“One person can make a difference, and everyone should try” – John F. Kennedy
Every day many people are venturing out into the world with a vision to look at and overcome some of the many development challenges across the globe. International development is now seeing an increase of individuals, who are setting out to solve the many global challenges that face some of the world’s most vulnerable persons. These global go-getters are setting out to make a difference in any way they can, leveraging their individual skills and resources. From building schools in Iraq and Afghanistan, initiating sex trafficking awareness campaigns in South East Asia, seeking to distribute mosquito nets to fight malaria in Africa, these individuals are looking to address global issues one by on, such as poverty, health, gender inequality, human trafficking, and education issues in incremental steps. Many of these global go getters are women and are part of what Nikolas Kristof coined in his recent op-ed for the The New York Times, D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution, women who are looking to not single handedly change the world, but make the biggest impact they can with what they have.
It’s striking that the most innovative activists aren’t necessarily the ones with the most resources, or the best tools… Rather, what often happens is that those best positioned to take action look the other way, and then the initiative is taken by the Scharpfs and Shannons (individuals) of the world, who are fueled by some combustible mix of indignation and vision.
Reading Kristofs piece and listening to the stories of some of these D.I.Yers was all too familiar to me, soon realizing I was one of them…struggling with what little I had, which was little more than an idea, to make a sustainable impact in the lives of victims of human trafficking. It’s not always easy to make a difference, but its most often easier than you think and it really is a ripple effect of change. According to Kristof, “The challenge is to cultivate an ideology of altruism, to spread a culture of social engagement — and then to figure out what people can do at a practical level”.
Therefore we can all make a difference, we just have to find the way that fits both ourselves and a need. Kristof offers some ideas on How to Change the World on his recent blog post. And what a better to get started then for Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of helping others! Make a Difference Day is sponsored annually by USA WEEKEND Magazine and its 800 carrier newspapers. Make A Difference Day takes place on the 4th Saturday in October each year and this year falls on October 23rd. Make A Difference Day is the most encompassing national day of helping others — a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. Everyone can participate. Millions have participated. In 2009, 3 million people cared enough about their communities to volunteer on that day, accomplishing thousands of projects in hundreds of towns. Your project can be as large or as small as you wish! Look around your community and see what needs to be done. Or use the ideas on this site for inspiration.
What will I be doing this Make a Difference Day? I will be joining the DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk with other abolitionists and activists to take a stand against modern slavery in our community and across the globe. If your in DC come join me and my nonprofit organization, Bridge to Freedom Foundation, as we team up to walk and then share our mission and vision at the Resource Fair to follow the walk.
Another really great site for young people to learn more about various causes and how they can get more involved to make a difference is DOSomething.org, which has various resources to both learn more about causes such as human trafficking and various ways on how to get involved.
So don’t delay, do something today! Make a difference and you will quickly feel the difference, as there is no better reward than knowing you made a difference, even if only for the life of one person.
