A Little Bit of Hope

The World never needed Hope like it does today. That is not to say that the World, as the term translates to our Global Society, hasn’t always needed and continues to need hope. Yet, as a Society we once had several sources from which to draw this hope, in the form of Religion, Values, Family, even Government, but these things are less in vogue nowadays (in fact one can be severely criticised by his intellectual peers for being a religious person or for wishing to build a family, so many simply keep quiet about it).

Claiming independence from all these sources of Hope of the past through Science and Humanist Wisdom (both aspects I value when not misused to drive other important things away), we have replaced the old sources of Hope with Consumerism and the desire for Fame, Wealth and Power at any cost and without regard for the consequences. This was supposed to keep us placated in the present that we would not need to hope for the future. As usual in History, this served the purposes of a relative few to the detriment of all (including them), until now we find ourselves victimised by our own global-social-greed to an extent where we desperately need Hope and have almost nowhere from which to draw it.

A week ago, I have refilled my personal bucked of Hope a little bit more by witnessing the conclusion of the 6th Jogo da Cidadania (roughly translates to Citizenship Game). In short, this event selects, tests and congregates college undergraduates of different disciplines into teams and coaches them with an impressive infrastructure of dedicated employees and volunteers to enable these idealists to come up with original projects in CSR that are judged and implemented by leading frontline national and multi-national enterprises. It is a demanding process that exacts these youths to their limit, and more than a few drop-out as they realise the practicalities of doing good may not be easy at all if you want it to be sustainable over a long period.

Yet, those that hang on and deliver often produce projects of such quality as to impress seasoned professionals. Having seen the winners and the runners-up delivering hope in those pages and presentations; and then being rewarded for it was once more an experience of hope that our Society may have begun its healing process.