Margaret Mead once said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has!"
I've just enjoyed the Future Proof films that launched the Tall Stories Film Fest 2014. My thanks to Helen Marie, the film society and the sponsors.
Who Cares? brought us 18 global stories showing how communities working together can lift themselves from misery to poverty and beyond to a productive future. Examples included Mahammad Yunus and his well-known Grameen micro-banking movement in Bangladesh, a community in Brazil supporting itself with a local currency and a "buy local" policy, and a Belgian Buddhist monk in Tanzania training rats to detect land mines and TB.
Adding a modern perspective to the micro-banking model, we saw a young social entrepreneur, using the internet to link lenders with those needing small loans for self-improvement.
This led into a key point: we need at least 30 per cent of our young people to become "change makers", able to think outside the box and mix their socially responsible attitudes with business models if we are to have successful and positive leaders in the future - a message our education and political leaders need to take on board.
