As a humanitarian, I have dedicated almost my entire life to helping people. I was raised by a single mother, so we relied a lot on the generosity of family and loved ones. This helped me understand that we are all a part of a larger community.
In recent times, I’ve grown more and more fearful of our planet’s unknown future. Coming from a small island in the Caribbean, the effects and products of a broken and inequitable world are more amplified now than any other time in history. As unintentional victims of climate change, every year we brace for catastrophic storms, unending droughts, and rapidly depleting coastlines. Our economies have been decimated overnight due to poor fiscal management of the few economies we rely on, plus global health emergencies like Dengue fever, which our local capacities are far too inferior to absorb.
But while I fear the unknown, I am inspired by the actions I see every day from the young volunteers I work with, to Greta Thunberg and Malala Yusufzai. I dream of a world where my generation and the generation that comes after will continue to challenge the status quo and demand better. I dream of a generation of youth that advocates for greater responsibility, accountability, and transparency from those who lead and those who are entrusted to make the best decisions.
I believe if we focused more on helping and inspiring change, we could rid our world of poverty, pain, and suffering. We can reduce the vulnerability of so many. I believe this because I have seen it. During my time as a volunteer with the Red Cross, I saw the impacts of hundreds of volunteers on the frontlines responding to the mass displacement of Syrian nationals as a result of this conflict. But I’ve also seen and was inspired by the thousands of volunteers responding to a migration crisis due to internal conflict in Venezuela. I’ve been given hope by the many young people I’ve met who are fighting for a better world.
I don’t dream of a utopia because it is almost impossible to achieve. I dream of a world that is not as harsh on those who are only in search of hope for tomorrow. I dream that my generation, and those after, will be the hope that this world so desperately needs.
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