The University of Minnesota awarded Mr. N’nyapule Madai the UMN Distinguished Leadership Award for
Internationals in 2017. Mr. Madai was a Hubert H. Humphrey International Fellow from
Tanzania at the UMN in 1983-84. He was nominated by the Humphrey
School of Public Affairs (http://globalnotes.hhh.umn.edu/2017/10/humphrey-fellow-alumni-nnyapule-madai.html), coordinated by alum June Nkwenge (MDP 2017).
In his award nomination letter, Mr. Madai was described as:
“…widely
recognized as an impressive and effective leader fighting for the rights of
people with disabilities, with a particular focus on children with mental
retardation, in his native Tanzania, throughout Eastern Africa, and across the
globe…Mr. Madai returned home to Tanzania [1984] and started Special Olympics
Tanzania. This program…was adapted to serve the unique needs of its target
population and respond to challenges specific to the context in Tanzania.
Mr.
Madai…advocated for the rights of people with disabilities in schools and
communities at the grass-root level, and he successfully advocated for national
policy change through his positions at the Ministry of Social Welfare.
N’nyapule Madai was a technical advisor to the UN delegation at the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Even now that he has
retired, Mr. Madai continues to volunteer his time and skills with Special
Olympics Tanzania and consults with the government and various organizations
working with disabled persons in East and Southern Africa.”
Humphrey School has invited Mr. Madai to visit
Minnesota April 17-27, 2018 to receive the award during the April 24 ceremony to honor the 2017-18 Humphrey International Fellows program completion. During the visit he will make public presentations and visit with
students and faculty at the UMN, including speaking to students in a
disabilities studies program, visit Special Olympics Minnesota and other
community disability organizations.
Minnesota is one of the leading states for provision of
services to, and advocacy for, persons with disabilities, and the Institute for
Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota is a key national
research agency on these issues. The UMN works closely with a number of community
disability organizations that are interested in hosting Mr. Madai and thus we
hope through this visit to create better linkages between disabilities
communities in Tanzania and Minnesota.
Agencies interested in knowing more about Mr. Madai's visit please contact Maria Terra at gpa@umn.edu
Sherry Gray
Humphrey School of Public Affairs