United Support of Artists (USA) for Africa has pledged their support of The Mohamed Amin Foundation with the launch of a scholarship to be known as USA for AFRICA/We Are The World. The programme takes its name from the song We Are The World written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in response to pictures taken by Mohamed Mo Amin 25 years ago of the plight of the Ethiopian famine victims.
The Mohamed Amin Foundation was formed in 1998 with the mission of raising the standards of communication in Africa. Mo Amin strongly believed that the African story needed to be covered and told by African journalists and filmmakers.
The USA for AFRICA/We are the World scholarship programme will assist talented African students, regardless of their financial status, to study at The Mohamed Amin Foundation’s training centre where they will gain the skills and techniques that will allow them to pursue professional careers in the media industry and help them tell the African story to the rest of the world.
The USA for AFRICA/We are the World Scholarship programme is requesting other donors and individuals to join the programme and to help The Mohamed Amin Foundation equip an even greater number of young African media students with the skills and techniques required to tell the African story to the world in a professional and compelling way. www.MoFORCE.com
When the first footage of the Ethiopian famine victims appeared on television in 1984, it touched the conscience of the world. Across the continents, viewers in different countries – communicating in different languages – shared a common outrage at the plight of fellow human beings.
Thanks to the motivation and the desire to do something that was expressed by Harry Belafonte, along with other artists, who also saw the footage, the seeds were planted that lead to the creation of USA for Africa and the recording of We Are The World. Both the organisation and the song will be 25 years old in January 2010.
We Are The World went on to sell more than 7 million copies and USA for Africa received more than $60 million dollars since its inception. The Scholarship programme for study at the Mohammed Amin Foundation Media Training Centre is an acknowledgement of the organisation’s 25th anniversary and the importance of supporting capable journalists, like Mo Amin, for the future.
