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Documentary On African Voices, Celebrating 10 Years; Southern California Shook by a 6.4 Earthquake; Syria's Peace Far from Reality; Weather Cooperates to President Trump's Salute to America; Controversy Sparks Over Citizenship Question in 2020 Census. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 5, 2019 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Natalie Allen.

Let's get you caught up on the latest headlines from around the world. Now a new report says that China is separating Muslim children from their families and placing them in boarding schools while their parents are in detention camps.

The report is from an independent researcher and the BBC. China has been placing Muslims, mostly Uygurs, in so-called reeducation camps. The report says in one area, more than 400 minors had both parents detained.

A state of emergency has been declared in Ridgecrest, California following a 6.4 earthquake. It is the strongest to hit the region in a generation. No fatalities have been reported.

An angry reaction from Iran after Britain seized one of its oil tankers off the coast of Gibraltar. Authorities say the Grace One, that's its name, was carrying fuel to Syria in violation of E.U. sanctions. Iran has now summoned the British ambassador.

Well, despite the promise of a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib province, the situation there just keeps getting worse. The U.N. says that more than 300 people have been killed since the latest government offensive started in April. More than 300,000 have been forced from their homes.

CNN's Arwa Damon has a look at life during wartime. We warn you some of the images are graphic.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's barely enough of a lull for Abu Bakr to talk to us.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: He hit the village, Abu Bakr tells us, relating what he just heard on the pilot frequency. Abu Bakr, a former communications officer during his Syrian military service cobble together this rudimentary set up, to spy on the regime's radio frequently.

"This one, we modified it to hear the strikes of the pilots," he explains, describing how he uses that information and what spatters on the ground send in to warn people and rescue teams over the walkie talkie radio as many now carry. There is no other way to protect the population.

There was a call on the radio about a plane. They're getting called now on the radio.

These guys in southern Idlib province the last rebel's stronghold feel like they are constantly filled with the menacing war of Syrian regime and Russian fighter jets.

Let's go. Fareez (Ph), let's go.

So, based on what they're hearing, one plane came by and drop four bombs. Sometimes there are 12 planes at a time that are overhead.

Life, if it can even be called that, is dictated by the bombs. Early morning lulls mean that the farmers can head out.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: He says a barrel bomb fell over here.

Hassan tells us they came to their field one morning only to find it in flames. When we ask about his feelings, he turns and walks away. It's not just about the loss of this year's harvest, it's the overwhelming realization of the price they are paying, the scorched earth campaign repeatedly targeting Idlib's agriculture, ensuring that people will have nothing to return to, if they ever even can.

The bombings have crashed even more people up against Turkey's border. Over the last few months, hundreds of thousands have fled. There is no room left at the main camps in the province. They cluster under the olive trees in makeshift shelters, even giving birth here.

Or as 88-year-old Maryam tells us, wishing she had been killed rather than live out the last of her days like this where she doesn't even have a tent. Some do venture back south to collect what they've left behind. Their towns and villages mostly abandoned, turned into the front lines.

Trenches are being dug, preparations for a ground war between the regime and hard-core rebel fighters.

[03:04:55] In other towns previously bomb, shops reopen under the ruins, an act of sheer defiance or perhaps folly as jets despite Russian and regime denials regularly target markets, bakeries, schools and hospitals.

Right. There is an ambulance coming.

People wounded are rushed into this hospital, the only functioning one in the area. The strike was close by, raising fears that the hospital itself could be targeted again. It has already been hit multiple times before. Another victim from another bombing is already undergoing surgery, while others in the ICU cling to life.

He just opened his eyes for the first time about 10 minutes ago after three days of no response.

"My message is help us, that's it," Dr. Basil al-Ahmed, (Ph) says. We're human beings. Rana (Ph) thought she would be able to keep her children safe. They fled their home to another village but it wasn't far enough. Her son's faces etched with wounds, hers with a mother's pain too deep for words.

She was pulled out from under the rebel but two of her other children they were killed. One was nine and one was five and a half, she tells us, unable to say more.

In the same room, Buthayna (Ph) looks helplessly at her son, just four years old, injured in the same strikes that day.

Humanitarian organizations are warning Syria is on the brink of a nightmare. Those who are living it will tell you that that nightmare began a long time ago. What they are about to enter is an even darker realm, one that defies logic and imagination.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Idlib province, Syria.

