Fair warning: If you have time to see this video, then watch it. It is extremely motivating. The next paragraph is a summary, just in case you decide you don’t have time to watch it just yet. J

Jessica Jackley gave an amazing talk about how she was motivated to help those in poverty. She began as a young girl, taught in Sunday school class, that it was her job to “help the least of these.” She wanted to be useful in the world, but she quickly learned that poverty would always exist. She began to fear, and eventually she developed a sense of simply tuning out all of the stories about destruction. She still gave to people during this moment, but her motivation was not to offer help out of generosity, but to help in order to go on with her day. She described it as a type of transaction in which she would exchange money for distance from these people. Though she still had a desire to help, she did not know what to do. Eventually, she came across the work of Muhammad Yunus, a winner of a Nobel Peace prize, known for starting social businesses to aid those in need. She entered a world of micro-financing. She described this as financial services and products of the poor. She realized that the best way for people to change their lives is to gain control of it, so after learning more about micro-lending, she began a social business, Kiva. Kiva connects people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty by having a person-to-person micro-lending website. This business has contributed 217 million dollars in loans to borrowers in 213 countries with a repayment rate of almost 99 percent. Seeing the benefits of micro-lending and how people can move out of the poverty zone has motivated Jessica to keep going in this field.

This entire story shows the power of motivation. From the start, she was motivated to bring change, and after times of frustration, her mind motivated her to move from a situation that was unpleasant, causing her to simply ignore poverty. This was her way of coping from not being able to do what drove her towards accomplishment. Even in her moments of ignoring the world around her, she was extrinsically motivated to help when she was cornered due to the pressures she faced. Finally, after coming into contact with Yunus and seeing the amazing consequences of empowering people through micro-lending, Jackley was once again motivated to start her own social business to aid in the process of eliminating poverty.

It is my hope that you too can also be motivated by this video, empowering you to take action in the world around you. There are countless, creative ways to get involved in the community. Just go for it!

-Ambassador Amanda

How did this video motivate you? What are things that bother in your community that you want to change? How can you be part of a movement that is part of that change

Advertisement