CLICK: Connecting Leaders Internationally to Collaborate Knowledge.

Today was very interesting as it was our first day in what feels like a year that we were able to sleep in for a couple of hours. After revamping our original schedule to free up the morning, the team met with some SIFE students from the United States International University of Kenya. Instantly we all seemed to 'click' with one another and the afternoon that we spent with them at their campus passed quite quickly. We had a great lunch together and afterwards we talked about who we were as individuals and who we were as collective groups (SIFE and SE:101 Africa respectively). After sharing the goals and missions of our projects, we were all very excited to see how much common ground we all seemed to have with one another. It did not matter that we were from Canada, or they were from the various areas of Kenya; we all understood and appreciated the value of being involved in the manifestation of energy into development within the international community. It is this shared understanding that has brought us together.

At times in Canada I have felt somewhat lost in what feels like the infinate discrepancy between the way things are and the way things should be. The way that the world has dealt with the issue of the "African problem" has become, what I believe to be the greatest failing of human kind. It is within our power to abolish absolute poverty by educating and enabling and yet, there is so little that is done to rectify this unnecessary problem. I feel lost because this discrepancy is vast and it is on such a scale that I, as an individual, feel somewhat powerless to its size. However, meeting with these students gave me so much encouragement that I feel reassured that, indeed, changing the world and the way the world works is not only possible, it is inevitable. As individuals who want to change the world, our efforts are somewhat futile; however, as a collective group of passionate individuals who want to change the world by collaborating all of our efforts and personal strengths, there will be an inevitable change from the way things are now to the way they have the potential to be.

Development and evolution are inevitable consequences of time; now is the time for us to embrace our roles as global citizens and synergize to consequently create insurmountable efforts to develop our world in a way that is beneficial to all, rather than leaving a vast proportion behind. What opportunities lie ahead for us my friends... they are astounding.

Kathy.


Posted by Kathy Cochrane