ALLEN: We'll have much more news straight ahead here including the latest on the first major earthquake to hit southern California in 20 years. We talked with a local official about the injuries and damage from the town that was hit and show you a map that illustrates the hundreds of aftershocks that have already occurred. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen, and this is CNN Newsroom.

We begin in Southern California. It has not had a major earthquake since 1999 until now. The relative quiet ended without warning Thursday with a 6.4 earthquake shook the ground from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

More than 150 aftershocks followed, some of them quite strong. The epicenter was about 240 kilometers north of Los Angeles near the community of Ridgecrest. Children performing a holiday program in the town were terrified as the auditorium began shaking. Listen.

Everyone got it OK, we are happy to say, but a wall behind the stage later collapsed. The town has now declared a state of emergency. We get the latest from CNN's Nick Watt, he's there.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Ridgecrest, California. A town of about 30,000 that bore the brunt of this earthquake, the biggest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years.

This is a town of about 30,000 people. They have suffered some minor injuries, some power lines down, some gas lines broken, a few fires, some cracks in walls and cracks in roads, but nothing major so far. No terrible injuries and no fatalities.

Now authorities feel that they have got a handle on the situation but what everybody is waiting for are the aftershocks.

[03:10:01] There have been many, many so far and we are warned that there will be many more. Seismologists down at Caltech say that there is an 80 percent probability of a 5.0 aftershock or greater.

Now, this quake was felt as far away as Vegas and the coast of Los Angeles. Now, people in L.A. were wondering why their early morning app didn't trigger. Well, because by the time it got to L.A. this was just felt as a 4.5 and the threshold to trigger was 5.0. That has already been changed.

People up here in Ridgecrest, up in the Mojave Desert braced for the aftershocks, and of course, Southern Californians as they have been for a long time are braced ready for the big one and this might just be a warning sign for people to get prepared for, heaven forbid, if that ever comes.

Nick Watt, CNN, Ridgecrest, California.

ALLEN: Yes. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is here now to talk about how severe this was and just the number, the hundreds of aftershocks they're having to endure. I can't imagine what's that like to these people.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And you know, it unnerves everybody. You know, when you've been through a tornado, you know that tornado is over. With these earthquakes and the aftershocks, they are not over. This could last for months.

There was an earthquake in Bakersfield back in the 50's, it wasn't even as significant as this one, and they had aftershocks for six months, and this is not be anything unusual for them.

All right. Let's go ahead and show you what's happened as far as where the area that was hit with this magnitude of 6.4. Initially, it was a 6.6 magnitude, and now the depth of this is now about seven miles deep.

All right. Here is Southern California. There is Los Angeles, and what are all these marks, I know it looks a little bit confusing, but each one of these marks represents where a fault line is.

This is very seismically active, and the aftershocks that we have seen since this earthquake struck, just after 10.30 in the morning local time, well, now we are looking at the aftershocks across this region and there are little fault lines here.

This did not happen along the great San Andreas Fault, where we typically think of these big earthquakes in California taking place. This is essentially was out the desert. Different story if this had happened in a highly populated area, just 150 miles away in Los Angeles or even in the vicinity of Bakersfield.

We think of Ridgecrest as being the epicenter. It wasn't. It was actually 10 miles away on a naval air weapons facility which is huge, but take a look at this. All of these orange dots they represent some of the aftershocks. Where these red areas are, the red dots, those are the aftershocks that have occurred in the past hour. How many of those dots are on their, Natalie? Hundreds of them.

ALLEN: I know.

MAGINNIS: I counted about 17 4.0 magnitude aftershocks already.

ALLEN: Yes. It's unreal. And coming up in a few minutes, we'll talk with one of the people helping out, a local official, to talk more about what people are dealing with.

Karen, thank you as always.

Well, coming up here, Donald Trump gets the crowd he always wanted on the National Mall, but did he leave politics aside? That's coming up. Plus, the census and citizenship. The Trump administration's whimpering options for including a controversial question in the 2020 head count.

[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: The United States is celebrating its 243rd birthday with fireworks displays from sea to shining sea. One of the most elaborate shows in the nation's capital, where this year President Trump turned the festivities into a salute to the military.

