It’s All About the Minga

What is a minga? According to our keynote speaker Marc Kielburger, social entrepreneur and co-founder of WE Movement, it is the coming together of people to work for the better of them all. The leading idea for WE is that helping communities cannot only include handing ‘out’ resources. It must include handing ‘up’, giving the necessary skills and knowledge for the development of the communities in need. At a very young age Craig and Marc Kielburger founded an organization which aimed to make a difference in the world. Over the years they have grown intensely and spread out to many countries around the world to help local communities. Marc believes that starting small can make a difference and lead to big changes. He shared with us a lot of ideas on how they ensured their organization was successful and what path they followed to achieve that.

Here are some of the lessons learned:

• Don’t grow for the sake of growth but think about why you’re growing, create a cause;
• Make it cool to care;
• Anybody can change the world;
• Begin with the end in mind.

Does it look similar to what we believe in and follow in CISV? Is it totally different? Are there any lessons that we could apply in our local Chapters, National Associations, or even on the international level? We are curious to see what you think about it. Take the opportunity and share your thoughts in the comments.