Africa-Press – Zambia. As a 25-year-old multi-award winning Zambian Philanthropist, instead of looking for opportunities like every other young person does, he creates opportunities for other people, especially the youth.
Young Zambian Philanthropist Barrington Chungulo who has been honoured with the Diana Award for going above and beyond in his daily life to create and sustain positive change is an inspiration to the young generation.
The said Award which was established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, is the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts.
The Award has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex. Barrington is among a few dedicated and courageous young people who are making a positive impact in society.
In an interview with Zambia Reports after receiving his Award, Chungulo who is a Philanthropist, Social Entrepreneur, Global Changemaker, Impact Leader, Event Manager, Nonprofit Organisation Management Expert, and Visionary said winning the Diana Award is so special and big not just to him but to the country as a whole.
Chungulo is also the president and Founder of ‘The Dream Factory’, a Zambian registered nonprofit social enterprise that uses a multifaceted approach involving education, health, advocacy and empowerment to ensure that young people stay driven and achieve their full potential.
Asked what inspired him to start humanitarian works, Chungulo said his upbringing is the biggest inspiration. “What inspired me is the environment where I grew up from. The environment has gifted and highly talented young people but few or hardly opportunities,” he said.
“Growing up from that kind of an environment makes someone to, probably, be less exposed and barely have a vision. That made me to realize that it was the lack of opportunities, exposure, and a vision, which prevents young people from achieving their dreams. I founded ‘The Dream Factory’ to help solve this problem.”
Chungulo’s Enterprise seeks to get rid of the major burdens and problems that stand in the way of an individual’s success and transforms dreamers into visionaries through support in form of opportunities and resources that young people need to accomplish their lifelong dreams.
Last year, Chungulo successfully held the first-ever annual Global Changemakers (GCMx) Zambia 2020 virtual event, with a purpose of unlocking the power and potential of young people to impact Zambian community.
The event which was held on 2nd and 3rd December attracted 28 young Zambian change makers aged 15 to 30 were trained in skills related to innovation, social impact, and design thinking.
“As the President and Founder of The Dream Factory, I initiated, launched and successfully organised the first-ever annual Social Entrepreneurship MasterClass 2020 virtual event in Zambia on 20th November 2020 (also recorded as the first of its kind in Africa), which was aimed to introduce participants to the concept of Social Entrepreneurship and strengthen their social enterprises,” he explained.
“This was a global event which had the Barbados’ Ambassador to the United Nations as a Guest Speaker; extraordinary Entrepreneurs from the UK, USA, Zambia, South Africa, Egypt and Ghana as Speakers; and two global figures from the USA and UK as Emcees. The MasterClass had over 1200 attendants from different parts of the world, which successfully introduced participants to the concept of Social Entrepreneurship and strengthened participants’ already existing social enterprises by developing their ready-to-be-used business models for social causes.”
He also volunteered as the 2020/2021 Community Builder for Hult Prize Foundation in Zambia. “Besides leading the Hult Prize Zambia Community, I also voluntarily led Hult Prize Communities in South Africa, Malawi, Namibia and Rwanda. In 2020, I recruited and trained over 70 Hult Prize Campus Directors in those mentioned countries, who are now the next wave of Social Entrepreneurs,” he said.
These are just among the many tremendous achievements that Chungulo has had since he embarked on his life changing journey. Chungulo has also disclosed that he has had moments where he felt like giving up but said that his team the “Dream Factory keeps me motivated to keep going even when I feel like quitting.”
He encouraged those providing similar services to start or continue making tangible and sustainable change in their communities adding that their projects must be impact centred.
