The little firefly vies with the star, The log-fire with the sun The water in the calabash With the mighty Volta, But we have come in tattered penury Begging at the door of the Master. - Kwesi Brew As it is said, Where there is no vision a people perish. And history affirms this adage time and again. In India, Gandhi’s vision of freedom for a sub-continent created a bold movement that subdued a hostile imperial power. In Africa, Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of the free African, both in the continent and in the diaspora, saw the liberation of the sub-Saharan nations. In the United States, Rev Martin Luther King’s dream of freedom for the Negro resulted in civil rights movements that were to hatch the first ever African-American president. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela’s vision of freedom from the deadly apartheid regime liberated a black nation shackled to servitude. In Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew’s vision of a prosperous nation elevated his country to exemplary living standards. All these icons committed themselves - body and soul - to the service of something greater than themselves. And the results were outstanding, legendary and prophetic. John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), the 35th president of the United States, provided a most intriguing case study. Not only did he suffer military fiascos through the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1961, and the terrible Vietnam War; but his 1956 book, “Profiles of Courage”, that won a Pulitzer Prize, was later alleged by certain critics to have been written by a ghost writer. Additionally, by hesitating on civil rights issues, Kennedy missed the golden opportunity to put his stamp on America’s racial emancipation. The praises for the Civil Rights Acts (1964), and the Voting Rights Act (1965) went to Lyndon Johnson, and they adorned the successor’s famous slogan, the “Great Society”. Kennedy’s invasion fiasco alone could have damaged any American president, as Jimmy Carter found out in his ill-fated attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran. But Americans could care less about John Kennedy’s military fiascos, the ghost writing or the civil rights posturing. They remember Kennedy fondly for his bold vision for America. After the Soviet launching of the earth satellite, Sputnik 1, space exploration was at full throttle, with the U.S. and the Soviets neck to neck in arms, cold wars, and territorial controls. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin took the lead for the Russians, and became the first man to travel in space, finishing a circuit of the earth in the “Vostok” spaceship satellite. Stepping up to the challenge on national television, Kennedy asserted his vision that America will put a man on the moon within a decade. Thereafter, John Glenn completed a three-orbit flight in the “Friendship 7” space capsule (1962). It was no accident of history that Glenn shared the Galabert Astronautical prize with Gagarin in 1963, the very year Kennedy died having served less than a single term. While other U.S. presidents after Kennedy - some having served the more expansive two terms of eight years - struggled to write their own history for the spotlight and posterity, Kennedy’s history was written for him in the glowing terms of a Camelot. It was said in a Kennedy biography that while visiting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) site to boost morale, he met the staff lined up in a corridor. At the end of the line, he was introduced to the toilet cleaner, who, when asked what his job was, replied proudly, “Mr President, I’m helping put a man on the moon”. A strong, brilliant vision is a potent motivator. It confirmed the essence of the remark, “Do not ask what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” When a vision is defined, and shared with others, it helps to motivate and unify a group of people around a purposeful goal. Another visionary is Barack Obama. He is honest in saying that “Africa’s future is up to Africans ... Opportunity won’t come from any other place ... it must come from the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and the hope that you hold in your hearts”. The giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta are no more; instead, Africa’s future will be from the visions of “the young people brimming with talent and energy and hope – who can claim the future”. A vision is an imaginary window through which we view the possibilities for a better world. It is a desired future or an outcome: something that can make a positive difference, and though it may not exist presently it is not impossible to achieve. Just like the standard practices of successful business concerns, no one must leave school without a Vision for a better self, and a Mission for a better world. Traditional curricula reflecting archaic conformist approaches ought to make way for learner centred approaches. The rabid scale of youth and graduate unemployment, for example, must reveal to policy makers the points of irrevocable inflection in education. It’s time to re-direct mindsets from debilitating old habits. Most of the new jobs available these days, and that provide satisfaction and income, happen to be jobs that people themselves create as entrepreneurs. In developing his Vision/Mission statements one student wrote in a recent leadership seminar at Ashesi University that his role model was the young entrepreneur, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder who created Facebook from scratch. This classic case of fusing vision and interests created wealth to the tune of about $2 billion. Modernity demands a bold, new world. It’s amazing how many adults, unwittingly, strangle the youth with such preposterous beliefs like, in Akan, “Akodaa bo nwa, onbo akyekyedee”, (that is, the young may crack the shells of snails, but not the harder shells of the tortoise”. Many of the frustrated youth we find today on the streets are victims of “Learned helplessness”: the morbid sense that they have little or no control over their future lives. A useful curriculum must help promote creative ways in which the youth see themselves as masters of their own interests, values, and fate. It must help the youth identify and define meaningful Visions / Missions for themselves. Teaching methodologies must steer learners to pursue the Visions / Missions with conviction for their own personal growth and happiness. At the end of the day, the useful things that we love to do, care about, or observe as needs, are likely to be the niches we carve for ourselves professionally income-wise, and holistically for self-fulfilment. The questions are the answers: In pursuing Visions / Missions, such questions will invariably present themselves: If you were to make one positive change in your own life what will that be? If you were to make one positive change in another person’s life what will that be? What is that particular thing you can do to improve other people’s lives? What is the greatest good you can do for the greatest number? What do you feel inspired to do to make a difference for a better world? Can you put that inspiration into words? The idea is to help our youth identify a sense of purpose, a territory, and begin the journey, and build a life around it. Many times we forget that the young Bill Gates, for example, did not start off with the intent to make billions. He merely started off with a Vision to help people work smarter and not harder: his Mission, then, was to cause a personal computer (PC) on every desk at home and in the office, to add to people’s productivity. The rest is history. Particular Visions must be selected by every learner to serve as entry points in one’s education, and groomed thereafter as points of departure to begin the journey to make a difference. It helps greatly when instructional methods match learners’ interests in various ways to include mentoring, service learning, volunteerism, and community service. All that help with the practise of important Leadership skills, and they lead to emotionally intelligent behaviours such as honesty, diligence, tenacity, punctuality, etc. Great leaders are inspired by Visions beyond themselves. Healthy egos seek a sense of service to others: What can be done to improve the lives of others? It is never too early to learn to serve. Albert Schweitzer once observed, “I do not know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know. The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” Youth Leadership Forum is introduced and mentored by Anis Haffar. Email: anishaffar@yahoo.com