The New Face of Africa: Evans Wadongo

Another amazing story about an African who has dedicated their life to changing the lives of others. Evans Wadongo is just that story. An ordinary person who is doing extraordinary things.
Evans Wadongo (born 11 March 1986) is a Kenyan engineer. He is a graduate in Electronic and Computer Engineering from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya. He went to a rural primary school-Bisunu Primary school, where he walked over 10 km daily to reach the school. His home and school had no electricity. Evans braved the odds to join Kakamega High School where he managed to graduate with top marks, and was listed among the top 100 best students in Kenya. He later joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and graduated in July 2009 with a BSc in Electronics and Computer Engineering.

While at the university, Evans was an active member of the Rotaract Club (part of Rotary International), where he participated in various community initiatives, including the donation of clothes to children homes and street clean up campaigns. He did his internship at UUNET Kenya (Now MTN Business Kenya) in 2008, at Metsec Ltd in 2007, and at Kenyatta National Hospital in 2006. Evans designed a solar lamp which he calls ‘MwangaBora (Swahili for good light) in 2004, as a way to address poor education, climate change, health and poverty in rural areas in Kenya. Evans named the entire project: ‘Use Solar, Save Lives’ as he aimed to use solar technology as a way to save lives in poor communities.

He joined Sustainable Development For All-Kenya (SDFA-Kenya) a non profit in 2006. SDFA-Kenya was officially registered by the NGO Coordination Board in June 2007 and its primary focus is environment, education and economic empowerment with Evans as its founding Chairman. SDFA-Kenya adopted the ‘Use Solar, Save Lives’ programme as its main focus program as it combines the three aspects of education, environment and economic empowerment. SDFA-Kenya is transforming into an international organization in order to expand its programmes to other countries and has been incorporated in Washington. Apart from being the Chairman of the organization, Evans doubled up as a Project Manager from 2006 to 2008. From 2008 to July 2010, Evans was the Chairman and Programs Director. He is currently the Executive Director and Chairman of SDFA-Kenya and the President of SDFA-US.

Evans Wadongo and his story have been featured on CNN, BBC, AFP, France 24, MBC South Korea, K24 TV, NTV, KBC TV, Citizen TV, German Radio, KISS FM Radio, Radio Jambo, Capital FM, Nation Newspaper, The Star newspaper, The People newspaper, Parents Magazine, Management Magazine, and several online news sources.
Wadongo was voted one of CNN‘s top ten heroes of 2010. On March 30, 2011, Wadongo was named one of three recipients of the inaugural Mikhail Gorbachev Awards for “people who changed the world”. His fellow inaugural recipients of this award were Sir Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide web and Ted Turner, media mogul and founder of CNN. The ceremony, held in London, also celebrated Gorbachev’s 80th birthday.

Evans is among the Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Swabb Foundation for 2011. The awards ceremony were held in Cape Town, South Africa, during the World Economic Forum for Africa.Evans has been a speaker in schools, colleges and conferences in several countries. He was one of the Mentors at the Education Without Borders International Conference in United Arab Emirates in March 2011.