Transcript
Henry Chibutu speaks:
You see, the blood that runs through our veins is that of royalty. We hail from a great line of great kings and queens. We can claim that Jesus Christ was a black man. But you see that's where the problem is. We think that we are superior, that we are cut from a different piece of cloth. And like King Herod of old after giving a great oration to the public, the public said to him, that the voice you're listening to is not a voice of a man, but a voice of God, and pride got the best of him and he was smote in an instant. Like the kings and queens and like the leaders of appointments, the problem is this. They exalt themselves high up and expect us, the citizens, us, the followers, us, the subjects to worship them. That's a big problem right there. There's no servant leadership.
You see, the Democratic Republic of Congo has got 36 trillion dollars worth of resources in its belly, and its people are in great poverty, ravaged by disease, ravaged by much pain and misery. Cameroon, its president earns over 120 times more than their average citizen. That's a big problem right there.
In my country, Zambia, it's no longer a debate. Right now, money that was meant for the IMF to develop our country has been taken to develop the state house, yet we've got many youths who are unemployed. Our factories are closing down their freight center. Our farmers are not receiving their inputs on time. In our health centers, we don't have medication for our people. This is a great, great problem.
You see, as I sat down in my classroom, I studied for 5 years to obtain my degree. And I felt that the formal life would not allow me to serve my people because I saw an obsession among my colleagues. Most of my colleagues, there's one thing that they wanted to do. They wanted to rise up to the higher places of society and gain recognition and forget about the people at the grassroots. For them they desire 3 things: number 1, to make money; number 2, to make more money; number 3, to make lots of more money. And I had a problem with that.
My question was this, "Who is going to serve the people at the grassroots? Who is going to serve the people who are poor within our communities?", and moved by this we began a movement. We began an organization and made sure that we could offer education and mentorship to the people in my country.
You see, in my country, Zambia, 5 out of 10 will not make it to high school. In my country, 2 out of these 10 will make it to higher learning institutions. That's an alarming rate. Apart from that a number of youths in my community are unmentored. They have got no drive. They have got no passion. They have got no vision. They have got no hope. They wake up in the morning, and they're not sure exactly what to do with their own lives, and so they take to drinking and drug substance abuse. This is a problem that has plagued not only our continent, but many other places around the world.
As we speak right now, over a hundred youths have passed through our hands. They have been given an education, free mentorship, and they've gone out to change their communities. As I speak right now, they have obtained scholarships. As I speak right now, one is writing a book about the [inaudible 00:03:19] organization and trying to change many things in our society.
You see, I want us to begin a movement wherever you are. Is your gift music? Is your talent social entrepreneurship? Is your talent to speak and pour your life into the hearts of others? Each here of us can light a torch on our continent. Each here of us can change things wherever we are. Let's begin a movement so strong that generations to come will even testify that they leave the generation. A generation of fellows, a generation of people of Appalachia, a generation of Africans who stood up for what they believed and who said, "We move away from the selfish mentality. We move away from the self-centered mentality, and we seek to serve other people."
You see, I have been to the mountaintop like Martin Luther, and "mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming Lord!" Please join me as we change this world and leave a testimony for all the world to see. Thank you.