The Foundation Princess of Girona recognizes young people who have achieved success in the creation and motivation of social projects with innovative vision and tangible achievement.
Barcelona, 16 April 2021 – On April 15, 2021, Ousman Umar was honored with the Princess of Girona 2021 award in the Social category. This award distinguishes young people for their leadership and personal commitment and who have achieved success in the creation and motivation of social projects with innovative vision and tangible achievement.
“I still cannot believe I won this award, we are an NGO that is only funded by private donations and functions thanks to our volunteers. This recognition gives me the strength to keep working every day in this project and to continue helping with education, and that no one else should ever have to go through what I had to go through. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” confirmed Ousman.
Basically, the jury valued the work of Ousman Umar in “his labor in building a transformative project which combines education, technology and alliances and contributes solutions to the migration phenomenon as well as his exemplary trajectory, resilience, capacity of overcoming adversity and taking profit from the opportunities that society offers through personal effort”.
Although Umar has been receiving public recognition for a long time thanks to his social labor, he has met with Pope Frances. The advisory board of the NGO, NASCO Feeding Minds includes prestigious members such as Dr. Bonaventura Clotet or the humanitarian activist, Oscar Camps, even still, Ousman wasthe first one to be surprised by this Award. His reaction to this news was a mixture of surprise, happiness and gratitude. The video can be downloaded at: video
Ousman Umar is currently involved in the project “Corre al País de los Blancos” (Run to the country of the whites).
Due to the fact that public events cannot be held, we have adapted this event to be carried out virtually. Our aim is to raise awareness about what immigration entails along with the difficulties and risks that people undergo when migrating from Africa to Europe. Through this challenge a total of 21,333 kilometers which represent the distance that Ousman Umar covered from this native Ghana to Barcelona. In just over 3 months, half of the route in kilometers has been completed. This event, “Run to the country of the Whites” aims to make this problem known to all residents through sensitization and pedagogy. The route can be followed in real time through the virtual web: https://correalpaisdelosblancos,com/mapa-participantes/
The Jury for the Award
The jury is presided by the Assistant General Director of the Fundación Bancaría “La Caixa” and member of the Consulting Board of the FPdGi (Fundación Princesa de Girona), Elisa Durán and also composed of the Director of Gynecological Surgery Area of the clinic Salud de la Mujer Dexeus, Pere Barri (Recipient of Award in 2011 in Social category) that has held position as secretary; the pedagogue and social entrepreneur, Roser Batlle; former president of UNICEF Spain, Consuelo Crespo; former president of the Spanish Cancer Association (AECC) and their Scientific Foundation, Isabel Oriol Díaz de Bustamante; director of Impact Hub Madrid; Antonio Gonzaléz; Secretary General of Cáritas, Natalia Peiro; CEO of Generation Spain, Mercedes Valcárcel and the director of brand strategy and communication of the Red Cross Spain, Belén Viloria.
Who is Ousman Umar?
Ousman Umar left Ghana as a child, crossed the desert on foot and by dingy on the Mediterranean Sea and witnessed the death of his travel companions, among them, his best friend. He travelled 21,333 kilometers to arrive in Barcelona passing through 8 countries and took 5 years to complete his journey.
Following several months of living on the streets, Ousman was finally taken in by a family, began his studies and obtained work as a bicycle mechanic. In 2012 with is first savings, he founded NASCO Feeding Minds with the objective of improving education in the country of his birthplace.
In 2019 he wrote the book, “Journey to the country of the White Man”, which sold more than 12,000 copies. In 2021 his second book has just been launched, titled “From the Country of the Whites” where he tells his story from the time he arrived in Spain.
The mission of NASCO Feeding Minds
NASCO Feeding Minds is committed to creating opportunities for the youngest generations in Ghana by providing digital education. The project consists of offering both the tools and fundamental knowledge and in this way allow the youth to develop their talent and have access to the necessary information to create opportunities and decide on their future.
The association firmly believes that education will change the course of history.
- There are 11 classrooms in Ghana where more than 30 schools have access to.
- Training has been provided to more than 20,000 students over the last 8 years.
- In 2019 NASCO Tech was created, a social enterprise that generates professional opportunities for students who are graduates.
- NASCO Feeding Minds aims to continue growing and establish the project throughout Ghana and in other countries in Africa.
- In 2017 NASCO Feeding Minds was awarded in the WSIS Prize by the ITU, the organization specialized in telecommunications of the United Nations in the category of “Information and Communication Infrastructure” in a ceremony held in Geneva, Switzerland.