Here is more about it from CNN's Tom Foreman in Washington.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite scorching temperatures earlier in the day and intermittent rain, a reasonable sized crowd showed up here to see the president as he came out to give his unusual address to the American public on Independence Day, and he focused generally on American exceptionalism, not only in the military which is the theme of all of this, but in general as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: That same American spirit than embolden our founders has kept us strong throughout our history. To this day, that spirit runs through the veins of every American patriot. It lives on and in each and every one of you here today.

It is the spirit, daring and defiance, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love that built this country into the most exceptional nation in the history of the world and our nation is stronger today than it ever was before. It is its strongest now.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOREMAN: Despite a lot of fears, the president did not focus on

partisan issues but instead talked about Americans as a whole, never really mentioning Democrats or Republicans and talking about how as a group, Americans can move forward.

An important message, no doubt, on this 4th of July were his very actions in holding this rally caused a lot of division.

Tom Foreman CNN, Washington.

ALLEN: Joining me now to talk about it is political analyst, Peter Mathews. Always good to have you with us. Hi, Peter.

PETER MATHEWS, POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Natalie. Good to be with you again.

ALLEN: Let's start with President Trump crafting a July 4th celebration centered around the military. Should guns and the military be celebrated in this way in your opinion, in a country that was founded on ideals and not so much the military?

MATHEWS: In fact, I don't think it should be because the ideals are much more important in terms of today's commemoration. Well, military is important when it comes to a certain war, defending the country, but these are ideas of what America is about.

[03:19:58] And the Declaration of Independence that we celebrate says that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and all created with some certain inalienable rights, that rights to life, liberty and preserve happiness.

These are really important words that Thomas Jefferson wrote and those should be focused on. Is the U.S. guaranteeing the natural rights to its people? We have a problem with the Trump economy. I mean, while there has been some growth, there has still been a huge gap between rich and poor, that's what the growth and inequality is also been growing.

And you have trade wars on the rise and a lot of things have to be fixed and not to mention the country being divided due to Trump's leadership.

ALLEN: Well, before he spoke, the president's appearance on the mall drew criticism from Democrats and members of the military, some of them who accused him of using the troops and equipment as little more than political props. Why do you think the president staged his celebration this way?

MATHEWS: I think that he thinks this will really keep his base of voters with him when it comes to November the year after next, or next year, I should say, and that's the thing. He is looking at the election but also, he somehow seems to take the super patriotism to an extreme and at the same time, covering up the problems that we have in the country.

He should be bringing people together not hammering away the illegal immigration. He should be working on. Look what happened at the border, Natalie. Those kids being torn from their parents and sitting in those cages.

That is not an ideal this country can project to the world when we are the country with natural rights, that believe in natural rights. He should go back to the American ideal of protecting human rights and natural rights. So, maybe the military over use of that, is away from the hide from what's really going on.

ALLEN: Yes. A Democratic senator who served in the military remark, tanks aren't props, they are weapons of war. The president of course flanked by tanks when he spoke.

However, he did deliver a message that was unifying, Peter, not political. And here is part of it. "We are one people chasing one dream and one magnificent destiny. We all share the same heroes, the same home, the same heart."

Well, a poignant, hopeful message from President Trump who is often seen as a divider. Was that encouraging?

MATHEWS: Well, the words are beautiful and he stuck to the script and that's one reason he didn't get into problems. But the thing is what are his actions. That's what should count. And the script was beautiful today but the actions have to be followed through, and that is to unite people, to settle these problems and not divide us along economic lines and ethnic and racial lines.

The president needs to become a uniter-in-chief, not a divider in chief. It's very important for the American ideal of being a nation of immigrants. I don't see this happening. It hasn't happened for two and a half years, and who knows what will happen in the next year or so. So, words can be beautiful but actions are more important, Natalie.

ALLEN: Right. This country has been struggling to fill unified under this president. What else would you have like to hear from him on this day?

MATHEWS: I would like to hear from him about some of the economic problems we are facing. To say that it's important to provide economic opportunity because the American dream cannot be realized by anyone unless the economy is fair and shared prosperity exists for everyone, not just for the top half of the country, which is the mainly the situation with Trump.

The Trump economy has helped the top 10 percent much more than the rest of us. Even his tax cuts were geared to the top 1 percent. Eighty-five percent of the tax cuts went to the top 1 percent. That's not fairness or opportunity which America stands for.

