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| Youth Roundtable |
| Social Entrepreneurship: How Young People Are
Making A Difference |
| Commentaries from Israel, India,
Romania, and Argentina |
This Youth Roundtable features the
stories of four social entrepreneurs in their 20s from four countries: Sari
Bashi from Israel, a 2006 Fellow of the Echoing
Green Foundation; and three 2006 YouthAction Net Fellows from the International
Youth Foundation—India's Vikram Laishram, Andrea
Argintariu from Romania, and Argentina's Pablo
Ezequiel Winokur whose interview appears here in
Spanish. Read how these young people were inspired to create new projects that
are changing their communities in the critical sectors of governance, health and
employment.
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 What is the vision and mission of your organization? How does it
empower other young people? |
 Sari Bashi: Gisha is an Israeli not-for-profit
organization that helps Palestinian residents of the occupied territories,
especially in Gaza, access educational and economic opportunities by removing
obstacles to their freedom of movement. I founded Gisha, together with a
colleague, out of concern that travel restrictions imposed by the Israeli
military were choking the healthy growth of Palestinian civilian society in ways
that are harmful to Palestinians and Israelis. As an Israeli citizen who grew up
in the United States, I felt an obligation to intervene where my government was
doing things in the name of security -- of mine and of other Israelis -- that
violated the rights of Palestinian neighbors without promoting security.
For Palestinians living under military occupation, tight restrictions on
the movement of people and goods block access to schools, jobs, trade, and even
basic humanitarian
I felt an obligation to intervene where my government was doing things in
the name of security -- of mine and of other Israelis -- that violated the
rights of Palestinian neighbors without promoting security.– Sari Bashi
goods. Gisha promotes the economic and human development of Palestinian
society by using legal and public advocacy to remove these restrictions for
individuals while working to change policies that affect large numbers of
people. We seek to change policies through court challenges, media work, and
advocacy before decision makers emphasizing the joint Palestinian-Israeli
interest in allowing young people to learn the skills they need to invest in a
peaceful, prosperous society.
Vikram Laishram: Better Treatment Equals Better Life
was founded to improve the health of drug users in Manipur, a state located in
the far northeastern region of India bordering on the country of Myanmar. The
Indo-Burma border is well-known as a major illicit drug-producing area. As a
result, the rates of drug addiction in Manipur are among the highest in India.
Young people are overwhelmingly affected which also increases their
vulnerability to HIV/AIDS infection. The vision of my project is to have a
healthy society where young people take the initiative to minimize drug-related
harm associated with drug use including HIV/AIDS. We aim to bring all drug users
into total drug abstinence through rehabilitation services.
I know the
pain and suffering of what these drug users have been through because I started
using heroin myself in the late '90s. I don't want the younger generations to go
through that. For example, in the late '80s, drug distribution was really awful,
and in the '90s, HIV/AIDS became a major problem as well, and now we have
different problems to
I know the pain and suffering of what these drug users have been through
because I started using heroin myself in the late '90s. I don't want the younger
generations to go through that.– Vikram Laishram
deal with in light of both problems. We are trying to create a good
environment, working towards social goals with the help of people similar to me
who have used drugs and are now clean. Also, in the late '90s, we had no remedy
for drug overdoses. The pharmaceutical companies charge a lot for this
lifesaving drug because they know how important it can be. This product is
something that is also used by the law enforcement community and in prisons to
control withdrawal. There is also a lot of stigma associated with it, but civil
society has a definite need, so that is something my NGO and others have worked
to make affordable.
Andrea Argintariu: The mission of the Career
Development Center is to support young people in Romania to develop successful
careers through counseling information and by facilitating their access to the
labor market as entrepreneurs, investors or employees. In this country, our
parents were told by the Soviet regime where to go and what work they were going
to do for the rest of their lives. They did not have any say about what their
professional life would be. People lived constrained lives and thought they had
no opportunities. Company turnover was also very high because people are not
very productive when they don't like what they do.
