Live TV Show Taping

This was quite an evening.  The Rugege's invited me go to the Finale and Live Taping of this New TV show about East Africa.  Well, it is about East Africa's Brightest students competing to see who would win $50,000 to advance inspiration in African young people to be entrepreneurs, business owners and advance the minds and economies for these countries. Contestants were from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Burundi --all East African Countries.

There is more to tell about this evening than I understood.. BUT I do know that at the beginning they introduced a man named Graham Powell from Cape Town, South Africa. 

He is a very successful business man but at the beginning they played a video of him giving his Christian Testimony of how the Lord changed his life.  He was given the vision to start praying for Africa but then....

In February 2002 Graham Power had a second vision. This vision had an even bigger challenge: The whole of Africa was to gather in a Day of Repentance and Prayer, changing Africa to become a “light to the world”. Eventually, Africa was to invite all the nations of the globe to unite in this move of transformational prayer.

www.globaldayofprayer.com/history.html

This web site can really fill you in.. but to date... 227 countries have joined this day of prayer.  This man is sold out to Jesus and is having an incredible ministry and the Lord is changing Africa.  

I needed to introduce you to him because of what happened at the end of the show. 

Anyway.. this is the way it began... Can you imagine this in America?... A secular show being sponsored by someone like Graham Powell?  It was fabulous.  There was another 29 yr old, Nelson Tugume, who started the show...a is highly successful Ugandan business- man who was the host.  

This was the backdrop for the show and the stage.
 It was held in a ball room at the Serena 
Hotel.

They showcased native dancers from each country!
I don't know which ones were from with country but it was something else.

These were the Ugandan dancers... Their dance was most hula like.
 Their hips could really roll and their little short grass skirts below their
waists never stopped shaking! ha! 

Drummers in the background and a choir dressed in white on left, sang and
played for all of the dance troupes.

Yet another female troupe.. very graceful...

These guys were stealth!  Maybe we'd call this industrial dance.  

But these boys stole the show!  They were so terrific! 

Check out these long white wigs!   They kept bending down and flipping
their hair over and when they did--- i got this....

 I think they look like they were all just filled with the Holy Ghost on Pentecost!
We were sitting way in the back of this ball room and my camera wasn't using the flash for this 
night portrait!
You will some day see this blown up on a wall in our house... I love this picture and the energy in the room --well, it was like they were on fire..  They brought the house down.  

After the 13 week show and videos showing teams of students trying to succeed with their given challenges ( just like "You're Fired")...they were down to the last three!  A Dr., a teacher, and a software engineer....  The girl in White is from Rwanda and was so humble and sweet.. The one in orange and the Dr. on the end were Ugandan.  After 2 1/2 hours of interviews, asking the other contestants who should win, etc... they were finally ready to announce the winner.  The man with the microphone , Nelson was the guy who created the show.

BUT WAIT.... They called all the contestants to the stage and the host asked Graham Powell if he would pray for all of them.  Pray for the winner and all those who didn't win..and for the future of East Africa and her young people.  So, there it was on National African TV.... Stunning to say the least, coming from our culture of Political Correctness.. What a sight to be seen.  These people will be blessed, no doubt the Lord will honor their boldness...

THEN they announced the winner.. It was Clarisse from Rwanda!  She certainly seemed to be the deserving one to me... but i was just a spectator. Here is what the paper said...

John Isingoma, Ultimate Media

Clarisse Iribagiza a youth entrepreneur from Rwanda has won 50,000 dollars prize money by Inspire Africa entrepreneurial contest.

Iribagiza was declared winner yesterday during a live TV grand finale event held in the Rwandan capital Kigali. She beat two other finalists, Manuela Pacutho and Davis Musinguzi both from Uganda.

The winner was voted on the account of her leadership skills and her brilliant ICT business idea of an ICT entrepreneur’s incubator to help them to grow their businesses in the field.

Iribagiza said that for her the prize money unlike her competitors was to finance an already existing business not to start a new business idea.

Inspire Africa is brain child of Nelson Tugume a Ugandan entrepreneur aged 29 years with a passion for young business people.  

So.... yet another 'inspiring' day in Africa.  Every day i think something will be routine.. and then something like this comes along!   Welcome to Africa!  It's a BIG country!