This Facebook article is worthy of note and says much about the leadership being displayed currently by many young people in Scotland and throughout the world:
'Monday, 27 April 2009
Global Citizen Corps Leader Sinead talks about the program and why she feels it is important to join the fight against global poverty.
At 16, I am part of a generation that is internet obsessed. For some, this means an addiction to internet game sites and for others, a reliance on Facebook or Bebo. For me, it has opened my eyes to the world and allowed me to explore.
As a child the news was always so depressing, and so often led to nightmares that I frequently flicked the channels. Later when I was no longer such a kid, I got so fed up of hearing about the economy, or a party conference for 10 minutes and only getting civil wars as sideline stories that I again grew restless with the news. This is where the internet comes in. Suddenly I discovered internet news websites. They presented the same news, but I could filter through the stuff that bored me and I was able to read the headlines in my own voice and make my own conclusions. And then a quick Google search could reveal 20 new dimensions to each story. The world was suddenly much smaller than I realised.
All of this made one thing clear. it was that life really isn't fair. I could read about starving children and then sit down to an incredible meal. I no longer wanted to be a vet; I now knew that I wanted to do something to tackle poverty. However, I didn't really know what I should do to get there. My future seemed so exciting, I envisaged travelling to far off lands and really doing something with my life – I couldn't wait! It was again through the internet that I took a further step.
The leader of a youth group I attend sent round an email about an opportunity she had heard about, and attached a link. This was the Mercy Corps initiative. Global Citizen Corps, and without really properly finding out what it was I applied to become a Global Citizen Corps leader - something I am now very glad of. From what I knew it was a chance to be educated about issues surrounding poverty and to be given help in arranging action within the local community to tackle it. That was enough for me, and it's actually a pretty good description.
Arriving for the first summit in November was a pretty nerve-wracking experience, I wasn't certain what I was to find and was wondering if I had made the right choice in going. When I got there I was a little daunted by the size of the hotel, and I quickly got lost. When I eventually found my way I found myself in a carpeted business-like room. Immediately I started worrying - does everyone else know each other? Will I actually manage to start a conversation? However, it was all just me worrying and the weekend was much better than I had expected. We learnt about HIV globally and locally and I soon found inspiration for what I could do in my school. Global Citizen Corps has provided me with an excellent opportunity to actually do something about issues that we normally brand hopeless. It has made me see that helping those most in need isn't a far off dream but a realistic goal. Hopefully a goal that my internet obsessed generation will be able to meet.'
For more on Global Citizen Corps see - http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/about.htm?page=about_leadership
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