On September 3, I attended the Global Activism:
Student Startups event at Lincoln Hall. Immediately following my first
day of school (and my first social entrepreneurship class), I was incredibly
excited to meet real people doing interesting and meaningful things in the
world.
I arrived at around 6:45, and began to walk around
the room looking at the various "stations" (very science-fairesqe) of
young people working for change. The one that was most interesting to me
was a station run by a young man who was working to fight deforestation in
areas where "uncontacted" people live. His project is
incredibly cool. He uses satellite technology to locate settlements of tribes
in dense rainforest areas (mostly the Amazon) that have never been contacted by
modern civilization. He then connects with the governments of the
countries in which these photos were taken and aims to convince them to disallow
logging or oil drilling in these areas to protect the local people. I
really connected with this man because I too, have a history with uncontacted
peoples. The summer after 6th grade, I spent a week in the Amazon with
the Huaorani people, fishing, hunting, and walking through the jungle.
This tribe was first contacted very recently.
At around 7:10, the booths closed and the panel of
young global activists took the stage. They explained the projects they
are working on and audience members got to ask them questions. My
favorite activist was a man who organized a project for travelers around the
world to find home-cooked meals. What an interesting idea!
I found it really interesting to be in an environment
where the people around me are interested in socially responsible programs. I
hope to attend events like this in the future.
