Embrace the responsibility of global citizenship

Like many Canadians of my generation, I consider myself a global citizen. I am the daughter of immigrants. I was born in B.C. I spent some of my childhood in Ghana. I went to university in Toronto.

I am not unique. A 2017 Research Now survey of young people in their 20s and 30s across 15 countries, including Canada, revealed that nearly 60 per cent see themselves as global citizens.

The world we are inheriting is troubled. While we are increasingly bound by the shared challenges we face — from climate change to income inequality to gender-based violence — how we experience these challenges and our capacity to confront them vary wildly depending on where you live.

On Dec. 5, International Volunteer Day, I am calling on my fellow Canadians, particularly those of my generation, to step up and don the responsibility of global citizenship.

Right now, I am volunteering with Crossroads International in a girls’ empowerment program in Ghana. I can tell you the #MeToo movement means something very different to women my age in Ghana than it does in Canada. In Ghana, one in three women experience sexual abuse. The child marriage rate is 29 per cent. Societal attitudes toward women are, from a Canadian perspective, outdated. Such attitudes can have dangerous consequences.

Consider that Tanzania’s president recently declared women who use birth control “lazy” and vowed to ban girls who become pregnant from attending school. Burkina Faso has a 52 per cent child marriage rate; in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, 31 per cent of women have HIV.

My volunteer work is empowering for the young women in the program and I. I am engaging as a global citizen.

While my generation may be posting about the issues we care about on social media, we can do more. According to Statistics Canada, those aged 20 to 34 are less likely to volunteer (or as much) as others.

Volunteering overseas is not the only means of taking action but it is instructive, particularly if we approach it with knowledge that we have both skills to share and skills to learn.

My own path to service was inspired by author Lawrence Hill, a fellow Crossroad volunteer, whose award-winning Book of Negroes was inspired, in part, by his volunteer experience. I am also a storyteller; my camera is my instrument. I was motivated to help young women in Ghana tell their own stories through photography, stories that must be told.

In the empowerment clubs I look on with awe as young women, not much younger than me, demonstrate their commitment and creativity to change the contexts in which they live. I wish all young Canadians had the opportunity to witness the transformation these girls and women fight through, from victims of violence to voices for change.

It is a privilege to observe such constructive change up close, and it accentuates the feelings of responsibility I hold to do my part in tackling the problems that threaten humanity, especially the most vulnerable.

With my colleagues and the girls we serve in Ghana, I am seeking solutions. The potential for the global mobilization of young people to share their ideas, experiences, passion and skills to contribute to building a better world, a better future, for all of us, inspires me.

I sincerely hope young Canadians answer this call to volunteer for the causes that inspire them, in the communities where they wish to make a difference.

My next volunteer assignment is already mapped out — back to Ghana to work with women on building their capacity to participate in decision-making on all levels, including climate-change legislation. What will your action be?

Sierra Nallo, 27, is a photographer. She is currently volunteering with Crossroads International to empower girls at risk in Ghana.