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Bill´s mission to bridge America with theWorld; one commitment at a timeBy Sebastian Lindstrom and Patrick Bostrom

Between April 16 and 182010, Sebastian Lindstrom andPatrick Bostrom participated inthe Clinton Global InitiativeUniversity held at the Universityof Miami. Our mission was to

represent Light for Children( www.lightforchildren.com ), achild-centered non-prot wework with in Ghana andthrough The University of Hong Kong (the institutionsponsoring us to attend theevent).

The lineup of 1,300students and activists from 80countries make for impressive gures. However the reality of

just one of two delegates percountry from outside of the USmeant that the event’s aim of global representation and

participation was difcult tofully realize. We were also madekeenly aware of the American-centric agenda; the rst panel-talk focused on the currentstatus of ‘The American home

front’.In an effort to produceparticipants of diversiedbackgrounds, a group of over 20Chinese attendees from theEXCEL program had beenown in with funds by theClinton Global Initiative.

Although an important gesture,the initiative failed to fullyintegrate the Chinese socialentrepreneurs who were lost inthe masses during the skillstraining and workshops.

According to our knowledgenone of the Chinese attendees

joined in for the service projecton Sunday.

Change was in the air as weran between workshops ongrassroots mobilization andskills training in education.

Everyone attending had made acommitment to a programbased in the elds of povertyalleviation, education, water,and environmental issues. Thetime and venue to discuss andplan the delivery of thesecommitments with fellowattendee’s and non-protexperts unfortunately nevermaterialized, resulting infrustration for manyparticipants. Due to this fact,our nal impression was that themain purpose of the conferencewas somewhat lost.

CGI U - OUR QUEST & STORY

CGI U is more than just an event. It is agrowing communityof young leaderswho don’t justdiscuss the world’schallenges — theytake real, concretesteps towardsolving them.

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While it is understandably difcult tocater to all the various needs, interests and

experiences of all the participants, we believethat the best learning and outcome isachieved when students themselves candiscuss in open forums. It is to be hoped thatthe next CGI U conference will give moreroom for participants to discuss ideas,solutions and potential collaborations forsustainable growth.

The last day of the conference wasdedicated to a 4-hour service session at ahomeless center in southern Miami. Only 600out of the 1,300 delegates showed up; thisnumber was lower than the estimated 800participants that the organizers prepared for.

We were split into 30 different groupswith various tasks to accomplish. Our groupwas sent to dig and prepare an organictomato and onion garden, plant trees and rollout turf near and around some of the housesat the compound. The group consisted of aninteresting mix of people from all over US

and other parts of the world. We metparticipants from Cambodia, Italy, andDenmark, including different states in the USand native Indian Americans, plus abasketball team and several older volunteers.It was an interesting learning environment

where young learnt from old, Americans fromCambodians and Europeans from Asians.

Our analysis of this session can berepresented by a comment made by our teamleader at the beginning of the service project

that we shouldn’t see this as ‘best practice’.The main conclusion we could make fromthis statement is that the Clinton GlobalInitiative staff is not able to organize serviceprojects that are sustainable, transparent anda template for others. Furthermore, there wasno discussion or cooperation with the localpopulation at the homeless shelter; the idea tohelp others to help themselves was ignoredand the ownership feeling of the project bythe homeless folks was either zero or negative.

Our conclusion is that there is onlyregionalized best practice and that globalorganizations must continually learn anddevelop sustainable project implementation.

“The great thing about CGI U is that you cannot walk away uninspired. Youwalk away wondering what can I do

and how can I do it better.”Jarratt Hill,Progressive Atlanta Collegiate Collective

A conference full of ideasmixed feelings and experienceBy Sebastian Lindstrom and Patrick Bostrom

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MichaelHendersonSeeing peopledoing these

extraordinary,seless, auspiciousacts drives homethe fact that thereare other peoplelike me and ourwords don't fall ondeaf ears.

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It must be acknowledged that we cannot state thatprogress and present-day projects will remain

sustainable for future needs. The only sustainable aspectwill be our own commitment to continued learning andexible, non-partisan participation.

