We are delighted to share a blog written by Jonathan Gathu Wamarema, a student at Juja Senior School, Kenya who is part of a team delivering a Global Goals project for the 2018-19 Global Goals Competition.
Their project ‘Project Redemption’ 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.
We learnt how much we took for granted on a day to day basis. Basic things like food when we want it, or a place to sleep when we need it, even teachers to ask questions whenever we wish, all these are privileges that so many other people our age lack.
Many a time we hear the common, sad and mundane story, the birth of an idea, and its subsequent swift death.
We are a team of seven, who have each attended countless exhibitions around Kenya, and we all agreed on a common fact: Kenyan minds are brilliant. The ideas we saw and continue to see are easily worth billions of dollars, yet the idea-bearers knew not themselves. Many of these people attend the conferences and declare it the end, their ideas fall by the wayside or end up being picked by the more knowledgeable and advanced. We took it upon ourselves to bridge the gap that existed, partnering with companies that nurtured innovation, linking these brilliant young minds to the relevant and essential people so that we waste brilliance no more.
We also came to the realisation that before we foster and propagate innovation, we must ensure that as many schools as possible are receiving quality education in all aspects. We therefore started delivering to schools and organisations whatever it is they need to ensure they have top notch education.
All this is in line with Standard Development Goals number 4 (Quality Education) and number 9 (Innovation).
So far we have gone to six schools. We have provided one school with books and other basic necessities. We are currently acquiring more books and other instructional materials that we will deliver to the remaining four schools within the month.
As a team, we have developed a very strong sense of empathy. In this life, to be privileged truly is a privilege and it should never be taken for granted. For us, we have decided affirmatively that this project will go on even after May, we will do it for as long as possible and as far as possible. We learnt how much we took for granted on a day to day basis. Basic things like food when we want it, or a place to sleep when we need it, even teachers to ask questions whenever we wish, all these are privileges that so many other people our age lack.
Our biggest challenge right now is the fact that we are in our final year of high school, so time is very limited, nonetheless we have made a very demanding and tight schedule that will enable us to study and still carry out this project successfully. Our hope is that once we are done with high school and we have a lot more time on our hands, we will do the project on an even larger scale.
I would definitely recommend people of all ages to get involved in projects. If everyone in their own little capacity did something small everyday to better their environment, the world would undoubtedly be a better place. Around us, there is always someone lesser than us, I strongly believe it is our responsibility to better these people so that we can improve as a society. In the future, we will incorporate all the young people with projects so that under our umbrella, we are tackling as many global issues as possible.
Follow us:
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.
