Day 2 was another fantastic day! Our eyes, minds and hearts were opened to a wide array of global issues. Passionate keynote speakers spoke about animal rights, ocean concerns and cancer prevention. Students had the choice of attending 17 different Non-Governental Organizations (NGOS) workshops. From these workshops we learned that there are amazing citizens who are changing lives. In the late afternoon, we were again entertained by the amazing Scott Hammell, magician and escape artist, and then participated in team building activities with Middle School Global Action Network Groups (GANG).

The evening ended with dinner where many of us experienced what poverty feels like. The sticker color on our name tags determined what “class” of society we were in. Blue indicated a buffet meal that included a variety of delicious foods, green offered a fair meal that included some choices and yellow symbolized lowest class, plain rice wrapped in a banana leaf. The objective of the exercise was for students to gain compassion and a greater understanding of what millions of people experience every day of their lives.

A few words from the students…..

The most informative workshop, for me at least, was the one presented by The Green Umbrella corporation. Although the speaker was hard to understand at times, it was obvious he was passionate about the topic of problems in Cambodia. It was an overall inspiring and motivational talk that I will remember for a long time. Rachel.

Operation Smile is an NGO that helps people who have cleft lips and other facial deformities. Shahnaz Faiz, the founder of Operation Smile Bangladesh and the guest speaker for the workshop, didn’t just talk about what the NGO does, she talked about standing strong and to keep going. She was a very motivational person, after what she’s been through. – Sam

Sunday is action day! We are collaborating with other international students and working within our school group to create an action plan that we can bring back to Macau and implement. Global changemakers (all of us – 16 in total) are ready: TIME TO ACT, TIME TO CHANGE!