We are delighted to share a blog written by Unuma Michael, a student at Olashore International School who is part of a team delivering a Global Goals project for the 2018-19 Global Goals Competition.
Their project is among over 800 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.
My experience was fun, purposeful and educational.
Project Overview
In our local community, the Iloko community, my team and I have noticed the desperate cry for help from children around us. They want OUT of child labour, child abuse which are technically different and have brought about lack of education, even happiness.
The old saying goes, “Happiness only comes when you are useful”, these children are put to work, to use, yet again not to their full potential, and funny enough they do know exactly what is their full capability and ways to nurture it, they dream of it.
I,Unuma Michael, this Easter break, felt as if I could do something other than sitting in the backseat of the car and watching children her age not receiving proper education, which is their right, and others working for car washing stations, cleaning the wind screen of cars on the roadway, even when the drivers do not ask.
I took our campaign #OVHTBH quite seriously and spoke to more people around than anticipated on issues concerning the menace(s). This made me understand more of the meaning of what my team and I have undertaken and agree on continuing this project after the submission for the competition, because we have to speak up for those who do not see that they can for themselves yet, and empower those we can to do so; know their rights!
Our Journey
I have picked up the skills of collaboration, empathy, trust for group members, communication, time management, love, resilience and integrity, just to mention a few when participating in the GSL Global Goals Competition.
Being appointed project leader has made me see that personally, I have a soft spot for people, young and old, and i love to help. One of the things I learned about my self was i had too many activities i was involved in and I still did not know how to balance them, especially with my social life.
So, this project made me interested in solving this issue, because I did not want anything to clash with empowering children. I had counselling and discovered i lacked serious time management skill and it was due to me not embracing the things I was up for, always saying these things are too much for me to do.
I overcame it and could focus on protecting my team’s strength. My biggest challenge so far is ensuring all our planned activities come through, and we can overcome this by making sure everything following up goes well.
The Next Chapter
Ahead of me, and ahead of this project is a life where children know they have a right to education, especially those who are under privileged like that of people in my local community.
A life where children understand they play a role in staying in poverty and staying comfortably, for one can only be poor at hand if one is poor at mind. A life where children understand that a poor man is not a man without money but a man without vision, vision made by that which he knows and has kept in his mind, body and soul from when he was educated, and not only at school, yet the school is very important as well.
Yes, i do recommend people my age to get involved in similar projects, because that’s the only way we can show we care for our society and need to be cared for as well. I say people my age should not undermine their abilities and be self-conscious, self-reliant and should unlock their inner child. The world NEEDS your voice!!!
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.
