We are delighted to share a blog written by Project Illuminate, from Modern Montessori School, who are part of a team delivering a Global Goals project for the 2020-21 GSL Global Goals Competition.
Their project is among over 957 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.
From risking, to experiencing, to inspiring, to changing.
Project Summary
Illuminate is a project created by 7 students in the Modern Montessori School in Amman, Jordan. We hope to succeed in achieving some of the 17 Global Goals (quality education, good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities and partnerships to achieve the goals). For that reason, this project was created.
In the light of so many global difficulties and issues, spreading clean energy is a great thing that can be done to maintain the environment, and sustain a better future for generations to come. Moreover, this clean energy can be utilized in places that need it; therefore, we chose schools as the location to start using solar panels as a form of energy. Public schools in Jordan need restoration in some areas and providing them with clean energy is a way for them to prosper in both fields of education and the environment. In addition, this project is created with an aim of illuminating both minds, schools, and the environment. For this reason, we try to spread awareness about the issue as we work on this project.
Our Journey
Over the course of the past couple of months, we have all come together as a group, and we have experienced growth as a group and individually. We have learned to listen to each other, and to be able to express our opinions. While some people would choose to say that everything started smoothly, we would like to admit that that was definitely not the case.
When we signed up for the GSL competition sometime in September we had no idea who we would be spending the next several months with. We had been assigned to our groups randomly, so most of us had never even had a conversation with each other before that. The long and sometimes heated discussions that we had in our countless meetings sometimes took their toll, however it also showed us that working in a group of 7 can be dysfunctional and overwhelming but never not fun.
Over time we learned to merge our experiences and interests to create a project that we are all passionate about. It has become clear to us that we always find a way to communicate and decide on what is in the best interests of our project. We know that we might find several difficulties on our GSL journey, nevertheless we realize that we are capable of taking on these challenges with the dedication we have for this project.
Our Next Chapter
We see this project as a small step towards our eventual goal of creating the world that we want to grow up in. As teenagers, we are constantly told that we must sit around and wait for our time to change the world, we realize that soon it will be too late. So we urge those older and younger than us, to take action now and stand up for what they believe in, because it will never be the right time if you wait for it to come around.
The 2020-21 GSL Global Goals Competition is now open and runs until June 2021. If you belong to one of the 500+ 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.