The Present and The Future
At first glance, the state of the world looks dismal, with so many problems mounting, people’s attitudes discouraging, and the outlook into the future disheartening.
The COVID-19 pandemic grows more and more challenging, with many people taking issue with following any protocols that would work towards mitigating the situation.
Global affairs are unsettled, tensions are on the rise, corruption is rife, the future of the planet is in jeopardy because too many of us refuse to care.
Discipline, integrity, honesty, hard work and decency are on the decline, and instead many are committed to deceiving and cheating their way to the top, with no regard for the people whom they trample upon along the way.
There’s a growing trend of being self centred, with little or no concern about anyone else.
It would be easy for one to lose faith in humanity, and in the future of the planet, then, with so many things going asunder.
But wait! There’s hope for the future, and that hope lies in the youth of today and tomorrow. Yes, they are taking the bull by the horns, to ensure a better world for us all.
There are many, many outstanding young people busy making a positive difference in the world today, and their work is not only significantly impacting the present, it’s also showing great promise for the future.
Young people are making great strides in many areas of society; climate change and the environment, social issues, science and technology, sports, education, business and much more. Their focus and commitment to helping make the world a better and safer place for us all, are truly impressive and awe inspiring.
Young people like Jaylen Arden, Marley Diaz, Zuriel Oduwole, Greta Thunberg, Gitanjali Rao, Rishab Jain, Malala Yousafzai, Muhammad Nadeem, Asia Newson, Nicholas Lowinger, Emma Raducanu and Layla Fernandez, and many others.
Jaylan Arden, now 20 years old, started Jaylen’s Challenge Foundation at the ripe old age of 8, to help combat bullying. His Foundation uses education and community service as means to accomplish this.
Marley Diaz is a 16 year old activist whose focus is to bring attention to the absence of diversity in academic curricula.
Zuriel Oduwole is 18 years old, a film maker and an advocate for the education of girls in Africa. She’s been making films since the age of 12, using film as a vehicle to get her message across.
Greta Thunberg , also 18 years old, is already a world famous environmental activist, who takes world leaders to task demanding that they work urgently to address climate change.
Gitanjali Rao is 15 years old, a scientist, inventor, and author, who leads innovation workshops internationally; she created an app to prevent cyber bullying, and invented a device to measure the lead content in water.
Rishab Jain , 16 years old, is an inventor, activist and businessman. At the age of 13 he helped to improve radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer as a result of his research, for which he earned the accolade of America’s Top Young Scientist.
Malala Yousafzai , now 24 years old, is also world famous, and won a Nobel Peace Prize for her activism for human rights and for the education of women and girls, a mission she has spent over a decade fighting for.
Muhammad Najem is 17 years old, started as a war reporter at the age of 15, documenting for the world to see the atrocities taking place in his native country. He has seen the ravages of war and the destruction it causes to the lives of innocent children, and he’s also an activist working to help make the world a better and safer place for the children.
Asia Newson,now 17, actually started buying and selling candles when she was 5 years old. Today she is a successful entrepreneur with her own business, and holding workshops to teach other young people to become entrepreneurs.
Nicholas Lowinger, 22, started his charity foundation when he was 10 years old; it’s called Gotta Have Sole, and it provides new, properly fitting shoes to children and teenagers in homeless shelters. The foundation has already provided well over 100,000 pairs of shoes.
Emma Raducanu,18, and Layla Fernandez,19, turned the tennis world on its head, overcoming all their US Open 2021 competition to meet in the Women’s Final.Raducanu emerged the winner. These young ladies are showing the youth that everything is possible, as long as they are willing to commit themselves and put in the hard work.
And these are but a few of the legion of young people the world over striving everyday to make a difference; and they are making a difference; a phenomenal difference.
So, yes, the future is in good hands; the world is going through some trying times, but we’ll ride the tide. Things are already looking a lot brighter, a lot more promising, with these young people taking the lead.