The joy of being a part of such a young, energetic, enthusiastic, hardworking and intelligent Move The World team cannot be hidden anymore.
Adjectives alone cannot describe this team of amazing young men and women whom with passion and dedication, spend time and resources designing programmes to shape our future leaders to be problem solvers. They make us realise every problem in the community has its solution within the same community.
At the heart of MTW is addressing developmental issues, and these are impacted to younger ones through the Get Global Programme which makes complex and complicated issues look simple to interact with. In MTW, problem-solving is made pragmatic as possible.
MTW believe all hands have to be on deck in achieving the SDGs. With words of encouragement and the beaming smiles on the faces on these individuals, you are assured you are capable!
Life is covered with many events. While we tend to forget most of these moments, some of them stick to our memories because of their profound meaning and values to us.
One event which has helped to ignite my passion for empowering youth and generations was a few months ago when I had successfully finished facilitating Goal 4 and was to start Goal 5 – Gender Equality.
Naturally, it was time to discuss an important topic which has been trending globally over a decade. A lot of ifs bubbled on my mind as I didn’t want to jump-start the session in a way that will leave students more confused. What if this topic is misunderstood? What if girls wouldn’t understand that they have the right to equal opportunities as boys?
I needed to make these young ones understand the concept and what it entails. From previous experiences, it has always been challenging discussing and making colleagues, friends and communities understand this agenda.
I commenced the topic with scenarios and gender-based questions with the support of Patricia Acquah, my co-facilitator. I sailed through all my thoughts and ifs that left me to think the students will make the session a more difficult one.
It was an outstanding session because it raised so many questions and narratives that needed to be addressed such as “It’s a must for a woman to cook for me and do all house chores because I provide money for the family!” Said a student
Are you surprised? Oh, there were a lot more which made me realised how societal norms (though unique in its own way) are deeply rooted in these young ones and if not blessed with programmes such as MTW – Get Global, we would have a long way to go in changing these narratives.
So yes after so much, some positive affirmations during debriefing were “I am glad facilitator made me understand gender equality and that it’s not a must for woman to cook and do house chores.” “We have to be supportive of each other to achieve our goals as men, women, girls and boys”
This session was a memorable one to me mainly because it boosted my confidence level, made me happy and emotional because I felt my years of facilitation and hard work were finally being paid off!
With community development, there can be multiple forces and sources of action to implement changes and improvements. A community seeking to improve itself is not limited to what is directly within its reach. It is possible for the average citizen to be the primary participant in the community development process, but they often have help from larger groups within and outside of the community. While this can include federal organizations and government assistance, it also includes community-based organizations.
The history and importance of Community Based Organization (CBO) in areas like Medie is a long one. Move The World(MTW) have been deeply involved in activities that have impacted the livelihoods of the people in Medie. In MTW, members have the ability to influence ideas and actions of others with the purpose to plan, implement and monitor social and community development programmes as well as provide technical and financial assistance to the community. MTW has positively impacted the process of change in Medie through the improvement of self-esteem, health education, sustainable development, safe water and sanitation of the people, all these developmental interventions they initiate are helping to bring changes in the communities.
MTW as a CBO plays a significant role in community development and these roles will need to be clearly understood by gradually assisting in identifying the appropriate support needed by CBOs in order to improve on community development activities, thereby improving the standard of living in communities and also reducing rural-urban drift.
If we all believe that Community Based Organizations can generate more true engagement between community members and members of the organizations, it will be easier to find groups of people sharing common attributes, in that they both have a stake in the place they call home.
Society teaches the child morals to be able to fit in, School teaches the child literacy to be able to make good marks and get a respectable job, MTW teaches the child morals, literacy and Skills to be able to feed themselves in the future even without a white collar job.
MTW goes into the classrooms to educate, to train and to impart. Looking at Goals 1 and 2 which are “No Poverty and Zero Hunger” respectively, one cannot only facilitate theory but also add some practicals that is why in Goal 1- “No poverty,” we train the children on beads making not to only gain the skill but to be able to create an employment from it in the future because the rate of unemployment in our countries is high. In Goal 2 – “Zero Hunger,” we teach them how to grow food crops, this is a way to tell the child that even an educated person can be a farmer to feed the world because they believe farming is the work of the illiterate.
