Imagine a room buzzing with energy, filled with a hundred young voices from every corner of the globe, all united by one goal: to change the world. That’s exactly what I experienced this September. Along with five of my fellow MATC students, I found myself at Camp 2030, a whirlwind week where big ideas collide with even bigger ambitions.
Elsa Marks, Apexa Prajapati, Alham Alipuly, Naomi Omoruyi, and Warren Murphy joined me to attend camp, hosted by Unite 2030. The camp is a social innovation lab focused on gathering young (18-35) changemakers to create solutions for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These goals include providing quality education, promoting gender equality, creating clean energy, and others.
With participants from over 30 different countries and more than 100 changemakers in total, we were divided into “tracks.” Each track focused on a specific goal and each track had multiple teams workshopping these solutions.
I spent the week (Sept. 9-15) collaborating with an incredible and motivated team on Climate Action. My team worked to develop solutions to aid people in climate-sensitive areas, such as those prone to floods, heat waves, and various natural disasters.
It was fellow MATC student Elsa Marks’ team who went on to present at the 2024 Global Goals Week Changemakers Summit, where they claimed first place. Also, MATC’s Apexa Prajapati and Warren Murphy’s team secured second place at the summit. Both teams will have an opportunity to present their solutions to the United Nations.
This experience highlighted the importance of active participation in global change. As Mahatma Gandhi suggested, “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.” This sentiment underscores the impact of individual actions on a larger scale.
Camp 2030 was a phenomenal experience and I have sincere gratitude to MATC for helping make this experience a reality. The friendships I have made in these past weeks I hope will last a lifetime. And the knowledge gained from such a diverse, intelligent, and motivated group will prove invaluable. From the bottom of my heart, I am deeply grateful to have had this opportunity to witness change-making in action.
