Go.... World!

I HATE that I missed the Gator season kick off. Luckily, I have a guy from Texas here that can commiserate with me. Well...he was on my side until he sent another group member up to me last night and in broken English the poor messenger asked "What is Roll Tide?" I was angry. Very. Angry. But it's all in good fun.


The conference has been...long. Honestly, it is SO inspiring to see these young people be so passionate about something. And I have to admit, I am pretty ignorant to the world's problems. I have learned a lot these past three days. But with the inspiration comes a group of 32 people that work for a large corporation. At one point in the discussion, an American from PWC stood up and said (paraphrasing) "You guys are blowing a lot of hot air, why don't you join a corporation and try and do it from the inside." I couldn't agree more. We were actually at an outdoor pub and spotted one of the CEO's that spoke about Global business and invited him over for a drink. He asked us "Do you think you can do it?" to which I responded, "Yes, we can. But we have to do it on a platform corporate has already backed up, not something out of the ground." And for me, it's the sustainability argument.

It truly is sickening to see a 20 something stand up from Kenya and say to a major CEO, "What can you do for me? My country needs electricity." I think about my life and the comparison is unreal. I get angry when the power goes out, as if i feel entitled to it. I never worry about food. And I can use my stove whenever I wish to. Others do not have this privilege...

So, we have a lot of work to do, as a world. I am excited to learn what our Felician projects will be.  There was a lot of discussion that we will be doing something on global business or environment. I truly believe that installing electricity in developing countries is profitable, if we do it the right way.

They announced last night that 2012 One Young World will be in Pittsburgh, PA. And in a very touching moment, they said they needed to give countries more time to prepare so they also announced 2013 will be in Johannesburg, South Africa. This nation has so much pride that I wish I could bottle it.

Youth is not ignorant or wrong, they are energetic and their passion is inspiring. I hope that I can bring a small part of their inspiration back to the US and do some good for our world with it.