I would like him to address that more honestly and then say what we could do to fix that. It's extremely important for America to actually care for all of us, not just a few at the top.

ALLEN: Right.

MATHEWS: Especially his donors.

ALLEN: Well, there were donors in the crowd for sure and there were a lot of supporters of Mr. Trump. There were also protestors as well. Did he -- was this mobilizing for his base? Will we perhaps see this visual when we see the political ads for the next presidential election?

MATHEWS: Absolutely. He thinks that by holding on to that base of 37 percent, which, by the way, a number of Americans that say are going to vote for, him. Thirty-seven is not enough to win but he thinks he can do that like he did before with the electoral college.

And he wants with that 37 percent, he cannot win without them at, but he needs to expand that base. And look at this picture, the fire right there and the violence that's directed because people are so upset and it's wrong that this happened.

But you know, he needs to really bring people together and his base won't be enough, Natalie for him to win again. And if he thinks he can rely on that, it's not easy how he may have something else coming, actually.

ALLEN: Political analyst Peter Mathews, we always appreciate your insights. Thank you.

MATHEWS: Thank you, Natalie. Good to be here.

ALLEN: The Trump administration has until the coming day to explain how it plans to proceed with the 2020 census. But with the forms already being printed their options for including a controversial citizenship are limited.

CNN's Sara Murray reports.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So much for Fourth of July festivities. Instead, Commerce and Justice Department officials are working, scrambling to fulfill President Trump's demands to add a citizenship question to the census.

[03:24:57] "So important for our country that the very simple and basic, are you a citizen of the United States question be allowed to be asked in the 2020 census," Trump tweeted.

The Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice are working very hard on this, even on the 4th of July. Last, week the Supreme Court block citizenship question at least for now, amid concerns about why the administration wanted to ask it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You go through all this detail and you're not allowed to ask whether or not somebody is a citizen?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: The Trump administration agreed Tuesday to drop the question. Government lawyers told the Maryland judge printing had begun without the citizenship question. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the same.

Then Trump changed his mind, tweeting in part, "We are absolutely moving forward, as we, must because of the importance of the answer to this question. The judge noticed. I don't know how many federal judges have Twitter accounts but I happen to be one of them, and I follow the president, he said, in a hastily arranged call, according to a transcript."

Justice Department attorneys, one of whom was already on vacation appeared blindsided. "The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the president's position on this issue," one of the lawyers said. "I am doing my absolute best to figure out what's going on."

Now the administration is weighing its options, including an executive order, which will be immediately challenged in court, a motion for the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, or a supplement to the census.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

ALLEN: For our international viewers, thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen. African Voices is just ahead for you. And for our viewers in the U.S., the news continues in just a moment. I'll be right back.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is one thing to complain about problems, it's another thing to come up with a solution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the RHB section of Fundi Bots. This is where all the robots magic happens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This week, meet the African change makers impacting their community through education, training, and innovation. On the move, changing perceptions, pushing limits, today's Africa is not framed by the past. A new generation is stepping up, embracing tradition while placing a new path. Giving voice to unique style, connected in ways others before were not. This is where the urban (inaudible) meets the utility. And a new culture thrives. This is African Voices.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is just that much in you, that all is one to question (inaudible) and to not be contented with the status quo that will make you achieve the impossible. As I look forward into the future, I see girls with the ability to realize their dreams, I'm hopeful for the future. My Africa is vibrant, unapologetic, and highly potential. I'm Rebeca Gyumi, a girls advocate from Tanzania.

Rebeca Gyumi runs the Metania initiative established in 2016, the NGO advocates for girls rights in parliament in Tanzania.

REBECA GYUMI, GIRLS ADVOCATE FROM TANZANIA: What's up today? Good morning. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

GYUMI: How is your day?

So, my day would normally start with coming to the office and checking the emails, and after that I will have a meeting with all staff.

Are we all hear? Ok.

Our work is primarily on four main areas. We work on reaching girls apparently, but we also focus on reaching the communities, because we also believe that girls are not living on sort of like an island. They are surrounded by people. We invest a lot of time in working with the systems that are supposed to protect the girls, enforcing the laws, and the last one is we do is strategic litigation.