MTW is grooming responsible leaders for the future that is why we are not focused on the books only but we also focus on the realities of life before we start our facilitations. The MTW believes that with all these imparted into the child, they won’t only settle for a white collar job but they’ll know how to make money out of the skills they have been given and become responsible someday, this will not only benefit the child but will also benefit the whole world. We entreat parents to support whatever skill their child possess and they will not be disappointed.
“Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere.” – Kofi Annan, Seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
The first goal of the SDG is to see a world where poverty does not exist; a world where the strings of poverty have been totally cut off. A person is said to be living in poverty when they cannot afford the basic necessities of life – food, water, cloth and shelter!
The gathering of world leaders in Rio de Janeiro, 2012 brought to light the level of impact poverty can have on a nation and its direct implications on the economies of the world. The urgency to eradicate poverty has been heightened since then.
Interesting Facts To Note
According to the United Nations, there are more than 700 million people, or 10 per cent of the world population, that are still living in extreme poverty. Another way to put this is that, 1 out of 100 people in the world is struggling to afford the expenses of staying healthy, being educated, accessing clean water and sanitation!
It has been further captured that the majority of people impoverished by poverty live in sub-Saharan Africa make less than $1.90 a day. Worldwide, the poverty rate in rural areas is 17.2 percent — more than three times higher than in urban areas.
Progress Made So Far
Globally, the number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 36 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 2015. Data from 2015 – 2019 is yet to be released but on a personal note, I believe, on a personal observation, there would further be a decline as a number of radical steps undertaken by both the private and public sector have been taken to help curb this situation.
MTW’s Involvement In Achieving Goal 1
As a trained Facilitator on the Get Global Initiative, MTW is investing in the next generation of global leaders the requisite knowledge needed to better the global world, skills to build and ways to adopt to help stay out of poverty.
As a unique social intervention initiative, MTW is helping the younger generation understand each of them play a major role in keeping the world safer and better for everyone!
State of Goal 1 During COVID19
According to UNDP income losses are expected to exceed $220 billion in developing countries, and an estimated 55 percent of the global population has no access to social protection. These losses will reverberate across societies; impacting education, human rights and, in the most severe cases, basic food security and nutrition.
What You Can Do To Help Achieve Goal 1
Support institutions like MTW that are implementing social intervention initiatives addressing poverty and its related issues at the grass-root level with your skills and expertise.
Arm yourself with the appropriate knowledge on eradicating poverty and help create awareness through your social media.
You can with the help of friends, family and other stakeholders in the community organize events, forums and initiatives that could help sensitize and address poverty at the community level.
In conclusion
To help eradicate poverty, the collective effort from the government, entrepreneurs, businesses, non – profit institutions, regulatory bodies, community stakeholders and individuals would have to be intensified to help curb this situation.
As a family some thoughts come with the hopes of staying forever and yet circumstances can happen and one has no choice but to say goodbye. Even though life goes on we still believe a little part of them stays with us and this makes us who we are going forward. The experience of workplace varies greatly for different individuals. But for me, it is a source of daily inspiration, teamwork, and value.
To me I see this organization as family that will always be there for me through the good times and the bad. It is about encouragement, understanding, hope, comfort, advice, values, morals, ideals, and faith. These things are all important to me because it makes me feel secure and happy inside regardless of what is going on in my life. This is one of the main reasons why Move The World (MTW) is important in my life.
This family have given me a set of unwritten rules and codes that creates and helps build my perception, vision towards society and many things that I face in my day to day life.
At the core of Get Global are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 to 6. All activities and projects are centred on educating these students on what these goals are about and how they can contribute to ensuring that ‘no one is left behind’. The SDG Memory Game is done at the introductory sessions of the Get Global Programme to introduce all 17 SDGs to students in a fun and a more practical way.