I created this
organization because I want to give everybody the joy of creating their own
lives and work. We are teaching young people how to think for themselves because
they are no longer driven by outside forces. We are changing the models by
showing young
I created this organization because I want to give everybody the joy of
creating their own lives and work... because they are no longer driven by
outside forces.– Andrea Argintariu
people what attitudes, skills and knowledge are required to be successful in
today's world. We give them real experience in internships, part-time jobs and
even new opportunities inside the organizations where they can explore different
career paths to see what would really like to do. Then we are educating them
through classical ways of education like trainings, conferences, and workshops
allowing them to see new possibilities and to get new knowledge not included in
the university curricula. They are discovering why emotional intelligence is
important and why integrity makes the world function. These are things that
nobody teaches them. We started from having seminars with 10 people
participating. Now we have seminars with more than 600 people.
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 Cómo llegaste a formar Opinión Sur Joven? Qué es lo que
te llevó a iniciar este proyecto? |
 Pablo Ezequiel Winokur: Por un lado, llegué por
casualidad, como todo en la vida. Basicamente esto sale de otra ONG, que se
llama Sur Norte que es una ONG especializada en desarrollo, que construye
tratando de generar otras pequeñas ONGs o pequeños programas con el fín que
éstos después se independicen. Esta ONG, Sur Norte, lanzó un programma que se
llama Opinión Sur que ahora es una ONG independiente, es una revista digital con
edición en inglés y en español que promueve el desarrollo y que ahora tiene ya
65000 suscriptores de todo el mundo. En septiembre de 2005 la gente de Opinión
Sur estaba interesada en lanzar una versión para jóvenes, entonces me llamarón a
mí y a otras personas para ver si era posible, o qué nos parecía. Fue cuando yo
les presenté un proyecto, que es Opinión Sur Joven, y así empezamos. La idea de
la revista es ser una revista digital para jóvenes, no ser un portal, digamos,
en el sentido que contiene 4 a 6 artículos, relativamente largos de 3 páginas,
los cuales tratan con profundidad algunos temas, pero con profundidad no
académica sino periodística, dando algunas pautas sobre cómo resolverlos y una
opinión del autor. Los que escriben son voluntarios, salvo yo, que soy el
director del proyecto. Tenemos 20 voluntarios, 3 de ellos en Perú y 1500
suscriptores. En septiembre de 2005 empezamos a discutir y lanzamos el primer
número en marzo de 2006.
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| For young people who lack education, finances and even the basic
human development indicators, how will they realize their dreams? |
Sari Bashi: For people who care about development,
our top priority should be to create the conditions that will make it possible
-- and likely -- that young people will be able to fulfill their aspirations.
That is the key to our present and future. Young people should be given a fair
chance to develop and pursue their dreams, meaning they should be given the
education, financial resources, safety, and political freedom to develop goals
and work to achieve them. That is why I have chosen the field in which I work --
to protect the rights of young people to move and travel, in order to fulfill
their dreams.
For instance, Gisha is celebrating an important victory
for one of our clients, an extraordinary 29-year old Palestinian woman from the
West Bank village of Anata. Sawsan Salameh, the daughter of a traditional Muslim
family of modest means, was accepted to do a PhD in chemistry at the Hebrew
University. Although Hebrew University was located just two miles from her West
Bank home, a total ban on Palestinian students studying in Israel presented a
major obstacle for her. After trying for eight months to get a permit to enter
Israel for her studies, Sawsan came to Gisha which petitioned the Israeli
Supreme Court to cancel the ban, which blocks access to education for
Palestinians, particularly for poor people, who cannot afford to pay for studies
abroad, and women, who face societal obstacles to leaving their homes and
communities. Today, after a hard-fought court battle and public campaign, in
which Gisha enlisted the help of Israel's major universities, Sawsan will reach
the Hebrew University campus for the first time and begin her PhD studies. Her
dream is to become the first female Palestinian professor of chemistry in the
Palestinian territories.
Vikram Laishram: For myself, I felt very overwhelmed.
Oftentimes, language becomes a major barrier. Manipur has one of the largest
indigenous populations in India, with more than 30
The roads were very narrow at first and I didn't see anything. But, as I
continued, the roads grew bigger and bigger by networking with different
people.– Vikram Laishram
indigenous groups living in the state. I myself come from the Meiteis
people. The main language of Manipur is Meitei, the language of the indigenous
Meiteis people. Even if people have knowledge and expertise necessary for the
field, they fail to achieve good results because of the language. But without
the education, they are left with few options to work at the grassroots level,
so they remain where they were ten years ago.