We are also following up the legends (ph). The legends of the district, we are currently operating in six regions in Tanzania and with our initiative we have been able to reach more than 15,000 girls directly through these clubs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lawyer by trade, Rebeca prefers to be known for the work she does on the ground rather than in the courts.

GYUMI: I am taking you to one of our girls clubs. We have 60 of them in the country, in Doris Salam. We felt we could contribute in impacting their lives of girls in this particular schools, build their confidence, create a safe space where they're able to talk about their issues. This is their school.

Hey, you.

They say a girl with a dream is fire.

I'm from family of five children. We did not have a lot, but my mother and father tried to, you know, make ends meet in a way. All their resources that they had they'll putting into in getting us an education. They saw how education had a big part to play in our lives and that if we were not able to get that, you know, then probably our official is not so certain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With strong encouragement at home and a passion for learning, Rebeca was destined for success.

GYUMI: Since primary school, I was looking up to the women who had -- sort of like law background. So the women like (Inaudible), a former deputy secretary general of the U.N. who was from Tanzania, and I realized how she was convinced in her passion and I came to learn that she was a lawyer. So from Paris school I was, like I'm going to be like her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arising academic in secondary school, her father and teachers had other plans for Rebeca.

[03:35:00] GYUMI: I quit science, subject, and my teacher was so livid, he was so angry, he was, like Rebeca, you are actually leading in this subject, why are you dropping it? And I had to be rebellious and say, you know, I'm going to follow my heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At University, she did just that, and enlisted a legal studies with a focus on women's right.

GYUMI: It was sort of like, I grew up believing that, you know, women, girls really are an integral part in ensuring that the family and community is right generally, so growing up I knew that I would venture into something that advocates for girls and women's rights. A lot of children at the moment get opportunity to go to school because of the policies like free education, but we have bigger issues around retention. Girls are dropping out, because of issues like pregnancy. The fact that I also saw some of my fellow schoolmates dropping out. I will say, unconsciously, also kept me in that vibe, you know, what can I do more to ensure that I'm really contributing in shaping the situation?

When I started volunteering at a local organization in Tanzania called Femina, I came to them and have a better understanding that this was not just the issue in my school, even the community that I grew up in. It was really an issue that was happening in many of the communities in my country. And now I'm sitting here, I'm actually learning about Tanzania.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We caught up with Rebeca at the United Nations when she was receiving the U.N. human rights prize for her work fighting for girl's right in Tanzania.

GYUMI: I'm so excited. It's actually I wasn't sure it's real, because it is not so easy, you know, for a girl like me to be here at the U.N. today, and you know, just the idea that I would be in the general assembly hall is still unbelievable. That inspires other girls as well to see themselves as big and, you know, the possibilities of being whoever you want to be really.

So, today, as we sort of celebrating human rights defenders, I would like to say that it is critical that that we also understand that we are at a moment where many places all over the world, we are seeing a situation where young women and women in particular are not able to realize their full potential.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prior to this prestigious award, Rebeca has been recognized nationally and internationally for her work in advancing girls rights, but the accolades are not what motivates her.

GYUMI: People are looking at you, seeing hope in you and I feel that for me brings that sense of responsibility. Because I felt overwhelmed with joy, but at the same time I felt I have work to do. Going forward, I feel like definitely there will be a lot of focus around ensuring that girls remain in school and study, because we have a huge challenge around retention and also ensuring that you know, we address issues around sexual reproductive health and rights. You know we need to continue speaking our truth. I think what the world misses a lot is, you know, the voice of reason, the voice of really ensuring that we are on track with the agenda that we have as a global community, for our generation in the next generation I think we have work to do definitely, but I'm just saying -- I think we are the ones that we have been waiting for.

[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON KING BENGE, FOUNDER OF FUNDI BOTS: When I was growing up, I was very passionate about science, about tech, I love to understand how the world work. I wanted to understand this mystery of technology that was happening around me. I was trying to build robots as a child, I was train to create machines that are moving on their own, but there was a bit of frustration, because the material that I was looking for was not being taught in schools, and so around this time is when the idea of a space where kids like me could thrive. Could draw, could be mentored and guided. Around that time, the idea became for me.

My Africa vibrant, dynamic and infinite. My name is Solomon King Benge, from Compalay (ph), Uganda and I'm the founder of Fundi Bots and this is my Africa.

