Africa, vast in all its beauty, is also plagued with problems, many of which are due to poor governments. Certain African nations are unable to fully embrace the notion of democracy because the citizens, lacking the proper education and disconnected from the political process, are thus unable to hold their governments accountable. Furthermore, racial, ethnic, religious, and economic problems threaten stability and prevent students from finding the means to learn more about life beyond their homes. Exposing these students to new opportunities will add to their knowledge and arm them with the necessary tools to take action.

Our mission is to educate, empower, and engage. In the words of Nelson Mandela, we "dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent." Our philosophy is that these leaders reside in the hearts and minds of high-school students and their teachers who can transform into active citizens and guide Africa both at home and in the global community. We believe that through dialogue, our participants will be able to confront the differences and grapple with controversial issues that exist in their societies. By starting on the grassroots level, we are certain that our advocacy will help effect change by encouraging citizens to challenge the status quo through cooperation in an intellectual environment. We will challenge both ourselves and the participants to bring about tangible results in our work.

We define success by the achievement of the following standards:

• Exposure to an intellectual environment:
  By participating in competition and the various discussion events, students and teachers will experience "total immersion" in an environment that challenges them to think actively on a wide variety of contentious issues. We will ask participants to fill out two evaluations: one immediately after the program and another six months later in order to gauge progress. Notable testimonials may be included in a future publication for later conferences.
• Increased awareness of neighborhood, country, and world issues:
  We hope that this conference will serve as the springboard for enlightenment on the issues of Africa. Our desire is to motivate students and teachers to break out of their narrow view of the world and become imbibers of information.
• Broader perspective on enacting social change:
  Students and teachers will become knowledgeable in how to address the problems that exist in their community and ultimately beyond their own country’s borders. They will feel capable and confident of taking action and inspire others to join them in a cause.
• Improvement in debate skills:
  Students will return to their classrooms as more skilled debaters who can clearly formulate and defend ideas. This life-long skill is necessary academically, socially, and politically.
• Continuity in the Distant Mentorship Program:
  Mentors will keep in close contact with the African students. A Liaison Chair will be responsible for overseeing operations. Both sides should view their relationship as mutually beneficial: the mentor will gain a better idea of Africa while the student in Africa should have most, if not all, of their questions concerning college and life answered.
• Applications to colleges in the United States:
We hope that students, more informed of the college application process, will venture to apply to colleges in the United States. Our goal is to help ease this oftentimes arduous and confusing process.
• Appearance of new debate societies:
  Teachers will return to their local schools and put theory into practice. The Board of Directors will maintain contact with the teachers and offer advice as needed.