Dreamers and doers
Millennials. You look at them (or should I say us) and think, there goes another entitled, selfie-obsessed brat thinking of little else aside from how to get more likes on Instagram. The youth these days are all about “me, me, me” and couldn’t care less about other people or making an impact on the world they live in.
But as the turnout of young people at the recent Global Shapers Dream Festival showed, this is far from being the case with Cebuano millennials. Over 700 people, mostly still in school or young professionals, filled the Terraces at Ayala Center Cebu for an event that served as the culmination of a year-long campaign that asked young people in corporations, classrooms, and communities: What is your Dream for Cebu?
Through the event, the Global Shapers brought together advocacy groups with the youth clamoring for change, but don’t know where to start or what they could possibly do to pitch in for the community. Attendees got to learn from fellow millennials who are each making an impact: Raine Baljak, who is both the reigning Miss Cebu and an environmental conservationist; Bobby Gothong, who wants to revolutionize the public school system; the trio behind Sutukil Sauce, who encourages art and social media for citizen engagement; and Michael Karlo Lim, Sun.Star Weekend columnist and the man behind the wildly successful Sugbo Mercado concept.
It’s not a festival without music and entertainment, and the whole afternoon, guests got to enjoy live music, comical skits, and awesome performances by some of Cebu’s best loved artists including Bethany, the 2B Boys and Cattski. These led up to the finale for the evening, revealing the Cebuano youth’s collective dream for a Sustainable, Holistic, Accessible, Productive and Engaged (SHAPE) Cebu.
Global Shapers Cebu, the local hub of the youth arm of the esteemed World Economic Forum, is made up of some of the most dynamic young doers in the city. Many of them, you’ve seen on the covers of Sun.
Star Weekend due to their remarkable work. These are people each with their own advocacies ranging from sustainable livelihood to the uplifting of the local arts, who have come together to uplift Cebu from the grassroots level. They are the ones drumming up noise and awareness in Cebu to make it the world-class city it deserves to be. Yet, you will never hear any one of them asking, “What’s in it for me?” As someone who has had the privilege of working closely with the group, I can only deeply respect and admire them for volunteering their time and resources for the causes they believe in, despite being accomplished, respected (and very busy) professionals.
The Dream Festival might have been the culmination of a long campaign, but things are just getting started for the Global Shapers Cebu hub. We will be seeing a lot more of them in 2017 as they work hard with the Cebuano youth on making those dreams for our city come true.