At the start, I didn't
know who to approach to find support. I was so local in my thoughts and not as
globalized as now. From my experience, it takes a strenuous effort. I never
learned how to use a computer from any course. I kept thinking to myself, 'I
should learn computers, I should learn computers,' but it took two to three
years to teach myself how to use computers. For young people, especially those
from very marginalized populations like mine where very basic things like
electricity and water supply are not properly provided, the only way to achieve
is through hard work, dedication and a strong will to achieve your goal.
Otherwise, I truly believe there is no other way. They should also seek out
training and education where possible, but it is the will that makes the
difference. I have not completed my graduation but I have a job, while my
friends who have completed their graduation-and who are far better than I am in
terms of qualifications--still they don't have a job because they don't have the
will to do things. The roads were very narrow at first and I didn't see
anything. But, as I continued, the roads grew bigger and bigger by networking
with different people.
Andrea Argintariu: Education, education, education
and exposure. I think a person should get exposure to as many opportunities as
possible. They should start applying for internships, scholarships, and
conferences. Their minds will start to open more and more. I decided for myself
that developing the network of Career Centers is my career. I had started
student business clubs when someone told me they were doing the same thing in
the United States with university career centers. I didn't know what the concept
meant. I searched the Internet for one month and found out that was something I
wanted to do! That became my dream--to get my Career Center to be at the level
that U.S. universities are providing to their students. |
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| Cuán efectiva pensás que es esta revista digital como herramienta
que da voz a los jóvenes, que les permite dar sus opiniones en distintos
temas? |
Pablo Ezequiel Winokur: Yo tengo algun grado de
escepticismo con respecto a las TICs, o tenía, mejor dicho, porque yo trabajo y
trabajé mucho con gráfica y para mí el lugar de lectura es el baño (..risas) Con
lo cual, creo que no remplazan al soporte gráfico o al soporte papel, pero
tienen un alcance distinto. Es increíble, uno esta bajando mails y de repente
llega una suscripción de España o incluso de otros países que no són de habla
hispana. También de quienes no estan suscritos: por ejemplo uno puede ver en las
estadísticas de los usuarios
Hay mucha gente con ideas pero poca gente dispuesta a romper las trabas; si el joven que tiene la idea, rompe las trabas, llega a su objetivo porque parecen más las trabas de las que realmente existen, en realidad no son tantas.– Pablo Winokur
que de repente entro uno de China, tal vez se quedó
en la página sólo un poquito, pero no importa. Creo que el gran desafío sería
seguir explorando cómo hacer para que todo ese potencial se haga real. Me parece
que todavía hay muchisimo potencial y menos real, pero está bien.
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| Ustedes se basan en la libertad de opinión, en tu website hay
distintas opiniones, no hay una línea. Cómo manejan ese tema? |
Pablo Ezequiel Winokur: Hay una línea editorial pero
ésta no es prohibitiva en el sentido que no porque el colaborador opine
distinto, éste no va a poder expresar su opinión. Hay discusiones a dos niveles,
como te comentaba antes, somos parte de una especie de red de organizaciones y
también tenemos mentores para arriba. Yo, por contrato oral, tengo la última
palabra en cuanto a la dirección y al contenido, pero también tomo la misma
política para abajo, es decir, alguien nos manda un artículo y yo me fijo mucho
en que la calidad sea buena. En cuanto a la opinión, podemos tener un par de
discusiones con el fin de llegar a un acuerdo pero la última palabra es la del
colaborador. La línea editorial se ve más en la elección de los temás, pero en
general es muy abierta.
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| What are the most important factors that young people face today
in becoming "change agents"--education, jobs, institutional
support? |
Sari Bashi: At a recent social change conference I
attended, the participants played "X-men": we were asked to pick a "super power"
that we could have, such as controlling the weather, stopping time, or reading
thoughts. The woman next to me chose the ability to instill self-esteem. She
said that more than any other single thing, the power to instill self-esteem
would foster positive social change.
