Up at 7:30am (yes, 3.5 hours sleep...), to get packed up and have a final meeting about the statement (The Limpopo Commitment). To discover that the rest of the group don't have my well-practised resolve. Or something. Then, the bus to Soweto (along with some new pictures).
The second day of the NEPAD Youth Conference on the Information Society began at 05:45, when our wake-up calls came through to ready us for our morning drive...
We got unceremoniously woken up by a 6:30 reminder call, when we'd been told we would be starting an hour later. Back to bed for another hour. The Director General of the Department of Communications was discovered to be facilitating the show, which is a good show of how serious this event is being taken.
Sunday, 26th June. 07:30 wakeup for 10:40 flight, arriving at 12:40 in Johannesburg. Meet Robyn, a student at Stellenbosch who is studying socio-informatics. Joined by two Ethiopians and a Kenyan (who works for the NEPAD secretariat there and one of the leaders of the African Youth Parliament) for a thirsty almost three-hour drive to Mabula which is near Bela-Bela (or Warmbaths)...
NEPAD Youth Conference
25 Jun
The week before last I was nominated to attend the NEPAD Youth Conference on the Information Society, and so I'm going to be away for the next few days in Limpopo at Mabula Lodge, engaging with other young people in Africa about my favourite topic - the potential for development in Africa when information can find its way into the right hands and communication can take place between the right people. And, of course, the role Free and Open Source Software can play in all that. I just hope the conference in the information society has internet access...