Feature
Agents of Change:
A university student rides for microcredit !

Shamma M. Raghib

AIESEC creates change agents... and Shawn Smith is no exception! Shawn Smith, a 26-year-old Canadian, an ex- AIESECer, graduated with a business degree from Simon Fraiser University last year. In October, Smith founded the non-profit organization Agents of Change and has since convinced 23 others to cycle from Vancouver to Tijuana, Mexico to help raise $1 million for microcredit loans in developing countries. Smith said his organization will kick-start a wide range of business ventures from $25 loans for a box of apples to be resold at market to several hundred dollars for a fledgling furniture manufacturer. After Smith collects money, he'll surf websites that help entrepreneurs in developing nations find loans. With the help of his partners, he'll pick the ideas he wants to support.

“I don't think of microcredit as charity,” he said. “It's just giving people access to a system that most of us could get at any day if we had a business idea we wanted to start.”

I talked to Shawn recently while he was already on a project of cycling trip “Riding to Break the Cycle”. I asked him what he thought of Dr. Muahmmad Yunus as an initiator of microcredit loans. “Oh he is my role model!” he said, “It's amazing how he thought of changing poverty driven people's life by such a simple concept! I truly admire him…”

Shawn started Agents of Change (AOC) as a registered non-profit dedicated to fostering social involvement among youth and seeking sustainable solutions to global poverty and inequity. Born in October of 2006 and growing quickly, AOC is currently made up of dozens of highly motivated young people from British Columbia and beyond.

AOC's ambitious first project is “Riding to Break the Cycle”, with twenty-five riders committed to cycling 3000 km over 5 weeks from Vancouver, BC, to Tijuana, Mexico. Their goal is to raise awareness for microcredit initiatives and over $1,000,000 to help tens of thousands of individuals pull their families out of poverty over time. So far they had managed to collect $ 21274.65, that too in a short cycling distance…and I am sure that with their program, they can hope to attract much more donations than that pretty soon!

Shawn, and his group of 20 cyclers, which includes people as old as 60 years hope to reach as close as they can to their target! AOC have a long term vision to become a catalyst for social awareness and involvement among youth! Agents of Change intends to use the energy and enthusiasm generated by projects such as this to inspire youth to take a leading role in making both their communities and their planet a better place. Wishing them all the best from here!

For more information on AOC: www.agentsofchange.ca