I think she is right. Instilling
self-esteem in young people is perhaps the most important factor in creating the
conditions necessary for social change. A person who is confident and respects
herself has the internal resources to change the world around her. We need to do
a better job in particular of instilling in girls and women the confidence to
take risks and to fight boldly for what they believe is right. That means that
the most important tools are education, mentoring and training programs that
teach not just skills but also the confidence to use those skills to pursue
ambitious goals.
Vikram Laishram: The kind of advice that I have for
young people around the world is that in order to achieve the goals they set,
they need to look at the problem from every point of view, not a single point of
view-this is very important. Also, the focus of the problem should be very clear
and not based on all the interests one has. After working for several years in
this field, it has been the focus on specific ideas that has allowed for success
because people tend to move away from the issues as they get caught up in all
the other, less important details for dealing with drug use and HIV/AIDS. This
happens because they lack a clear vision and try to take on too much.
Andrea Argintariu: To become a change agent, I think
that someone needs to have integrity first of all because, without integrity,
nothing functions. People need to be open to partnership and to letting other
people contribute to their projects. Young people get inspired by something but
they think they are alone and they need to see that other people want to make
contributions. Also, never give up because not everything will go as we plan.
This won't mean that there is something wrong with the plan but that there might
be breakdowns. Learn to face that.
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| Y vos pensás que esta iniciativa tuya puede llegar a hacer algún
tipo de cambio en cuanto a eso, o que tiene el potencial? |
Pablo Ezequiel Winokur: Yo creo que tiene potencial,
mi iniciativa y las de otros, me parece que hay buenas iniciativas dando
vueltas. Hay que ver el grado de movilización que uno logre. Como que tal vez
todo cuesta, todo cuesta el doble por ser joven: porque no tenés los contactos.
En Argentina son muy importantes los contactos, tal vez la sociedad
nortemericana sea más formal en algunas cuestiones pero en la sociedad argentina
todo es más por contacto, y los contactos "por debajo de la mesa"; entonces es
más complicado. Pero creo que este proyecto puede adquirir visibilidad, por la
ventaja que da la Web de poder llegar a cualquier parte y que cualquiera pueda
encontrarte. También creo que la sociedad argentina de la post crisis, está
necesitando cosas nuevas, entonces también allí hay una ventana de oportunidad.
Me parece que la sociedad se está dando cuenta que la mentalidad vieja no servía
para algunas cosas. Allí es donde se abren "ventanitas", hay que hacer que esas
ventanitas se conviertan en "ventanas" reales.
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| ¿Cómo ves la situación de los jóvenes en tu sociedad, en la sociedad argentina hoy, y cómo crees que la sociedad toma las opiniones de los jóvenes sobre los temas de gobernabilidad, política, etc?
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La idea es buena, la de escuchar a los jóvenes; pero la realidad es que no se escucha mucho a la juventud. Me parece que el mensaje es más bien: “si los jóvenes quieren, vengan y participen” “bueno ahora quiero participar” “bueno vení, tomá, meté las boletas en los sobres”. Esa es la foma de participación que se ve en la política argentina para los jóvenes, eso es participar en política para la gente grande. Tal vez ellos lo hicieron en otro momento de la vida, en otras circunstancias y donde la juventud estaba distintamente movilizada. No se escucha mucho a los jóvenes en nuestras sociedades. Esta es la verdadera situación.
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| What advice do you
have for other young people around the world to do "what their heart dictates"
for peace, friendship and development ? |
Sari Bashi: I think people underestimate how
rewarding it is, how much of a privilege it is, to do what their hearts dictate.
For those who have the luxury to have work that not only allows them to make a
living but also to find meaning in their work-- or for those who don't have that
luxury but do it anyway -- the rewards of following one's heart are far greater
than the financial reward of monetary success. When I graduated from Yale Law
School, I took a job in Israel earning one-twelfth the salary of what my
classmates were making at New York law firms. I knew that I was lucky, because I
had the privilege of doing work that was meaningful to me and earned enough to
pay my rent and grocery bills. It wasn't a sacrifice. Working at a job that
wasn't meaningful to me would have been the real sacrifice.
