5 Lessons Learned from Global Changemakers 2019

Earlier this year in April, I was lucky enough to be selected to represent Australia at the annual Global Youth Summit organised by Global Changemakers. (Typing that out still feels very surreal...!)

This summit gathered young people from around the world aged 18 -25 to stay in Aarau, Switzerland for 5 days, focusing on the skills they need to empower their community and facilitate networking with likeminded individuals. I can still recall receiving the email saying that I had been selected, feeling excited & pumped, but equally unworthy compared to others selected. Imagine me at the airport having a panic attack whilst reading through the bios, thinking that somehow they had mistakenly picked me.

It's hard to believe that the conference has just finished, and now is the time to reflect on a week (that felt like an entire month!).

No words can properly explain or encapsulate my experience, but I thought I could shorten it down to 5 main lessons: 

1. Friendships from around the world are so special - and can teach you so much. 

I've never in my life met someone from Bhutan, Gambia or Zambia, and luckily I had the chance to meet such beautiful souls over the last week. Every conversation I had was so interesting - learning about topics from politics, to education systems, to business, gender equality and even the coolest places to see around the world. My bucket list just got a whole lot longer. 

People I met were connecting young medical students in South Africa, tackling climate change in Oslo, facilitating the opportunity to write letters to strangers to combat mental health, and enabling dialogue for the taboo topic of mensural health in Gambia. 

My African Queens! Morocco, Zambia, South Africa, Togo and Ghana

On the first day, a couple of the girls somehow started talking about menstrual cups over lunch (I've been using a cup for the last 6 months and it's been amazing!!). I realised that we all had such different experiences with menstration, so I decided to take the conversation to the "Unconference" session, an opportunity where delegates could share more on their field of expertise with others. I didn't have any expertise per-say in this field, but it was a great time for all of us to learn and share how we look towards our fun time of the month. Even 4 guys attended the session out of 15 women - yes to allyship!! Whilst menstrual cups are still very taboo in many cultures (heck it's still taboo even in Australia), it was great to get the conversation started and raise more awareness on different options out there.

Having a laugh running through the fields with my Pakistani girl, Mishal

I can now truly say that I have very close friends from all the world - just need to find a way to visit them all!

4 continents represented in this photo - Oceania, Asia, Europe and North America!

2. The challenges facing the world today are not isolated - they are interconnected 

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (also known as the SDG's) are often thought of as individual goals that need to be solved by the year 2030 (which is actually coming up a lot faster than we'd think!).

We attended a workshop conducted by Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik on the complex issues facing the world today, finding intersections between gender inequality, capitalism, pollution and more. Whilst it may seem fairly obvious that this is the case, it was great to map this out visually and understand how there are so many intersections happening at once. I will always try to keep this image in mind in whatever I'm doing - for every action, there are multiple reactions (perhaps on problems or topics you weren't aware of).

Everything connects with everything connects with everything

3. Listen more 

For the majority of week, we were put into groups to tackle a United Nations SDG and think of a campaign to raise awareness of it. I was personally placed in the SDG 8 theme group - Decent Work & Economic Growth. The group itself was diverse - with each of us representing a different perspective, lifestyle and experience. In the first couple of days, we struggled to reach an agreement - we all had strong opinions and did not want to back down. In these situations, it's more important than ever to make sure that every single person is heard, acknowledge that their perspective is valid, and that it does contribute to the overall discussion. We managed to create a great campaign in the end about helping young people in their employment prospects by raising awareness of stories when overcoming hardship. You can view our Instagram page here!

My amazing theme group for SDG 8 - Decent Work & Economic Growth. We went through some arguments, but made it in the end!

4. Don't think about a solution right now - think of a means to reach a goal. 

Sometimes looking at huge, complex issues can be overwhelming/daunting, but it's important to think about not necessarily solving the problems facing our community, but rather trying to resolve one part. Aristotle put this perfectly by saying "the whole is more than the sum of its' parts". In the cases where you want to disrupt a system to create change, thing about the various stakeholders and important institutions present. Leverage these as a means to reach a goal.

Global Changemakers have also made some great tools that you can use to reach these goals - you can read about project management, fundraising and social media tips here!

5. Vegetarian food throughout the entire week is actually delicious! 

The summit really chose to be eco-friendly this year, so all the catering was vegetarian! I didn't think I could last the entire week on just veggies, but I really enjoyed it! Planning to continue this into the future also. Cheese is also great.

Conference swag is the coolest swag

Final thoughts

Prior to this week, all the faces of the delegates selected felt empty, unfamiliar. Now I look at every face and can recall a memory, a conversation, a moment, and most importantly a friendship that will last a lifetime. Whilst my heart is heavy that this week is over (... mostly because I won't be eating Swiss cheese and chocolate daily), I'm grateful for the experience, and motivated to do so much more for my community.

Our humble abode in Herzberg where we stayed over the week - all 60 of us!

I've had the greatest pleasure of working with The Codette Project over the last year, focusing on providing minority women with technology focused workshops to attain further skills or even employment. I can't wait to continue to bring these skills I've gained from the Summit and work even harder for the community I serve.

I've learnt there's a divine purpose for all the experiences you go through. Learn to trust and grow in that journey.

Thankful, grateful, Alhamdulilah.