You-The Movement, of Kenya, Interviews Jim Killon of Changes for New Hope print story

June 05, 2011

Changes for New Hope, Peru

Interview with Changes for New Hope! 
Jun 2, 2011
 By TheYouTeam
News- This week You! has our attention grabbed by amazing people in Peru.
Among those is Jim Killon who works for Changes for New Hope.

So its only natural that we decided to have a chat, and here is what he had to say:)

You: Hello Jim!
Tell us about yourself,and Changes for New Hope please!
 

Jim:  Hello everybody at You-The Movement. I’m Jim Killon from Baltimore Maryland in the United States. A few years ago, after visiting Nicaragua and Costa Rica, I saw the poverty among the children and wanted to do something about it. I came to Peru in 2009, initially to work for an NGO that said they helped children. After a few disappointing months observing anemic efforts and ulterior motives, I left and decided to create my own project, which is how Changes for New Hope began. Changes for New Hope has been developed to aid children, and by extention, their families, in extreme poverty conditions. It seems like every month a new avenue of the project develops as new needs are realized.
 

You: Just briefly describe how would go about helping out?
 

Jim: Initially, we started out teaching English, but after a few
weeks of exploring the depth of the needs here, I decided the project would take on a much wider range of assistance. If the children are living in poverty, then the parents are going to be poor as well. You can’t solve one issue without addressing the other. The poverty mentality and the desperation it causes were our main focus. We organized ourselves to simultaneously support education, but also the detractors to that education.    Malnutrition, personal hygiene issues,
and family conflicts needed to be addressed. There were many intrinsic issues as well so we began teaching self esteem, interpersonal communication skills, manners and values to name a few.

You: What is the biggest challenge youve had to face starting up?
 

Jim: Credibility. A humanitarian project needs funds, volunteers and materials. No one was going to support a project they never heard of, led by a guy who was unknown in a place they couldn’t find on a map. I understood that would be a challenge, who could blame anyone for their skepticism? I used my life savings to develop, create and support the project until such time as we gained a level of credibility. Now with 6 active groups of children and two more pending we have made a significant impact in Huaraz and our webite illustrates what we are doing. We hope to have 200 children in our project by the year’s end.
Many good folks have offered to volunteer with us. We have some
incredible humanitarian-minded individuals who have donated generously and we have the support of the local people, and government here in Huaraz. Tenacity, patience and a belief in what we were doing are the things that kept me going during the initial rough startup phase.

You: What role do you think youth can play to be spearhead positive change?
 

Jim: Probably the single most powerful group in the World today is the youth. The youth of the World outnumber everyone else combined.
They are the most affected by what the future will be like. The air,
water, global warming issues, wars, food sources, racism and poverty will fall squarely into the laps of the youth of today.
It is imperative for the youth to speak out in a positive and
effective way against the issues that they will inherit. Apathy is the fuse and the destruction of our Earth as we now know it and everyone on it is the dynamite attached to it, if the youth of today do not take an active role to resolve issues and develop a better world starting immediately. Governments, big business and the top 2% who control 98% of what happens in the World will listen to mass numbers all speaking with the same voice. We vote, we purchase products, we work in their factories and offices, and in democracies, we write letters to the media and we write letters to our elected officials.
The power of the youth of the world is overwhelming. Unified there is nothing that can not be accomplished. You-The Movement is a great way to begin.

You: Tell us,what do you think of You!-The Movement?
 

 Jim: The advantages You-The Movement has today to make positive changes in the World as compared to, say, twenty years ago prior to the internet and social websites, is incredible. The forward thinking that You-The Movement has put into action for humanitarians of every stripe to express themselves and share ideas and develop their ideas and actions can not be overstated.
Just for comparative reasons, let me share this example; during the war in Vietnam back in the 60s and 70s, millions of us were against the war. Our massive protests and demonstrations were all developed by word of mouth and flyers. Musicians such as John Lennon, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan played at demonstrations and 250,000 protesters made their voices heard at the Mall in Washington D.C. The draft ended when I was 17 1/2 years old and the war ended for the United States a year or so later. That was word of mouth, this is the worldwide internet.
Anyone not taking advantage of the internet and projects like You-The Movement has virtually forfeited their right to express themselves to make a better world. I applaud and congradulate those who have taken a stand to make a better World through this website.

You: Any parting shots to fellow youth and readers??
Would you like to work with You! In a project??
 

Jim: If this was a winning lottery ticket, would you hestiate to cash it in? The issues are monumental, global, people’s lives depend on dramatic changes that need to occur immediately. You see it everyday, you are affected by it everyday. I did not say it first, but I am going to say it again, “I saw the desperate needs all around me and said,’Somebody should do something’, then I realized, I am somebody”.
The voice of 1 man shouting a truth is a nut, 100 people shouting a
truth is a mob but 1,000,000 people shouting a truth is a movement that can no longer be ignored. Let’s get with the program and together make it happen.
    I would be most honored to work with You. A joint project between You-The Movement and Changes for New Hope would be a great start to blow out that fuse I was mentioning earlier.

You: Its lovely to have you with us:)
 

Jim: As we say here in Peru, “El gusto es mio, gracias.. the pleasure is mine..thank you.

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