I want to start April with a series of posts featuring some Agents of Change – the incredible people I have around me that are committed to making the world a better place, the people who realize there are things that are more important than a well-paying job and a luxurious lifestyle, the people who care beyond themselves and are using their blogs as one of the ways to affect change……
I am starting the first post by introducing to you 3 girls I’ve gotten to know over the course of March. Coincidentally, they will all be traveling and working with a NGO this summer. Definitely follow their adventures through their blogs and connect with them if you’re on Twitter, they are some of the most inspiring, adventurous, motivated, energetic, and intelligent people I’ve met.
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Kristina is an University of Waterloo undergraduate majoring in Operations Research. After graduating this April, she will be going to Malawi this summer through Emmanuel International. She will be leading programs that range from teaching English, promoting awareness for HIV/AIDS, as well as working on projects in water sanitation, agriculture, and microfinance. Her work will consist of doing field visits, monitoring, and reporting back on the status of these projects. Covering her own costs of the entire trip, Helen Dyck from Emmanuel International Canada just commented on her blog, “The poor can’t afford to hire you, so thank you for offering your services.” Passionate about social change and dedicating her life to international development, Kristina is going on this trip with an open mind and heart, hoping to find a more clear direction in “how a girl like her and others in North America can effectively help end poverty”.
Akhila Kolisetty (Blog: Justice for all Twitter: @akhilak)
Akhila is a Northwestern University undergraduate double majoring in economics and political science. Currently on exchange at London School of Economics and Political Science, she will be spending her summer in Geneva working with International Bridges to Justice. IBJ works to fight for justice and end torture by improving the criminal justice systems in developing countries, focusing on training and empowering public defenders, local police force, and judges using a bottom-up approach. Akhila will be working to promote a project called JusticeMakers, a competition that encourages innovations in criminal justice reform in developing countries from people around the world. Aspiring to be a lawyer to end human injustice with a belief that law can be innovative, this summer is her opportunity to “combine her passion for innovation, law, human rights, and social media all at once“.
Nisha Chittal (Blog: Politicoholic Twitter: @nishachittal)
Nisha is currently finishing up a degree in political science and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Illinois. After graduating this May, she will be going to Cambodia to start up a branch for AIESEC, an international exchange organization which provide internships abroad for students. Her work will involve working with Cambodian college students and businesses to help build programs. Learning to embrace uncertainty and instability, fighting the urge to applying to jobs with big firms like her friends, Nisha is stepping out of her comfort zone because she wants to do what she really loves, live on the edge, take risks with her life, and turn them into huge learning opportunities. Why? Because “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
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Ruby Ku (Blog: Going Beyond Borders Twitter: @rubyku)
And then there’s me (not the incredible person part, just the traveling & working for NGO part =)). I am in the Science and Business program at University of Waterloo and I graduate in a month. This summer I will be going to Botswana working with Somarelang Tikologo. ST aims to promote sustainable environmental protection by educating and empowering students and communities. I am really looking forward to exploring the possibilities of using mobile technology and social media as a vehicle to promote public awareness, as well as how women selling products made out of recycled material at the Green Shop might benefit from microfinance. Making a difference is definitely one of my biggest objectives this summer. Moreover though, by working side by side and building relationships with people, I hope to personalize injustice and suffering for my friends here in North America. I want people to feel that this is personal, not just some numbers or random people they hear on the news, and that it matters, and that they need to care.
Preview of “Agents of Change Pt.2″:
I got this opportunity to volunteer oversea this summer through a program called Beyond Borders. There are 13 of us and you will be finding out more about them in my next post.