Issues that need to be tackled for the nextconference include continuity and implementation of theory. An example of this was the conference’s vocalagreement on the future of water and the expert panel’sunanimous agreement that bottled water is highlydamaging and should be discouraged on all levels.Despite this, during our service project at the homelesscenter we were all given water in plastic bottles. Wewould suggest using large water tanks and reusable/biodegradable cups to cater for the 30 teams.

In a world of commitments most people we talkedto had vivid ego-centered ideas with low or no progressas of this date. Perhaps 20 percent of the 80-100 peoplewe interacted with had a business card to with theircontact details. Compared to the UN Climateconference, which Sebastian attended in December2009, where the non-prot participants in Copenhagenhad a track record of accomplishments in the eld of

change making, at the Clinton event we weresurrounded more by dreamers than achievers. AsClinton stated during the rst welcome session:“Change starts with an idea, we are here now to gureout how you will implement your commitment”.

America has a long way to go; thinking and acting sustainably are two different beasts. Its projected imageis of a country continuing to live in a world where theparadigm of innite growth is accepted or ignored.Throughout the trip to the US we saw good and bad

examples of people trying to create a sustainablesociety. The most prevalent problem in the US is theconsumption-centric mode of living.

One of the longest and best interactions was during a bus ride back to the University after the serviceproject. For 45 minutes Sebastian spoke with Steven,one of the co-founders behind WillWorkForFood.org – a University and High School movement to raise fundsfor food to the developing world. We discussed crowdfunding, online mobilization strategies and differentways we could collaborate. Impulsive one-on-oneinteractions are hard to arrange during a conference.The lack of Clinton money resulted in a short event; an

extra day would have made it easier for people to bondand create better cooperative plans.

When speed is key and time is not on our sideorganic connections between change-makers are hardto follow up on – the energy and space that the serviceproject gave the 600 attendees was a perfect venue forthink tank formation and brainstorming.

How is America doing? Obamacare is not working yet. During the service project Sebastian accidentallygot a big bush thorn injected into his left leg. Thiswasn’t noticed until two hours after the event wasnished. Our local host, a Colombian online editor of South American magazines, brought Sebastian to thehospital where he was pushed back and forth betweenfour-six nurses and two doctors. Four hours laterSebastian had got the thorn removed by a doctor. Theprocedure took ve minutes and cost US$315 initially,with a second bill estimated at around US$1,000; the x-rays and antibiotics brought up the total price toastronomical levels. Credits go out to the University of Hong Kong who organized travel insurances for bothSebastian and Patrick. Most likely we were the onlyattendees who received University funded travel

insurances.The road forward: Sebastian and Patrick will write

up a document with the various ideas how either Lightfor Children or the University of Hong Kong cancollaborate with the top 25 contacts we connected with.In around three months we should have a betterunderstanding of the outcomes of this fast and furiousconference of movers and shakers.

Representing the Hong Kong University sparkedexcitement in most people that we talked to. Two

Swedes, studying in Hong Kong, supporting children inGhana encouraged people to think that nothing wasimpossible. It is Important to understand that mostparticipants were not as lucky as us to receive freeights and living costs covered by their University. AnItalian we talked to had to pay for ight and foodhimself even though he explained the benets hisUniversity would receive by supporting his work. A German girl received funding only after she raised theamount of money she needed from 200 euros to 800euros. Most American participants had to pay for theirown ights and hotel bills.

Future of water is a paramount issueis bottled water the culprit?By Sebastian Lindstrom and Patrick Bostrom

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University of Hong Kongleading positive changeBy Sebastian Lindstrom and Patrick Bostrom

Out of all the University presidents participating in the conference, The University of Hong Kong’sVice Chancellor was one of the few non-Americanpresidents. Credit goes again to The University of

Hong Kong for being at the forefront of servicelearning and the promotion of non-prot work.

Without that support we could not create the positivechange we all would like to see. The University of Hong Kong is allowing us to continue our quest toimplement sustainable service project all around theworld, enabling students to ourish into global citizensin a dynamic environment.

We can still be the change; feel free to send

questions and thoughts to us atSebastian@lightforchildren.com and atPatrick@lightforchildren.com

President BillClinton“ Today’s generationof young peopleholds more powerthan anygeneration before itto make a positiveimpact on theworld.”

LIGHT FOR CHILDREN - GHANA

www.lightforchildren.comPo box 740

Adum-KumasiGhana

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