You Can't Change the World With Cynicism

We had a guest speaker this week from WaterCan, a Canadian organization which has this vision: "Improving people's access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation, and hygiene education, can make a huge difference in the lives of millions in the developing world."

The speaker was the Executive Director, Gary Pluim. Through his many years in banking, Gary found himself looking for a change of scenery in the area of development nearly 20 years ago. Through working with World Vision he ended up at WaterCan where he has been for a number of years. An intelligent, and talented speaker, I found myself laughing and learning at the same time.

At the end of his prepared address, he opened it up for questions from us. One of the last questions from one of my classmates was, "Do you find yourself being cynical after seeing some dire situations and the lack of answering them by the general public?" His answer was one I think we forget, or fall prey to. His answer was, "You can't change the world with cynicism." While he said he may have brief periods of not understanding, he has not fallen into the trap of being a cynic. He has hope because he believes that things can change and require that we believe they can.

His message is one I share and have tried to pass on through this blog. If you let yourself slip into the trap of being hopeless, and give up, then you make it that much more difficult for those of us who haven't given up and who continue to fight to turn the world around for the better. Cynicism is a disease and it is highly communicable. When it infects you you breath it, and emanate it from your very being. It is written on your face, you wear it like a badge. Everyone around you becomes stunted, they lose a little hope themselves. You have the ability to be hope or be hopeless, and whatever you choose to be is what others will feel around you. You have more influence on the world then you dare to realize, but when you do decide to use it, choose to use it to pass along positivity and hope. You can change the world with that.

Check out WaterCan here.

Tour of Free the Children

I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Free the Children facilities yesterday. My friend Beth got a job there a few months ago and I got her to give me the VIP tour of where they worked. I got the opportunity to ask a lot of questions and get a better understanding of the organizational structure and culture.

From the second I stepped in the building I got the feeling that it wasn't just another place of work. The receptionist was vibrant and kind, the surroundings were bright and colorful, and there was something in the air. Everybody smiled and introduced themselves on the way through, each time I entered a room everyone stopped what they were doing and made sure that I felt welcome. When I asked a question they were more than willing to tell me what the knew or tell me who would. You could tell that it was a very organic culture - unstructured but had grown and become informally formal - it was as if in an unspoken way everyone was a part of a greater good, a team of like-minded individuals with no agenda. Authenticity. Genuine.

From asking all the questions I did I got a feel for how new the organization really is. While it was started in 1995, it wasn't until the last 3 or 4 years that things really started to pick up. In the past 6-8 months they have hired 60 or more people, and they are continuing to grow. The average age of employees is an estimated 23. The Toronto head office is now over 100 people and with its many satellite offices in the countries it works in, that number is significantly higher. With so much youth and promise the organization has unlimited potential. They have started to create something that is far bigger than the sum of its parts.

Through its partnership with Oprah's Angel Network, FTC is in the process of developing a school chapter program throughout the US with a goal of 3000 schools participating. They were also developing material for an April episode of the Oprah show where they will officially launch the campaign. The partnership with Oprah would appear to be a significant boost to the reach of the organization, particularly as it expands into the US.

The program that has me most excited, however, is called Directors of Change. It is a film project where students who go on trips document their experience through video and then put together a documentary. The documentaries will be used in classrooms to help teach about international issues. The world as seen through youth eyes will be very interesting. It also happens to be one of the few programs they are developing in French as well as English. I think in the future in order to continue to engage young people to lead in the process of positive change, organizations are going to have to find new participating ways for youth to engage. In my estimation, social media will be a key in this.

The tour was a real eye opener. It is not everyday you get to see the inner workings of an organization such as FTC. I will continue to watch out for more exciting news as they announce it. If you would like to take a tour yourself, I believe that if you contact the organization then they give group tours all the time.