How many times in life do you get to see the world all at once? Well, I had a remarkable opportunity to be one of the 60 Changemakers chosen by the British Council to attend the Global Youth Summit, Global Changemakers programme in High Wycombe, U.K., held from November 21-27 .With over 1500 applicants from around the world and a gruelling selection process, the 60 who made it to London were up for a serious challenge. Little did we know about the tasks lined up for us, the kind of people we would meet there and most of all the problems we would have to tackle. Since its inception in 2001, the summit aims at bringing together youth involved in various fields of activism who have made a difference in their society, country or world.
Addressing global issues
As a visual artist, I raise funds and create awareness among many national and international organisations about many burning issues through paintings. All of us were to work together for five days to come up with solutions to the problems and also a GAP i.e. Global Action Project. This year the key topics were poverty and hunger-relief, environment/climate change, education, girls and women's rights and HIV/AIDS. To enhance our understanding on numerous topics we had guest speakers like Simon Cohen, founder of Global Tolerance, who spoke about the use of social media in activism. The following day saw a session with Pamela Hartigan, author of The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World, who spoke on social entrepreneurship and another one with the World Bank Institute.
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Some of the intensive sessions involved activism, speed dating and elevator pitches. Questions like -You are in an elevator with Bono, Queen Rania or Bill Gates. How do you best pitch your activism in 30 seconds? Skills Marketplace, one of my favourite parts of the summit, gave us the choice to pick among various skills that we wanted to know more about. Having picked Fundraising, time management, media, presentation skills, and campaigning, it was an enriching day.
The next day was a breather; we set off to central London, went on a cruise and visited various organisations. A reception at the British Council Headquarters ensued. Back at work we finalised our project and then presented it to the entire crew. And on the last day, we had an interview. Back home,
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I slept with a heavy heart, but I was woken up by my mother who told me that I had been chosen as one of five representatives of Changemakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Come January and I will be among the youngest participants at the Forum. , hoping to ask, be questioned, and be answered. Davos Beckons!
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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. This Geneva-based organisation conducts annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world, including health and the environment.