“Change is not just a word, it’s a destination and any person can drive that journey” – Gideon Commey
Online activism is the new cult; I hate to call it a fad because it will live on and on, enduring just a modicum of mutation to make our message stronger through innovations, either by design or baptism of glorious serendipity.
We now call it Clicktivism (Click Activism), meaning there is a market place within which change can be influenced and probably effected without necessarily being at the ground zero. In other words, you can be in your washroom and use a mobile phone device to sign a petition for the release of a deposed President of Maldives, or even donate to a cause of providing food for children in famine-stricken Somalia. Change is airborne; in the gaseous state.
We run about four (4) social action initiatives on Facebook, all of them through online organizing. Organizing people online to the ground for social action is synonymous to overseeing a rehab for an indulgent cat to go veggies. It is challenging, demanding and above all bubbled by uncertainties. You don’t know if people who have signed up for an event online will actually come on the ground or not.
Share-Your-Lunch is one of our social action projects on Facebook, a nutrition event for kids that takes place every 3 months. Our online group makes online lunch pledges and they deliver the pledge in physical cooked food at a community event by sharing the food with children and it’s really fun.
One major challenge we have had throughout the past months since SYL started last year has been coordination of volunteers who come to share and children who come to chow down. Our volunteers always lose control of the numbers of kids, and it’s not their fault. They only get to meet at the event grounds and get briefed by Coordinators for few minutes before lunch starts. And are they supposed to deliver? No! Am sorry, they are not extraterrestrials raised by Merlin in Olympus.
So when we had the Easter edition of SYL on Saturday 24th March in James Town and more than 600 children turned up, we knew there was trouble and yes, there were mayhem and chaos. When we got to the breaking point, where coping with the crowd control was visibly and practically impossible, a 7yr old boy saved us. Bingo! In an environment where people express a phenotype of aggression to claim resources to satisfy one’s needs in life, you can’t blame these kids, even at that early stage of life, it’s about the survival of the fittest.
The children would heckle each other to be served lunch and when they even had their portions; they would quickly finish the food off, rub the mouth clean of crumbs and heckle their way once more into their seats for more food. Weaker and very little kids are affected here and no amount of words from us would calm them. They are always on fire.
This time around, thunder struck! One of our volunteers chanced on Martin, 7, and as soon as he handed over a pack of food, he refused the offer and demanded, “Please I have eaten, so give the food to the friend sitting next to me”. What? Is this child an angel?
Our volunteer led Saint Martin to the heart of the grounds and told his story to a Coordinator. Our team quickly arranged to honor this super kid in front of an overwhelming and aggressive ‘child soldiers’ numbering over 600 and ready to do battle on the limited packs of food left.
Martin’s coronation as a Share-Your-Lunch Ambassador was a solemn one. Rushing ribbons of quietness flew and swept the grounds in an ocean’s way, feasting over its subdued boisterous nemesis. One could hear the voice of a pin-drop, as the MC presented an apple shaped wine bowl of goodies to the hero.
The moment of truth arrived after Martin had taken his seat and the MC asked the children how many of them have had lunch already. To our surprise, more than 400 kids raised their hands in truth and sincerity and were made to gather at the centre and rewarded with sweets. What a powerful impact Martin made! It is however interesting to know that as a team of so-called social entrepreneurs behind SYL, we have struggled like a cow in a china shop to communicate the message behind the initiative to even our Facebook members, and here was a kid showing us how to do it. Martin didn’t only teach us how to do it, he did it.
Later that evening, our volunteer who discovered Martin posted an update on the powerful story of this wonder kid, with a large swell of people showering praises in awe. I joined the stew of voices and commented, “I call Martin the 1st African Child”. He is hope for the future, the Ghanaian dream. He has taught us the best form of leadership – to lead by example.
