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Hey everyone,

I got two news. Bad news: I am ill. Good news: read on.

Do you remember my trip to Guildford and London earlier this year? I represented Indonesia in two events held by British Council UK & Switzerland, which are Global Changemakers Guildford Forum 2009 and Global Changemakers at the London Summit 2009. Global Changemakers itself is a programme by British Council that will create and support a large global network of future young activists and social entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 25 and develop them into Changemakers. There are some of you who have asked me earlier about joining this programme, and I sadly answer: “I am afraid that Indonesians won’t be able to apply in 2010, because we need to share the opportunities to other countries in East Asia.”. Well now, I have a great news.

I just received an e-mail from a British Council staff who works in Social Development division. The e-mail contained stories from Mimi (GCM at the London Summit), Thom Woodroofe (African Youth Summit), and Linn Kyaw Swar (GCMGF). By the end of the e-mail, it was written that they are “actively promoting this programme to networks of young activists in Japan, Burma, Thailand and Australia. But, they welcome applications from eligible young people from the whole region!

If you live in one of those countries (Japan, Burma, Thailand, Australia), you can contact these people at your local British Council office: Kyi Kyi Pyone (Burma), Amrit Gill (Australia), Tom Mayes (Japan), and Matumon Katerenchuk (Thailand). And if not, here is something for you to remember, take notes, anywhere…

Promotion of the programme for the next cohort will begin in July, and registration via the GCM website (http://www.global-changemakers.net) will run from 1 to 21 August.

So, if you are a young activist who’s willing to be the change you want to see in the world, prepare yourself. Make sure you register yourself for the programme. Make Indonesia proud. Make other countries bored with Indonesians invading their events and getting the awards. I’ve told you on my blog header: WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

Good luck!

You can read about my trips to London here:

• Global Changemakers Guildford Forum 2009
• Global Changemakers at the London Summit 2009
• Explanation about Global Changemakers

Update:
Steve Adams, GCM Manager for East Asia region, said that you need to be between 16 and 19, speak good English, be active in your community and want to make a positive change in the world. So, do you think you are eligible to apply? :)