![\"Esther](\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/forwisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2014\/07\/UW-Stout_YALI_esthertola_CS-198x300.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cWe are an underdeveloped country. We want to see how people live here, to understand why the U.S. people are where they are,\u201d Tola said.<\/p>\n
Benin\u2019s economy also is stuck in neutral, another reason why Tola is excited to be at UW-Stout as part of President Obama\u2019s Young African Leaders Initiative. The program has brought 500 Africans to 20 U.S. universities this summer, including 25 to UW-Stout.<\/p>\n
The Washington Fellows at UW-Stout, 15 males and 10 females from 15 countries, are attending a Business and Entrepreneurship Institute from June 15 to July 26 led by Associate Professor Mark Fenton from the College of Management.<\/p>\n
Six other universities are in the business and entrepreneurship track, including Dartmouth, Yale, Northwestern and Notre Dame. The other 14 universities are offering civic and public management institutes.<\/p>\n
The 500 leaders will gather in Washington, D.C., at the end of July for a program summit with Obama. Fenton will accompany the UW-Stout group.<\/p>\n
American experience<\/h3>\n
The Africans at UW-Stout are taking classes, hearing from guest lecturers and going on industry tours, such as Fairmont Minerals sand mine and Cardinal Glass manufacturing facility in Menomonie.\u00a0 In addition, they are doing community service work, including working at Menomonie Freedom Fest on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are incredibly inquisitive,\u201d Fenton said. \u201cThey\u2019ve come here to learn and immediately apply what they learn.\u201d<\/p>\n UW-Stout received a $100,000 federal grant to host the program.<\/p>\n The Africans also are learning about daily life in the U.S. They saw an Eau Claire Express baseball game at Carson Park and will visit northern Wisconsin, the state Capitol, the Mall of America and more.<\/p>\n The Express game was Tola\u2019s first baseball game of her life \u2014 she\u2019d only seen games on TV previously. She said she thoroughly enjoyed the experience, including the entertaining fan contests and seeing children at the game with their parents.<\/p>\n Although she loves the way of life in the U.S., Tola is more excited to return home. Her goal \u2014 consistent with the goals of Obama\u2019s program \u2014 is to become a leader and help change her country. \u201cRunning away won\u2019t solve our country\u2019s problems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She has many ideas already from what she\u2019s seen in Wisconsin, including better waste management systems and helping young people find jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing I noticed is that people start working here at a very young age. Even the university employs students. That is not the case in Benin,\u201d she said, adding that it\u2019s unusual for a teenager to have a job there.<\/p>\n Tola has a two-year college degree in business management, thus her interest in jobs and the economy of Benin.<\/p>\n Her experience, however, is in journalism. She began working in radio in 2001 and worked as a TV news anchor, hosting a show in English. Then she began working in Benin for British Broadcasting, after receiving training in London. She worked as a stringer, then full time and then as a freelancer.<\/p>\n She also has worked as a freelance science journalist. One of her first stories was covering an outbreak of the deadly virus Ebola in Benin. A major outbreak of the virus hit western Africa again in late June.<\/p>\n Tola continues to freelance and also works for a Benin news website, www.acotonou.com, updating the site daily even while at UW-Stout.<\/p>\n Although she is a rarity in Benin, a western-educated female with excellent English-speaking skills, the top salary of her life in Benin has been less than $200 a year. \u201cAnd I was well-paid compared to others,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Before she left for the U.S., Tola met with the U.S. ambassador to Benin. She hopes to have him on her side when she returns with ideas on how to effect change in Benin.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the way people (in the U.S.) are in tune with regulations. If we could stick to that a little bit, we could do wonders. There are so many issues in our country, sometimes I don\u2019t know where to start,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For more information about the program, go to https:\/\/yali.state.gov\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n<\/a>A journalist in Benin<\/h3>\n
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