Contributor: Sarah Brown

In preparation for World Hunger Day on October 16, the staff at Mercy Corps European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland participated in a Global Citizen Corps (GCC)-led hunger banquet. Kira, a new GCC leader, set the scene by providing a table laden with fresh juice, coffee, yogurt, pastries and toast — but this lovely spread was only for one lucky staffer!

Another two staff, representing the 25 percent of the world on a fragile middle income, sat at a bare table with only toast and cold tea. The remaining five staff, who symbolized the 60 percent trapped in low income, sat without a table (although we were generous enough to provide seats), sipped water and ate just bread.

The hunger banquet is adapted from an Oxfam resource, and has been used by many GCC leaders to explore the inequality of food distribution and links between the very rich and the very poor. For images of food from around the world and discussions of food and hunger issues, please go see our Food 4 Thought feature on the GCC web site: http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/groups/food4thought.

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What could happen if every person in every country had the opportunity to vote on a global referendum? This is the question asked by Joel Marsden’s intriguing documentary World Vote Now. The Global Citizen Corps (GCC) in the UK was so interested in this proposal that we chose to sponsor the film as part of the Take One Action film festival, which aims to link audiences, movies, campaigners and communities to inspire shared responses to issues of global concern.

As the film was sponsored by GCC, it could be no ordinary cinema screening! We really wanted to engage the global youth community in the debate around the issues raised by the film. This was achieved by the circulation of a survey to all GCC countries, asking young people to express their understanding of democracy, what barriers they felt prevented democratic participation, if there should be a world vote and — if so — what should the issue be.

Here are just a few of the responses for the question "What is Democracy?":

• "Democracy gives respect to every single person [and] respect for humanity" - member of GCC Iraq
• “Democracy [is]...the way of your life, it's not just the word, it's the things we do daily that contribute to society and make it a better place to live” - member of GCC Iraq
• "Freedom of choice, thoughts and actions" - member of GCC Lebanon
• “Democracy for me is a freedom, the freedom of everyone to say their minds, that every person who listens should be able to appreciate and respect each other” - member of GCC Indonesia
• "No one person's vote or opinion matters more than another, and everyone has the right to free speech and to their own beliefs" - member of GCC USA

The results of the survey were used throughout the screening, which was open to students and teachers. The experience was made even more unique by the presence of Marsden, the film's director. Joel really brought the film to life for the viewers with his direct and honest answers to their questions. They were given a rare insight into the process of documenting such a hot topic — including Joel’s tale of a night spent barricaded into a hotel room with only a table leg to defend himself from armed militia angered by his intervention!

I recommend viewing this thought-provoking movie; you never know sometime soon we may all be faced with a ballot paper for participation in a global vote.

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Aware of the issues, prepared to take action and keen to make an impact! This month the Global Citizen Corps UK trained our biggest-ever cohort of young leaders!

Brenna — the project youth worker — and I were over the moon when 49 participants attended a two-day training! Delivered in central Edinburgh, Scotland, the training explored what it means to be a global citizen and prepared the young people for their year of leadership training and action-taking.

The new batch of Global Citizen Corps leaders during their training in Edinburgh, Scotland for a year of social action. Photo: Sarah Brown/Mercy Corps

The training stated with an introduction from two Global Citizen Corps (GCC) alumni who described the journey that the leadership programme had taken them on. This was supported by welcome films created by GCC participants in the USA, Jordan and Iraq.

The first day had a bursting agenda: it covered diversity training, action planning, community mapping, the millennium development goals and consideration of what skills, attitudes and aptitudes it takes to be an effective peer educator.

An important aspect of the GCC is media skills — multi-media postings are a great way for the young leaders across the globe to connect, share stories, ideas and report on the actions they have taken. The second day of training was media focused with trainers from Ethical TV supporting the participants to develop story boards and explore filming techniques.

Next step was to hit the streets! The young folk asked passersby, “If there was a global vote, what should the issue be?” The responses were diverse, passionate and entertaining, ranging from climate change, global poverty to preferred sub genres of techno music!

These new leaders’ first challenge will be to respond to global hunger, particularly participating in an action on World Food Day, which falls on October 16. I for one can’t wait to see what they achieve!

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"I learned a lot and I think everyone did too. It was like a utopian village, something to aim for on a wider scale."

These words are from one of the delegates at Global Citizen Corps first-ever Global Festival; an event which brought together young people from Jordan, Lebanon, UK, U.S. and Ireland in Edinburgh for an action packed week! The Middle East Youth Festival in Edinburgh was many things to many people. To me it was a celebration — a series of inspiring, youth led actions, a logistical headache and a dream come true!

Global Citizen Corps members take some time out at the first-ever Middle East Youth Festival. Photo: Mercy Corps

We aimed to make the exchange as youth-led as possible, building their understanding and their capacity for delivering meaningful actions. They received training on conflict issues, group work, peer education and public speaking before spending time planning and delivering actions. Staff from all countries participated in the planning and delivery, and the young people themselves trained, delivered and evaluated one another.

The first public action they delivered was a Friday night preview of a photography exhibition. The photos were taken by their peers in Gaza; they spent an afternoon with a facilitator looking at image composition and then moved on to discuss the image content and context. During the preview, they guided the public and engaged them in discussions of the issues that arose.

The second action was a film screening of "Knowledge is the Beginning," which explores issues of cooperation and peaceful change. The youth welcomed in viewers, handed out delicious baklava, introduced the film and responded with eloquence to tricky public questioning following the screening.

On the Wednesday of the Festival, pupils from two local schools attended a day event facilitated by the Festival delegates. English skills amongst the delegates widely varied, so they supported one another by working in groups of mixed nationality, age and gender to deliver training on peace and conflict issues. They closed the day by setting the participants the challenge of following their lead and developing their own peer awareness raising activities!

The Scottish Parliament hosted the final actions. Two delegates delivered a “Time for Reflection” presentation in the Scottish Parliament, which was available to the public and all Members of the Scottish Parliament. This was followed by an evening reception at the Parliament.

The actions taken by the Festival's participants reached nearly 5,000 members of the public — a powerful demonstration of the multiplying impact peer education can have! During the evaluation, it became apparent how much the participants appreciated the faith the staff had in them.

There was no plan B; the events had been publicised, tickets had been distributed, they had to be delivered and they were the ones to do it! Never once did they let us down, rather the staff were constantly overwhelmed by the skills, confidence and stamina that the participants demonstrated. They were truly Being the Change!

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