Please visit the Facebook group page AYUDA PARA CHILE, sponsored by Youth Ambassadors and Global Changemakers to raise funds and awareness to help the people of Chile. Read on to hear the story of David Riveros Garcia, a changemaker who is leading the effort to help Chile, together with fellow YAs from Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay.
When you have fought barriers upon yourself for almost your whole life, it becomes a way of living. You see everything you’ve suffered and you just don’t want other people to go through the same thing. You commit to help, change, inspire and lead to make that difference. You become a Youth Ambassador.
It is amazing how dreams become true when you never give up. Yes, to lead and serve is mostly equal to suffer (but someone really important thousands of years ago, said that’s the path to be followed if you really want to change lives).
I became a Youth Ambassador for my beloved country in 2009 and had the amazing opportunity of visting the U.S. for a couple weeks. Such an experience cannot be contained in words; to do that would be an insult to everything we lived there. The same year, and nobody would have ever thought this could happen; I became a Global Changemaker for the British Council. I had the honour of representing Youth Ambassadors in such an important event like the Global Youth Summit in London.
Well, after that most people would come and tell me, David “you are the best”, as it probably happened with most of the Youth Ambassadors in each country. However, being a YA and a GCM only made me realize how far I am of being the so called “best”. My trip with Partners was very unique, three countries were together in Washington, DC (Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay). I met tremendous leaders, people I look up to till this very second and mentors that would help me grow in many aspects personally. I can’t even compare myself to them although I can say they made me a better leader and a better person, they are role models of leadership and the prove for people that lost hope and thinking that “youth isn’t concerned about changing and developing their countries”. That was in Washington DC.
I also visited another capital of the World, London. There I met 60 of the most outstanding young people on earth; I consider them my family just like the Youth Ambassadors. That was one of those times when as a leader, you don’t feel alone, you can see there are a lot of crazy people like you trying to change the world, sacrificing everything to improve their people life conditions. Finally, I come to the conclusion of “the best leaders”.
They’re not us, the recognized ones, the ones blessed to travel around the world and meet important people and learn from them. The best leaders are out there, in rural areas, in the communities, those people that work mostly alone, no funds, no Embassy to count on, no Council to provide attention. They are those who under the appallingly bad conditions struggle to help their families and communities. They are those who make the impossible become possible and their hearts know nothing but love. They consider others as the most important thing. Therefore, I came with this answer to everyone telling me I’m the best: “I’m only someone who’s been given a chance. People look for their one single shot for a lifetime. I got mine, and God knows I’m going to try and make my opportunity become that one single shot for everyone I can help. Till that moment I’m just another one trying to follow the example of the best leaders hidden among us”.
Now, I can tell I have a family around the world. That is precisely why I started, with the help other YAs and GCMs from Latin America, a group to work towards helping Chile. I know they would have done the same for my country (that’s how family works, we support each other). I think it is important to help people whenever you can, even more important if they’re close to you. Basically, we are going to start collecting money in determined places working with volunteers to do that and then deposit everything we collected to the Red Cross bank account created for Chile. Even though that’s not the only thing that will be done, YAs and GCMs are recognized by their creativity. I can only talk vaguely about the most basic of the examples.
Family is a much broader concept for me now. If we want progress, change and development, we must work together to achieve it, not only like inhabitants of a particular nation but as members of a much bigger international family. Our efforts to relief just a little bit the problems in Chile will give this example. Youth united breaking borders to help. I couldn’t be more proud of being part of this family, being accepted by you as a member was one of the biggest honours I had.
A couple days ago, I was selected by the British Council to represent them at the World Economic Forum – Latin America, taking place in Cartagena, Colombia (April 6-8). I’m not only representing them or my country. I will be representing this big family made of dreamers and heroes. I will do my utmost to represent you all like you deserve it. I will tell them what this family is all about and deliver youth message to world leaders. I want to showcase this family with no borders, flags or ideologies; a young family that will set the example to follow for the next generation with nothing but good intentions where our desire of making this a better world will lead us to development and change.
I realized from my experiences that a country is big because of their people, not because of their government. Therefore, with great people like the Youth Ambassadors and the Global Changemakers, I’m sure we have a better future waiting for all us and I can state that our brother nation, Chile, will raise better than ever.
Let us, Youth Ambassadors become the opportunity for one more laugh, one more hope and let us receive the best pay I can recall as a leader; to see the bright shine in the eyes of someone who had achieved his dream. Let’s change this world with our family. Let’s make it happen.
David Riveros García.
Youth Ambassador 2009.
Global Changemaker.
Paraguay
Filed under: The YA Experience
David,
I had the opportunity to read your article on “Global Changemakers.” It was heartwarming to learn that the Partners youth programs are making such a positive impact on the next generation of global leaders. Those of us who had the privilege of participating in the Kellogg Fellows Program can look at you and others with pride, knowing that positive progress will continue in our hemisphere and around the globe. We saw that gleam of commitment in your eyes as we communicated at the conference in Washington in 2009, and we know it will continue. You are a model for other young people. Keep up the good work, and remember…We are changemakers “ONE STEP At A TIME.”
Patricia Hill Williams, Ed.D
Chairman of the Board
Partners of the Americas