Kingswood Community Center
July 10th marked another remarkable day in our adventure, the adventure we embarked on to fulfill the promise we made on our first day of the MEPI student leaders program, “we’re here to change the world” we shouted but change comes through action not mere words and that action is what we pursued.
The day started with lecture on women’s activism in the U.S. by Dr. Anne Boylan. We were introduced to the history of women’s activism and the struggles they had to overcome to provide the current generation with the rights they currently entertain. “Never give up” is what may summarize our session as we all came to conclusion that diligence is one of the most important characteristics of a leader.
Next we visited three places, University of Delaware’s Community Garden, the Latin American Community Center, and Kingswood Community Center. We split ourselves into three groups visiting these places simultaneously; we tilled the ground and planted seeds for vegetables which will be donated to the local food bank, we played with children hailing from poverty stricken families and at-risk environments.
This was our second visit to these places and the bonds we created with the people there were greatly strengthened, fuelling our passion for civic engagement, the passion which is behind every positive change that occurs in our world. As a person I believe that direct contact with people is necessary for sharing emotions, emotions such as need and happiness which I really can’t connect with through newspaper articles or videos. During our visits we had the ideal environment to interact and bond with people whom we will serve as soon as we go back to our countries.
Garden for the Community at University of Delaware
Servant Leadership at Kingswood Community Center
Meeting with the Clinton Global Initiative-U Students
Our day concluded by meeting members from the “Clinton Global Initiative University” who work on projects similar to ours.
They work on providing clean water in poor villages in Tanzania, Providing preschool books for families who don’t have the resources to finance their children preschool education, and media awareness campaigns against junk food. We exchanged ideas and opportunities in a very friendly setting, we focused on challenges that might face us when implementing our projects in our countries, and finally we discussed chances of collaboration while exchanging contacts.
Today we learned that leaders don’t lead just by sitting on a desk or talking all day long, they have to walk down the streets and touch base with the people they serve, today we edged closer to the goal of the program but we’re even closer to transforming our promise to a life goal, soon enough you will hear and see the change we’re going to make, We WILL change the world.
–Mohamed ElMejrab