I've been catching up on some reading over winter break. After reading John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska (which I LOVED, and insist that everyone reads), I researched the author's Q&A. I soon discovered Green's Nerdfighter Project website (Nerdfighter: basically an enthusiast of intelligent, mindful awareness of the world; gladiators with knowledge for armor and words for weapons who seek to make positive social change). On the page of notable global Nerdfighter contributions, The Uncultured Project was first with the description, "Imagine leaving behind your friends, family, possessions, and a full scholarship to a good university - all to go halfway around the world to a third world country just to help the poor. This is exactly what Shawn did. And he's using YouTube to tell his story."
My reaction: Wait, another "college drop-out" like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg that made a huge success by following their dreams?? This is more common than I thought?
I had to find out more.
I first watched Shawn's most recent video, "There is no "Them", Only Facets of Us" in which he uses that quote from John Green as his guiding light for the creation of a new school in the poorest area of Bangladesh. I found that this is a project started by Notre Dame student Shawn Ahmed who put grad school on hold for a trip to Bangladesh that would inspire him to work against poverty. Shawn uses Youtube as a means of sharing his experience while living in Bangladesh. His many videos highlight the immense poverty, unpredictable weather, culture, infertility of land, and the hardworking nature of both children and adults, bringing attention to their openness to foreigners (such as Americans).
"There is no 'Them'"
At first view of this vibrant and inspiring video, Shawn seemed to be like any ordinary advocator or humanitarian - he spoke well, was engaging with the camera, and honestly made it seem almost commercial, and almost easy. He is introduced as a Muslim, and his camera man as an Atheist, while the people of Bangladesh are Hindu and the school that they are raising is built with church donations and under Catholic instruction. "The reason why I, a Muslim, have worked to hard to build a Catholic school is because I believe that diversity enriches all of us," said Ahmed, with great conviction in his body language and speech. He was believable, credible, and natural.
So I watched the very first clip, video #55, hoping to gain some insight as to how this project even started. I suppose I expected the first video to look as vibrant and well-constructed as the last, assuming that I would be drawn to the campaign's charisma in the same way.
Video #55: "The End of Poverty - The 'Homework' of Our Generation"
Surprisingly, this clip didn't strike me as particularly well done, polished, or professional. He struggles with his words a bit, and his interviews seem rehearsed. In later videos in which he documents the lives of children who work to support their families, he mentions that he doesn't even know yet how to help the poverty situation. He dedicates the 30 blankets he hands out to children to his 30 subscribers. Overall, younger-Shawn seems like a stereotypical American kid - a bit sheltered, inexperienced, and rather unsure of how to go about his project. Suddenly, his vlog title made sense. This project was a journey from being "uncultured" to making a huge change.
What makes Shawn different from a stereotypical American is that he has both passion and dedication - he ends up staying in Bangladesh for longer than he expects when Cyclone Sidr hits the city, destroys homes and schools, and tears families apart. He documents the cyclone's outcome, posts it to Youtube, and asks for advice instead of money. In order to prepare for inevitable future events, he works to give "hand-ups, not hand-outs".
I suppose the reason why I really admire Shawn's efforts is because he didn't come into this project with a whole plan that spanned the beginning to the end. In my own personal endeavors, I often feel apprehensive about taking on huge projects or 'dreaming big' because creating major change is a daunting task that seems almost impossible to accomplish from step one. Just as I didn't realize that Shawn's initial video wasn't equivalent in artistry and accomplishment as the most recent video, I also didn't realize that the final product was realistically attainable as I admired it from below.
The fact that Shawn's project flourished from amateur ambitions, small acts of kindness, and a drive to fix what seemed unfixable ALL the way to a level of professionalism and actual impactful change in the lives of so many children's educations is proof to me that ANY human being can really make a difference, and that the fuel of passion, dedication is long lasting, and that even further motivation is created by being active.
What makes Shawn different from a stereotypical American is that he has both passion and dedication - he ends up staying in Bangladesh for longer than he expects when Cyclone Sidr hits the city, destroys homes and schools, and tears families apart. He documents the cyclone's outcome, posts it to Youtube, and asks for advice instead of money. In order to prepare for inevitable future events, he works to give "hand-ups, not hand-outs".
I suppose the reason why I really admire Shawn's efforts is because he didn't come into this project with a whole plan that spanned the beginning to the end. In my own personal endeavors, I often feel apprehensive about taking on huge projects or 'dreaming big' because creating major change is a daunting task that seems almost impossible to accomplish from step one. Just as I didn't realize that Shawn's initial video wasn't equivalent in artistry and accomplishment as the most recent video, I also didn't realize that the final product was realistically attainable as I admired it from below.
The fact that Shawn's project flourished from amateur ambitions, small acts of kindness, and a drive to fix what seemed unfixable ALL the way to a level of professionalism and actual impactful change in the lives of so many children's educations is proof to me that ANY human being can really make a difference, and that the fuel of passion, dedication is long lasting, and that even further motivation is created by being active.
