The Junior Chamber International, or JCI, is a membership based, non-profit coalition of some two hundred thousand young people, aging in range from 18 to 40. Their goal is simple: to create lasting and positive change in our world, using community-based initiatives to create a global revolution of positive progress.
Once a year, the JCI honors ten up and coming youths through the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World award. Ranging in age from 18 to 40, the award is bestowed upon those young leaders who have shown true innovation, extraordinary service, or a new and creative way to think about an existing community issue.
Of the ten, we will focus on three who are moving us, as a collective unit, toward a much improved and more peaceful world.
Melanie Hennessy visited Nepal when she was only 18 years old. She soon found a full time position in Nepal seeking to alleviate the plight of its children. Having been recognized in the humanitarian/Voluntary Leadership role for her JCI honors, Hennessy established a school in Nepal, with an Orphanage fund set up back home at her Irish University NUI Galway. In addition to starting another charity, TEAM Nepal, she returned in 2010 to create Walking Hospitals, in which volunteers shadow local doctors from village to village to provide assistance to those in need. Melanie was also selected as one of Ireland's Outstanding Young People of the Year.
Uyapo Ndadi, of Botswana, turned down a well paying job at a law firm to pursue his passions. Founding the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), he fights against the spread of the virus, as well as for the rights of its sufferers. As an advocate of people's rights, Ndadi fights against discrimination in the workplace while providing legal aid free of charge to clients. He works with communities at all levels in an effort to bring denizens into the fight with BONELA. Uyapo is now the Director of the organization he started, bringing ethics and honesty to the role as he continues to fight for the human rights of his people in Botswana, a country which has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world.
For the Business, Economic, or Entrepreneurial accomplishment, the JCI gave the award to Emily Cummins. Known for creating the toothpaste squeezer for Arthritis sufferers and a water-carrying device designed for Third World use, Cummins bested herself with the creation of her award-winning portable refrigerator. The solar powered, sustainable device can be built from household items, making it the perfect instrument for Third World countries. In Namibia, Emily became known as the "Fridge Lady" as she toiled for five months in research and development phases. The work paid off—her invention is now saving the lives of countless Africans because medical supplies, as well as food, can now be moved in an uncontaminated fashion, regardless of local water quality. The sick can be treated like no other time in recent memory, all thanks to an invention that 21-year-old Emily thought up in her grandfather's potting shed.
To think on what these young people are accomplishing—all in their early to mid twenties—is truly mind-boggling. It gives us hope as a nation, a world, and as a community tied together in the global marketplace.
When you read about such positive and life-altering changes being made using creativity, wit, and intelligence, it belies an attitude that we can all step forward to make positive changes in our own communities.
Start with something small. You don't need to change the world with the first thing you try.
Bryce Hammons is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog.
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