We are delighted to share a blog written by the Bigagaza Eva, a student at Green Hills Academy who is part of a team delivering a Global Goals project for the 2018-19 Global Goals Competition.
Their project is among over 620 social action projects currently running as part of the GSL movement and we are excited to be supporting them to design and lead positive social change in their community.
A journey of self-growth and changing the life of others.
Project Overview
Our project is named ‘Healthy Mind’. we live in Rwanda and mental health is a very neglected topic in our country. Rwanda is world wide known for its genocide and this event has left a number of people with mental diseases such as post traumatic stress disorder and child trauma.
Even 25 years later our elders suffer from mental disease.
Our project is focused on the military that liberated the country after 100 days of exterminating an ethnic group. The former military lives in a neighborhood near a hospital because they are mentally and physically disabled.
We are raising awareness on the topic of mental health and we noticed that their road is made of stones and mud so we decided to construct a tarmac road so they will not continue falling down from their wheelchairs. We thought that a better environment will help them have a healthier mind and more positive mindset. We think it is very important
Our Journey
GSL has given us the opportunity to be the change that we want see. I learned that even as the youth we can change the status quo if we think it is not good enough.
We have raised awareness in our local community and people have been very understanding and we have worked hand in hand with the chief of our local community. My leadership skills have definitely improved as we were able to mobilise a whole village to give funds or any other type of help on social media platforms.
I learned that teamwork is crucial in anything i would want to do in life because together we reach greater heights. Our biggest challenge was to definitely get funds in time. Fundraisers were hard to organise in school but we raised more awareness to other communities and they helped us get the funds.
I think the biggest challenge to come is constructing the road and getting all done but teamwork is key and we will be able to get to our goal. We all developed communicating skills as we talked to a number people during the past weeks. GSL has made us influencers.
The Next Chapter
After the school was aware of our project I was called to answer some questions on service to the community and to give advice to the youth about community service. GSL has made me stand out and my group too.
The next chapter is to definitely start new projects in new places and involving more of the youth.
GSL should be made available to every student because we are all able to make a change.
For the project we are running now the next step is to start constructing that will end by late April as it is a demanding task. GSL has made me realize that age is just a number. We are able to do anything we put our mind to.
The 2018-19 GSL Global Goals Competition is now open and runs until June 2019. If you belong to one of the 700+ teams of students currently delivering a social action project as part of the competition we would love to hear from you and feature your blog and project photos on our website to inspire others.