How the game is played: Items needed
SDG cards: a pair of cards for each of the seventeen goals. One card bearing the name of the goal and the other bearing the logo of the goal
A platform, or flat surface
Activities
Just as is done in most Get Global games, the group is split into different teams
The cards containing the SDGs and their logos are then spread face-down on the platform randomly.
Each team is supposed to pick two corresponding cards (i.e a logo and its corresponding goal)
If a team mismatch a pair, they put the cards back in the same spot they picked them from.
When a team picks up a corresponding pair, they are allowed to keep the matched cards to themselves and go another round.
If the team on their next round, have a mismatched pair, they place the mismatched cards face down and the other team gets the chance to pick.
This goes on until all the 17 SDG pairs have been picked from the platform. The team with the most SDGs at the end wins.
The SDGs Memory Game is a fun interactive way through which students easily get acquainted with all the 17 goals and what they entail. It also emphasises important virtues of teamwork, paying attention to details, concentration and strategy.
There is an Akan adage that says, “the one who climbs the good tree deserves to be pushed.” Move the World has been that person or organisation that need to be pushed when it comes to community development project in Ghana. Ever since my involvement with MTW, I have seen a lot of developmental initiatives taken by MTW within the Medie community and even beyond. I can count of Street Smart, Trash Tag Challenge, Move the World Quiz and other volunteering works embarked by MTW.
As a Ghanaian young man born and bred in Ghana, I am yet to see or meet a foreign youth based non for profit organisation that is so selfless and committed to developing a community with their limited resources even as a start-up organisation. MTW involvement in the development of the Medie Community has change my mind-set on development as whole.
One does not need to do much but the little he can offer can go a long way to change lives and transform societies. It has really taught me that one does not need to make millions of dollars before he can touch a life.
The impact of MTW in the Medie community goes beyond mere physical recognition however, it touches the very core fabric of the mental and psychological make-up of the people of Medie, especially the children. The sense of patriotism, globalisation, and democracy among others has been largely impacted. Many of the kids who are benefiting from the Get Global Programme are a living testimony. Instead of sitting idle and thinking of what their communities can offer them, they rather think of innovative and creative ways to make their community better.
I, Benjamin Hayford Adu, MTW Facilitator whole heartedly applaud MTW for their good work they are doing for the Medie community and Ghana at large. I therefore call on individual and international donors to donate towards the activities of MTW since its sole objectives is geared toward human and community development.
When teaching or facilitating a child, do not only impart in him what is in the books alone but also educate him on the acceptable ways of society and that is what the MTW team does.
When we go into the classrooms, even though our work is to tell them what the sustainable development goals are and how it can help the world, we also take our time to let them know what EMPATHY, SYMPATHY, LOVE, GIVING are so that they will have the heart to give when the need arises. We make them understand that there is nothing wrong with sharing the little you have and we also let them put their selves in each others shoes to know how the person is feeling and that is the only way they can help and understand their friend and that is how I got my beautiful “choker” made for me.
From the empathy and giving skill instilled in them they made me a gift and I am very sure they practice this at home and in the future when they grow the world will be a beautiful place for them to live in. Let’s not only be facilitator and teachers but let us also be friends to the kids and that is the only way we will know how beautiful their hearts are.
Young ones are now conscious of their environment. They have now taken control of their immediate environment making sure it is clean. Everyone now has come to the realisation that they have a role to play in making the world a better place. Young ones within the catchment area of the programme stand to have some sense of empathy but same cannot be said for others outside of these areas.
The immense satisfaction that tickles down when you see the gradual change process taking shape in the young ones you facilitate. The Get Global Programme initiated by Move The World has brought about a lot of attitudinal change in the future generation.
For instance, there was a group of young people who stoned their colleague because her mother had contracted COVID 19 while their parent stood unconcerned. Such people need to understand that there is a human factor in making the world a better place and that will start by making your home, school and immediate environment better.
Stand up for someone, lend a helping hand to someone who needs it and protect your environment. The world will not be the same after this pandemic. If it is in your power, help us replicate this programme in different parts of the country.
