ISSUE 4
WHO are we?__________

Welcome to the fourth newsletter from the Njoya Foundation.
The Njoya Foundation was created by Njoya's family and friends with the intention of continuing the work and visions of Christian Njoya Diawara Small. More

WHY do we exist?_______

All too often, people of African and African-Caribbean descent are marginalised, fed imbalanced images of who we are, what we are about and what we can potentially become. This is even more an issue for young people who have the extra burden of low expectations set upon them. The best methods to counteract these issues lie in providing much needed resources (financial, skill sets and exposure) to the good work of grassroot organisations that draw our community together and are making positive changes. More


WHO was Njoya?_________

Njoya was extremely focused, self motivated and had high expectation of himself and always encouraged others to do their best.

Throughout his busy schedule of athletics, full-time work, writing his book, enjoying himself, even learning Salsa, he never forgot the importance of children. To this end, he began to get more involved with mentoring, especially with children of African decent.

Njoya’s brilliant and promising life came to a sudden and shocking halt when he was murdered in the London Bombings on 7th July 2005.
More

 

Njoya Foundation

Fufu is now ready to be served!
Wake up and Smell the Fufu – Official Book Launch and tribute to Christian Njoya Diawara Small will take place on Saturday 7th July 2007, 6:30 pm – 9:30pm at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road London E1 6LA View map

In the year 2002 at the humble age of 25, Christian ‘Njoya Diawara' Small decided to go on a soul-searching journey to the land of his forefathers - Africa. Over a six-month period, Njoya walked, talked, ate and slept the life of an African in a rural setting. His mission was to share the skills he had acquired through his IT studies in the UK and at the same time learn as much as he could about his African heritage. He wanted to make sense of the complex identity of a young man born in Britain of Jamaican parentage but, whose ancestors were born in Africa.

During his time in Africa, Njoya documented his travels and many adventures and, encouraged but family and friends, he turned his moving, inspirational and sometimes damn right hilarious experiences of a young man embarking on a journey of self discovery into a book – ‘Wake Up and Smell the Fufu'.

Join us as we celebrate Njoya's life (who was unfortunately killed during the London bombings in 2005) and the publication of his work with extracts from the book.

We look forward to seeing you at the book launch. If, however, you are unable to come to the launch, you can pre order a copy of the book by going to the Njoya Foundation website. It will also be available from 09/07/07 via all good book stores and you should also be able to order it through your library.

Book details: ‘Wake Up and Smell the Fufu' by Christian Njoya Diawara Small – ISBN 978-0-9542492-2-9


WHAT organisations will the Foundation work with?

New Initiatives is an example of the type of organisation we will be aiming to get involved with and fund. ORIGIN is one of their main programmes. It is a 'rites of passage' for young men of African heritage which has been providing personal development programmes that tackle real issues faced by our young men. More

If you have an interest in donating your time or resources to the Foundation, please email us at help@njoyafoundation.org.uk
All help is gratefully received.

If you would like to receive this newsletter in plain text, please email us at e-newsletter@njoyafoundation.org.uk

If you wish to remove your name from our mailing list, please email us at e-newsletter@njoyafoundation.org.uk
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The Njoya family would like to express their thanks and gratitude for the overwhelming support and love from all. The family would like to give special thanks to Carat, Haringey Athletic, Canon John Meteivier, Vincent Thompson, Dipo Ajani and our new extended family who have worked so hard to make the Foundation possible.