Dakar Dolls

You've heard of Charlie's Angels? Well, meet the "Dakar Dolls."

The one on the left is Irene. She's the the tall, skinny, model type, sorta like Farrah Fawcett. The one in the middle is Joy, who embodies the lovely bravado of Jaclyn Smith. The one on the end? That's me, Kate Jackson all the way. The nerdy/nymph-ish blend of beauty and brains (and belly).

We've just finished a journalists' workshop before the Early Childhood Development conference that starts tomorrow. I came as a co-trainer, and when organizers asked me to recommend a few participants, these two gals were first on my list. They are smart, dynamic and destined for great things in their respective countries of Rwanda and Kenya. I've been working with Joy ever since she entered a journalism training program at the Daily Nation in August 2008. I met Irene at the Kigali workshop I organized in August of 2009.

Young women like these two won't let me leave this continent, for heaven's sake!! They are so smart and resourceful and committed to making a difference. There are always 1 or 2 in every newsroom I encounter, and they latch onto me like baby chicks, hungry for any advice and support I'm offering. And because I never had any kids, I figure this a great way to nurture and mould young minds without changing dirty diapers or standing in a stuffy classroom all day.

I'm not saying women like Joy and Irene don't have any female journalist role models, but I'm positive they don't have very many. And I'm not saying that issues like Early Childhood Development would never be covered in African newspapers without my help, but I know that if I DO support people like Joy and Irene, the odds are better.

So there you have it: a journalistic vortex of African/American brains and beauty, so to speak. Basically, this picture is worth several hundred thousand words, if these young women just keep on writing. And this, er, "seasoned" woman just keeps on cheering them on.