At some point in my senior two or senior three, I discovered this wonderful book called the Engineer in Wonderland and I love the book so much. It was a wonderful series of experiments, and so I went to my physics teacher and excitedly asked him if we could do this experiment in the classroom, and he looked at the book and said, this is irrelevant, because it is not in your school curriculum, and so for me that was a pretty devastating moment and I thought to myself that if I was ever able to make enough money, that I would create a space where students like me could thrive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2011, Solomon founded Fundi Bots, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting practical science education through robotics.

KING BENGE: The mission of Fundi Bots is basically to accelerate science learning in Africa. We are creating tools systems and processes to help students learn science better, whether there in school or outside of schools. The programs in Fundi Bots are based on the (inaudible) of practical learning.

Our three core programs areas are the school in curriculum program which happens within the school's system, where we go to schools and help them learn science better. The second is the skills and career's program which basically walks with all the students and university students and helps them prepare better for career by giving them practical learning.

And then lastly is our innovators and change makers program, which basically asked students and encourages students to look up challenges within their communities and try to solve them using the technology that they've learned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Fundi Bots team build and design their own robots here in their research and development lab.

KING BENGE: Welcome to the RND section of Fundi Bots, this is where all the robot magic happens. So this place basically is a place where we build curriculum tools, we do student projects. We welcome University students, but most importantly it is a place where the innovation actually happens, so everything that we used within Fundi Bots starts in here and then goes out into the schools.

This little area is basically showing some of the robots that we have built, some of this are used for education that is one of the ones we used in schools, this too under development and this is a more advance version. So, over here is the 3d printer, a 3d printing station, we have three 3d printer's and what we do basically here as we build prototypes of machine devices that we can use within classrooms, so a lot of the things that you can see being done here like this green section of the board had been built by a 3d printer.

So, right, now our primary learning tool is robotics and the journey and the process of building that robot exposes them to a lot of fields in science and this includes electrical engineering, because the robots need to be able to walk using electricity, it includes computer programming, because the robots need to be given a specific set of instructions, and then it does include things like mechanical engineering, because the robots need to move physically.

[03:45:07] Our program operates in multiple areas, we are currently in four region within Uganda, we have the central region, eastern region, northern and western, but we also do training in countries like Tanzania and Rhonda and we are planning to expand more aggressively across the continent.

Currently, the total number of schools that are within our school network is about 95 schools in Uganda. Out of those 95, we have reached about six thousands students and we have a program developing that is going to scale to about 20,000 students over the next 12 months.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Despite all these young minds, Fundi Bots uses an outreach team led today by Betsy which brings the robotics knowledge and resources into the classroom.

BETSY, OUTREACH TEAM, FUNDI BOTS: Hello, everyone. Are we all hear? When we talk about technology, it is the technology that we meet every day, but we are bringing it closer to you, so we are going to use the robotic science too and as you try to think about the mechanics of your robots you are actually learning how machines work, you know, the programming language, you are learning about energy systems, so our training today is going to be two hours and during these two hours we are going to explore those aspects.

KING BENGE: Even the younger students, the tools that they are using in the classroom, whether you are six years old, the tools that you are using are Fundi Bots, a tool that you are going to find out certain stage of your career if you pass your sciences and so from a very early age we are teaching very strong career skills and development foundations. Our outreach has been growing exponentially over the last four years. In 2017 alone we reached 2600 students. Last year we reached about 2800 students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The impact of Fundi Bots is making on science education has not gone unnoticed, earning it several awards. KING BENGE: I have been selected as an African visionary fellow by

civil family foundation, we just recently won Builders of Africa awards from the African (inaudible) network in Silicon Valley and all of these are little acknowledgments that the work that we are doing is worth the effort that we are putting in and that it is being recognized for the impact that it has.

The point at which I realized that Fundi Bots had become something special for me, I think my favorite scenario was when an entire crowd of students were screaming excitedly, because they saw a robot walking across the demonstration table. For me those are a little magical moments where you realize that the work you're doing is important, not just because you are transforming education, but because you are changing lives.

The vision that we have in Fundi Bots is basically an Africa in which science is embraced, in which science is taught well, and which students actually harnessing the power of science to transform their communities. Which means they are studying it well in the schools, they are using it very strongly in their careers, but also they are being creative with the technology that they have learned to solve problems.

