Reach Lesotho

“Making A Difference”, “Changing the World”

Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by Brittany in Behind The Scenes

To make a world of difference, you don’t have to change the whole world.

Going through my teenage years, and slowly becoming interested in social justice throughout this time, I always remember feeling like I had the world on my shoulders. I felt that every time I learned about new injustices, I had to do something to change it, to alter it, to contribute toward each cause, and I liked to think this would leave me feeling more fulfilled at the end of each day. But I never felt satisfaction, not at the end of the day, or end of the month, even end of the season; there was always more to do. After my first trip to a rural area of India in 2008, I came home feeling angry and even more frustrated that with everything I had done, no matter how thin I spread myself, it would never be enough; I would never reach all those rural villages, all those kids without access to medical care, clean water, or decent amounts of food.

As time passed, I started asking myself what kind of standards I was setting for myself, and what standards society was setting for me. Yeah, I wanted to change the world. But I was wrong in thinking that this meant I had to change everything.

I think what initially motivates a lot of youth to become involved in this type of work is their inspiration to make a difference. Making a difference, for me, isn’t curing cancer or canceling Africa’s debt or sitting at the top of a well-known development agency. Making a difference in the world only means making a difference in one person’s world. You can legitimately change one person’s world by making sure they have substantial food in their stomach, good shoes to be able to walk to school, the means to access opportunities for themselves.

Choose to do something you are truly passionate about, don’t be pushed or conned into doing something else because of guilt or weakness. Use your talent and happiness you gain from applying that talent to help your community (local, or global)- who face struggles right along with you. That’s all any of us have to do to become involved… and, you guessed it, make a difference.

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