This week You! has our attention grabbed by amazing people in Peru.
Among those is Jim Killon who works for Changes for New Hope.
So its only natural that we decided to have a chat, and here is what he had to say:
You: Hello Jim!
Tell us about yourself,and Changes for New Hope please!
Jim: Hello everybody at You-The Movement. I’m Jim Killon from
Baltimore Maryland in the United States. A few years ago, after
visiting Nicaragua and Costa Rica, I saw the poverty among the
children and wanted to do something about it. I came to Peru in 2009,
initially to work for an NGO that said they helped children. After a
few disappointing months observing anemic efforts and ulterior
motives, I left and decided to create my own project, which is how
Changes for New Hope began. Changes for New Hope has been developed to
aid children, and by extention, their families, in extreme poverty
conditions. It seems like every month a new avenue of the project
develops as new needs are realized.
You: Just briefly describe how would go about helping out?
Jim: Initially, we started out teaching English, but after a few
weeks of exploring the depth of the needs here, I decided the project
would take on a much wider range of assistance. If the children are
living in poverty, then the parents are going to be poor as well. You
can’t solve one issue without addressing the other. The poverty
mentality and the desperation it causes were our main focus. We
organized ourselves to simultaneously support education, but also the
detractors to that education. Malnutrition, personal hygiene issues,
and family conflicts needed to be addressed. There were many intrinsic
issues as well so we began teaching self esteem, interpersonal
communication skills, manners and values to name a few.
You: What is the biggest challenge youve had to face starting up?
Jim: Credibility. A humanitarian project needs funds, volunteers and
materials. No one was going to support a project they never heard of,
led by a guy who was unknown in a place they couldn’t find on a map. I
understood that would be a challenge, who could blame anyone for their
skepticism? I used my life savings to develop, create and support the
project until such time as we gained a level of credibility. Now with
6 active groups of children and two more pending we have made a
significant impact in Huaraz and our webite illustrates what we are
doing. We hope to have 200 children in our project by the year’s end.
Many good folks have offered to volunteer with us. We have some
incredible humanitarian-minded individuals who have donated generously
and we have the support of the local people, and government here in
Huaraz. Tenacity, patience and a belief in what we were doing are the
things that kept me going during the initial rough startup phase.
You: What role do you think youth can play to be spearhead positive
change??
Jim: Probably the single most powerful group in the World today is
the youth. The youth of the World outnumber everyone else combined.
They are the most affected by what the future will be like. The air,
water, global warming issues, wars, food sources, racism and poverty
will fall squarely into the laps of the youth of today.
It is imperative for the youth to speak out in a positive and
effective way against the issues that they will inherit. Apathy is the
fuse and the destruction of our Earth as we now know it and everyone
on it is the dynamite attached to it, if the youth of today do not
take an active role to resolve issues and develop a better world
starting immediately.
Governments, big business and the top 2% who
control 98% of what happens in the World will listen to mass numbers
all speaking with the same voice. We vote, we purchase products, we
work in their factories and offices, and in democracies, we write
letters to the media and we write letters to our elected officials.
The power of the youth of the world is overwhelming. Unified there is
nothing that can not be accomplished. You-The Movement is a great way
to begin.
You: Tell us,what do you think of You!-The Movement?
Jim: The advantages You-The Movement has today to make positive
changes in the World as compared to, say, twenty years ago prior to
the internet and social websites, is incredible. The forward thinking
that You-The Movement has put into action for humanitarians of every
stripe to express themselves and share ideas and develop their ideas
and actions can not be overstated.
Just for comparative reasons, let me share this example; during the
war in Vietnam back in the 60s and 70s, millions of us were against
the war. Our massive protests and demonstrations were all developed by
word of mouth and flyers. Musicians such as John Lennon, Joan Baez,
and Bob Dylan played at demonstrations and 250,000 protesters made
their voices heard at the Mall in Washington D.C.
The draft ended whenI was 17 1/2 years old and the war ended for the United States a year or so later. That was word of mouth, this is the worldwide internet.
Anyone not taking advantage of the internet and projects like You-The
Movement has virtually forfeited their right to express themselves to
make a better world. I applaud and congradulate those who have taken a
stand to make a better World through this website.
Any parting shots to fellow youth and readers??
Would you like to work with You! In a project??
Jim: If this was a winning lottery ticket, would you hestiate to cash
it in? The issues are monumental, global, people’s lives depend on
dramatic changes that need to occur immediately. You see it everyday,
you are affected by it everyday.
I did not say it first, but I amgoing to say it again, “I saw the desperate needs all around me andsaid,’Somebody should do something’, then I realized, I am somebody”.
The voice of 1 man shouting a truth is a nut, 100 people shouting a truth is a mob but 1,000,000 people shouting a truth is a movement that can no longer be ignored. Let’s get with the program and together make it happen.
Jim: I would be most honored to work with You. A joint project between
You-The Movement and Changes for New Hope would be a great start to
blow out that fuse I was mentioning earlier.
You: Thank you Jim and Changes of New Hope!
Check out CNH’s site : www.changesfornewhope.org
You: Its lovely to have you with us:)
Jim: As we say here in Peru, “El gusto es mio, gracias.. the pleasure
is mine..thank you.