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MISAN REWANE, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF WAVE: Education is really the door to opportunity. From strong believer that education is the leveler. No nation can rise above its education level. My levels is busy, high energy and full of potential. I am Misan Rewane, I'm a social entrepreneur. I'm from Nigeria.

It is important for me to start the day with a run, reconnect with the city, remind myself of what I need to get done for the day and just sort of get my to do list in my head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rewane's to do list is long and Nigeria's young people are right there at the top.

REWANE: Good morning, everyone.

So, my name is Misan Rewane, I'm co-founder and CEO of WAVE. WAVE stands for West African Vocational Education. We are not for profit organization. Our big mission is income transformation to ensure that the young -- every young African has access to the skills and the opportunities to become what they imagine.

We started with 12 young people in a classroom. I looked at them and said, hey, you don't know me from anywhere, but I promise you I won't go to bed at night until I get as many of you a job as possible.

Welcome to the next three and a half weeks here. You're going to learn skills such as effective communication. Problem solving skills. How to manage your time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misan, who wanted to be a teacher at a young age, was in school in the United States when she and other students came up with the idea of WAVE.

REWANE: I founded WAVE in 2013. I was in Harvard Business School at the time and I had met with other West Africans who were equally passionate about the youth potential and the youth opportunity that was being wasted on the continent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Desperate to harness that potential, Misan went back to Legos after graduation and threw herself into helping young adults market themselves.

So most of the students had come from away program are living in less than $2 a day.

REWANE: Most did not have access to a college education and the average age was in the early twenties, and most of them are looking for a leg up, just to get a foot in the door in (inaudible). Most of them are working in micro entrepreneurship, hustling on the streets to make a living and this is the first time they're going to get access to a steady income. We are going to go check out one of our alumni. Her name is Salma, she graduated from WAVE about four and a half years ago and now she is a woman's fashion designer. Hi, Salma.

SALMA, WOMAN'S FASHION DESIGNER: Hi, Misan.

REWANE: How are you?

SALMA: I'm fine.

REWANE: Good to see.

SALMA: Same here.

REWANE: How goes it?

SALMA: Good, good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misan drop in on her former students every year to see how the training is paying off.

SALMA: Well, one is the communication basically that has been able to help me with clients and you know the way I used to be, very rude when I talk, but now I've been able to apply emotional intelligence and then be able to talk to client, the best way I can communicate with them and then understanding better.

REWANE: At WAVE, the young people that we train, the various vocational skills will go into various vocations and different industries and (inaudible) to go into culinary lines. So, we are very excited to see (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In that way we did multi-tasking skills. So, that's one (inaudible). United Kingdom, what is important, what is urgent and what is not important which is very urgent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Successful job placements are source of funding for WAVE. REWANE: We have funder partners from all over the world, primarily in

the U.S. We have some local funding partners, and then a third of our revenue actually comes from our fees. So our academies, when we connect young people to jobs, we then charge a training fee, which they pay only after they find work. We charge the recruitment fee to our employers, who also pay when they hire our young people. But majority of our funding does comes from philanthropy.

[03:55:00] Hi guys. How is it going? Good, OK, so what's on the agenda today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though she has many eager participants in the program, not everyone is the right fit.

REWANE: One of the biggest challenge that we face is actually talent. The talent organization has talent challenges as well. Finding and retaining and growing the right set of people to help build the vision is extremely critical to our mission, and that is something that we struggle with and work with and continue to thrive at. Another big challenge for us is trust. In a system where it is hard to regulate or take any recourse when someone doesn't do what they say are going to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Despite that, the company has still put quite a dent and in Nigeria's job market.

REWANE: Who have thought that five and a half years later, we would have run over 115 batches? We've graduated over 2,500 young people from our academies, with our replicating partners, they have trained over 6000 young people across Nigeria. Yes, we continue to grow.

In the next 10 years I see WAVE playing this role of a systems builder, working with educators to strengthen the education system, working with industry to make their practices a lot more inclusive of the disadvantaged young people who need a leg up in this country. I hope that the work that we are doing will make a dent in the education to employment system.

In Nigeria today, we have the next Zuckerberg, the next Gates, whatever, you name the next Oprah, and that young person is just waiting, getting ready for that opportunity to meet their talent. It's magic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One to three, WAVE.

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