Leadership & Community Development
One of the key things to bringing about social change in communities is empowering and developing leadership and ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice.
Leaders don’t have to be extroverts, in fact, Nelson Mandela said “Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front”, this works very well for introverts who prefer to stay in the background or work in a small group.
Leaders don’t have to be of a certain gender or a certain age. Leaders instill vision and ideas to those around them and this can be done by men or women, older or younger leaders. Some of the great things about young leaders is that they bring fresh ideas and fresh perspectives to situations, they bring an energy that inspires those around them and they are not afraid to take risks.
When fresh ideas and perspectives are brought in, change can occur. Sometimes a change will require hard work and this is where the young can bring their energy and enthusiasm and risk-taking.
Training young people in leadership will ensure they are empowered to lead their communities into the future, in improving quality of life through health, education, environment, and social enterprise.
Age, gender, or personality are not what makes a leader, it’s having a calling or a passion to instill vision and ideas into your community and leading them to create change for the good in big or small ways.
World Hope International’s programme focus in Mondulkiri, Cambodia, is empowering and developing local leadership in order that they can manage their own eco-tourism social enterprise and use the income to improve their community and the education of their children. Community Committees, as well as School Conservation Clubs, provide a space for developing local leaders and it empowers the community to manage their own development.
I love this quote by Wendy Lesko “If you ever think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito!”
Learn more about our education-related programmes. You can also support the work we do at World Hope International with a gift to The Hope Fund.