For a very long time I wanted to go to Africa and save the world; the babies with flies on their faces, the starving people whose skin hangs off their bones; the people who feel all alone in this world, like nobody cares. The helpless people. The people who need people like me. I suppose it was rather discouraging when I arrived in Northern Ghana to work with some of the world’s poorest, and none of those helpless people were to be found.

Having had the opportunity to spend time with people around the world living in poverty, in Mongolia, in Cuba, but most especially in West Africa, I get extremely frustrated at the fact that the only images that seem to emerge from poor places are of starving hopeless people. For anyone that has been to a poor rural village in almost any country in the world, you will find hardworking, capable, people who still have joy in their lives, even though they may be facing incredible hardship.

Just think of recent movies that have been about Africa: The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond, The Constant Gardner, Hotel Rwanda… we are always presented with images that makes it easy for us to make Africans ‘different’ than us, since I for one have a hard time identifying with people who only experience sickness and violence.

Even charity organizations are guilty of perpetuating false images. We are all familiar with the infomercials we see on Saturday morning: ‘This is Maria. Unless you help her, she will never get to school. She will die of diseases because she doesn’t have safe water to drink.' I don’t know about you, but as soon as I come across one of those ads, I immediately change the channel, because I think pretty much everyone finds them seriously depressing. But more importantly, those type of ads present stories that are seriously untrue. I guarantee Maria also has friends, giggles, gets annoyed with her younger siblings, plays games, and asks silly questions, just by virtue of the fact that she’s a little girl, just like your daughters, nieces, or the kids that live next door. Part of the reason that I started Create Change and introduced this video concept, was to create awareness about poverty, so people could hear just how well spoken, intelligent, funny, and real people living in poverty are. They are just like the people we know, except they happen to live without access to water or education.

I could have presented my video idea to existing non-profits instead of starting a whole new charity. However, during my experiences with Canadian charity organizations operating abroad, I witnessed two problems over and over again: inefficiency, and corruption. So many organizations spend money unnecessarily: time and time again I witnessed charities drive brand new $60 000+ Land Rovers around, and I watched them charge very expensive meals, luxury travel and fancy conferences to expense accounts. I also saw organizations that have an abundance of staff in Canada doing jobs that an African could do for a fraction of the cost. Not only did I see things being run poorly on the Canadian side, but I witnessed plenty of corruption with local staff on the ground. Staff would hire family members for jobs that didn’t exist, staff with seniority often didn’t show up to work for weeks on end, and frequently, and no one bothered to monitor projects until a Canadian staff member came to check up on things during their annual visit to the field.

It is no wonder with all of these issues, that I constantly meet young people who are jaded with development. Young people with energy and ideas who have the opportunity to work in the field for large non-profits see this inefficiency and corruption, but are not in any position to change things since field workers rarely have any say in how an organization is run.

That used to be me: powerless and frustrated. So I decided to take things into my own hands. I had a video camera. I started interviewing and filming girls in Northern Ghana, trying to find out the real reason they were dropping out of school once they got to the junior and senior secondary level. Their stories were heartbreaking, and compelling. I wasn’t all that much older than many of them, and I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘This could be me, if I was born in another place.’ The worst part was the costs that were causing these girls to drop out- usually it was because of less than $10 a month. I had one of those ‘aha’ moments you hear people speak about. I was going to make a difference.

Over 6 months I interviewed 100 girls in 18 rural villages about their lives, their worries, and their hopes. I planned to try to find 100 sponsors for them, where each sponsor would get to meet their sponsored girl through the avenue of film. Then a terrible day came, once I had arrived back in Canada, where my car was broken into and I had all of my footage, cameras, and computer equipment stolen. I was heartbroken to say the least, and was back to square one. Luckily, thanks to some private donations from a couple very generous people, I was able to get the girls in school, and as they say, the rest is history.

Since I initially began the girls project a lot has happened. I have spent more time in Ghana, and have realized a lot more about poverty. I have learned that no matter what you might do to help poor people, water is the first and absolutely the most important step. Without clean water, our most vital and necessary human need… nothing will ever get better.

And of course, Create Change has become a reality. I have spoken with so many people who are excited about the possibility of being linked to someone across the ocean, through their computer screen. For me, this is the most exciting part of it all.

I always say that if there was a poor African family located in the backyard of every home in the developed world, poverty would be eradicated. I don’t believe the reason that kids are dropping out of school for a lack of $10 a month, while we spend thousands of dollars on clothes, cars and entertainment for ourselves, is because we lack compassion.

I believe it’s about a lack of connection.

Create Change provides that connection.

I know what hearing the stories of just 100 young girls compelled me to do. I can’t wait to see what will happen, now that there is a way for an infinite number of us to witness the lives of an unlimited number of people who need things we completely take for granted. Water. Education. Hope.

I believe I’m making a difference.

So can you.