Global Changemakers

It goes without saying that this year’s Global Youth Summit was absolutely phenomenal. After hearing each other’s perspective and attending workshops, I think that as each of us returned to our home countries, we brought in our suitcases fond memories of each other along with inspiration to put our ideas into action!

The CAP I am working on with other Changemakers actually stemmed out of our feelings about the Summit. It focuses on recreating our inter-cultural experience for other youth. As our world is catapulted into the new century, newsflashes still report pressing issues that cannot be tackled without countries working together. Since our generation will have a chance to take our world forward, it is vital that today’s youth across the globe are not only informed about these problems, but are keen on working together to solve them.

Our CAP centers on alleviating poverty in Asia, (though we will be aiming to expand the target countries as we gain more support). Our main goal is to change the youth perception on these global issues and reach out to them in a way that would fit into their modern lifestyles. The CAP thus comprises of two branches: a media branch and a microfinance branch.

The microfinance branch will garner all the funds raised by the media branch. These funds will be directed towards teenagers in extreme poverty who wish to delve into the business world by providing them with training sessions from volunteer experts over a few months and lending them capital for their small business with a minimal interest rate that will be used to fund the business ideas of other teenagers. Since these small businesses (e.g. a small pastry shop) will entail hiring employees, we will ultimately not only be reaching out to one family, but the broader community.

The media branch will be a space for teenagers to share their works, opinions, and projects with other youth. It will also be a chance to showcase a story of one teenage prospective entrepreneur for two months.  To start our CAP off, we are planning to spread influence over social networking sites, knowing how much time is spent by teenagers (admittedly including me) on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Besides this, we will be hosting a lot of charity concerts and fun events to spread the word and gain support!

I’m excited to work on this CAP! I’m glad I was given the blessing to meet such wonderful, dedicated youth in the 2009 Global Youth Summit. All of you have really made an impact in my life with your stories and activities. I wish all of you the best in your activities after the Global Youth Summit! Let’s bring our Changemakers spirit to our communities! =)