The first day of the Social Good Summit brought many inspiring stories of the work of activists. One conversation, The Future We Want, brought seventeen youth, ranging in age from 14 to 18 with Save the Children, to the Social Good Summit. The youth came to learn more about the global goals and make them their own.
Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children, was joined onstage by three of the youth, Zheng Booing (14, China), Precious Banda (16, Zambia), and Chloe McGill (16, USA). All three are impressive and passionate about the goals for which they advocate: kids you’d be proud to call your own.
Zheng (or, Jerry, as he sometimes is called) knows the importance of education and wants to help ensure children in China and the rest of the world have access to high-quality education (global goal #5). He also is concerned about climate change, primarily in the way it affects air quality in China (global goal #13).
Precious is a role model in promoting and creating awareness on children’s rights in education and health where she lives in Zambia (global goals #3, #4, and #5). Specifically, she works with young women in her community and school to raise awareness about child, early, and forced marriage. She speaks with power, demanding, “All hospitals should be well-equipped to help our girls.”
Chloe is focused on issues relating to women and girls (global goal #5) and education (global goal #4), and has spent time volunteering in a Girls’ Academy in Rwanda. She wants to see better healthcare for moms and kids (global goal #3). She has a quiet confidence about her. One of the best reminders of the day came when Chloe said, “Never underestimate the power of helping one person.”
The messages about the #globalgoals are clear to the young people of the world, and it’s wonderful to see their desires to work hard to get the social change they envision for a better future.
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Save the Children works to give children around the world what they deserve: a healthy start, the opportunity to learn, and care when disaster strikes. Learn more about the life-saving and life-changing work they do at savethechildren.org.