Latin America and Caribbean Youth Summit 2010: looking back on the final day

Saturday the 7th of August was a bittersweet day for the Global Changemakers crowd in Rio de Janeiro. It was the closing of a 6-day event that brought together 58 activists from 25 countries to give them tools to improve their projects, and so to help them promote change in their communities. Having to say goodbye to each of these energetic, passionate individuals was not easy for anyone; but the aftertaste of this day is decidedly sweet.

On this final day, we all got a glimpse of the collective proposals for Regional Action Projects that the groups came up with during the event. Each of these proposals honors the regional choice that was the focus of this event, the first Global Changemakers summit to be held in Latin America and the Caribbean, by addressing its problems with solutions specially tailored for it. These proposals are achievements not only of Latin American and Caribbean Changemakers, but also of the participants from other regions whose insight ensured that the regional didn’t lose sight of the global.

These RAP proposals, which you will get plenty of chances to learn about on this blog, blossomed in a week of dialogue that took the shape of discussion groups, lunch-time chats, and online interaction among participants. They also blossomed in a week of learning – learning from the serene wisdom of Prof. Jacques Marcovitch; learning in hectic workshops on lots of topics related to good project management; learning about all things Brazil – from favela lifestyle to the history of capoeira – all with commentary from the organizers and the people from the country themselves.

Most importantly, these proposals to address saddening problems blossomed in a week of joy of living – the joy of living condensed in Eugenio Scannavino’s presentation of his project, Saúde e Alegria; the joy of living as seen in the organizations where changemakers could testify the concrete change brought by fellow activists in Brazil; the joy of living that came with every chat and every discovery that made us want to get up, run out and do something to make not only Latin America and the Caribbean, but also the entire world, a much better place than it is today.

On behalf of the peer facilitators, I want to thank the organizers and participants for this week of dialogue, learning, and joy of living. There are no words to describe the amount of effort that was put into this event.

At the end of the Latin America and Caribbean Youth Summit 2010, I look forward to seeing the RAPs materialize into big projects that will bring change to Latin America and the Caribbean; to seeing the lives and projects of our new 58 fellows grow and keep benefitting from the experience, and helping others do the same through their projects. Finally, I look forward to the future of this great family of change-making; I hope we keep getting bigger and stronger everyday, and that all the things we do will bring us closer to the world we want to live in.

– Mariel Garcia, Global Changemaker

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