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Quote of the Week
"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." -- Lady Bird Johnson
Want True Equality? Make Everyone Powerful
"Last year, he (Ali Raza Khan, an Ashoka Social Entrepreneur) challenged 6,000 poor students across 74 charity government vocational schools to create ventures within a month. He went to them and said, “I believe in you. You can all start businesses and citizen groups and you can all succeed.” He said this to all the students in all the schools, none coming from privilege.
He helped them organize into peer teams and get started sharing ideas, helping each other, building things together. He banished trainings because they are where someone tells you what to do. His organization provided modest seed capital to each team, agreeing to absorb any loss.
A month later, over 80 percent of the students had profitable ventures up and running, with very few teams not succeeding. I love this because it shows that the problem isn’t young people - it’s us. We create a poisonous atmosphere when we tell young people “you can’t” in so many subtle and not so subtle ways. They can - and they must!
Like Ali, almost all of the roughly 1,000 Ashoka Fellows (out of 3,300) who are focused on children and young people do more than believe in them: They put them in charge. [...] The results are dramatic and marvelous. Once a teen has had a dream, built a team, and changed her world, she will be a changemaker for life, contributing again and again to whatever problem needs solving. She has her power. She will never be afraid." [more]
Reading Corner
 Title: She Persisted Around the World
By: Chelsea Clinton
Ages: 4-8
Why? "It's so important to have a message for girls in the world that says, don't listen to societies 'no'. Listen to who you were meant to be and stand up. Some of these women faced death threats to learn. It's time to get rid of all the glass ceilings. It's time for a female president. It's time women can be anything they are meant to be. The world needs women right now." -- Goodreads Review
Recommended by Kindful Kids Editors
Be The Change
Inspire and encourage your child(ren) to become changemakers! Ask them how they'd like to make a small difference to make the world a better place and remember it could be anything big or small, at home, in your neighbourhood, at school or in your community. Make a plan together, offering words of encouragement and belief in the process, then support them to make it happen this weekend!
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