If you can
find a way to earn a living doing work that is meaningful to you, then you are
very lucky. And if you do not have the luxury of choosing work that advances
your social ideology, then your challenge is to find ways to live according to
your heart's dictates even when it is not defined as part of your job. And your
responsibility is to share the money you earn, if you can, in order to support
social change work that you feel is important.
Vikram Laishram: Education is the first priority
because, without it, people are not able to see what's really going on. Without
education, people sometimes go astray in their goals. They want to achieve their
goals, but they come from a different approach, like taking up violence. From
our own experience, we have seen that the majority of those using drugs do not
have proper education. People have different minds. For me, with the work that I
do, I really don't need a salary. We have organized a lot of programs, many of
which make use of unpaid volunteers so that all efforts and resources can be put
toward the organization.
I did receive some training from local civil
society initiatives, particularly in HIV/AIDS and drug use. It was locally
available, but for other issues like education or other healthcare issues, we
don't have such institutions. People are really focusing on drug use and
HIV/AIDS in my community; apart from that, some human rights issues.
Andrea Argintariu: If young people want to contribute
to the community they can by working with an NGO or with a company. It doesn't
make any difference how they contribute. But their life will only get better
when they put it in the service for others whether as part of an organization or
by starting their own company. I am really inspired by my YouthActionNet
Fellows. They are great people who went through life changing experiences that
shaped them in a way that I have total admiration to them. I also have mentors;
every young leader in the community should try to have mentors and coaches. But,
if people can give you help, you have to be ready to get it.
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| Cuáles són los próximos desafíos que ustedes ven? Cuál es el
futuro? Qué potencialidad tendría una ampliación del programa? |
Pablo Ezequiel Winokur: Cuando nosostros arrancamos,
lo hicimos con muy poco dinero. Arrancamos con fondos de Opinión Sur "grande" y
una pequena donación del Banco Interamericano para el Desarrollo, pero en
realidad todo es pequeño. El presupuesto inicial fue de 3600USD, el presupuesto
real es otro porque requerimos de oficinas y otras cosas que nos está
facilitando la ONG SurNorte, pero bueno es muy chico. Arrancamos con nada, en
todo sentido, porque si bien el proyecto estaba y las líneas rectoras estaban,
no había nada hecho, estaba todo por construir. Conseguí un volunario que nos
armó una pequeña plataforma para lanzar el sitio web, un plataforma muy
primaria, pero bueno, hay tiempo, no estamos apurados por el tiempo, esas cosas
no nos preocupan, es la ventaja de trabajar en una ONG. Durante este primer año,
el objetivo era lanzarse, nada más que lanzarse. No nos fue mal, tenemos ya más
de 1500 suscriptores y hemos lo grado el Premio YouthActionNet.
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| Probablemente esta entrevista la lean otros jóvenes que están
interesados en hacer algo. Cuál sería tu mensaje al joven que tiene ganas de
hacer algo? |
Pablo Ezequiel Winokur: ¡El que tiene ganas de hacer algo,
que lo haga! En Opinión Sur Joven o incluso en otros ámbitos donde me desempeño
no periodisticamente pero como volontario, muchas veces la gente viene con
propuestas que a mí no me terminan de convencer del todo, pero lo que yo aprendí
es que a veces lo que hay que decir es ¡hacelo!, y algo muy triste para mí es
The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available
que la mayoría de la gente se frustra en el camino porque cuando vos decís
¡hacelo!, te preguntan ¿cómo? Y en realidad Opinión Sur Joven existe porque yo
no pregunté ¿cómo?, sólo me dije hago lo que sea para que exista y si no está
bien, no está bien, pero que salga, que sea, que exista, después tendremos
tiempo para mejorarlo. Mi mensaje es ¡hagan! , hagan y traten de focalizar en lo
que les guste. Hay muchas trabas siempre, traten de romperlas. Hay mucha gente
con ideas pero poca gente dispuesta a romper las trabas; si el joven que tiene
la idea, rompe las trabas, llega a su objetivo porque parecen más las trabas de
las que realmente existen, en realidad no son tantas. Entonces, hagan que no es
tan difícil.
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