Global Poverty Project Co-founder Speaks to St. B’s Students

On January 15, Hugh Evans, co-founder of Global Poverty Project, spoke to St. B’s boys about his quest to end extreme poverty by 2030.  Mr. Evans began the assembly with a brief presentation describing his background.  When he was a teenager, his life changed dramatically when he won a World-Vision sponsored trip to visit a boy his age who lived in a poverty-stricken area in The Philippines.  He was deeply moved by the experience and was astounded by the differences between his home in Australia and the living conditions of the young man in the Philippines.  He was determined to find a way to help.  In 2003 he co-founded The Oaktree Foundation, which is now the largest youth-run, non-profit organization in Australia.  He traveled to India and spent time in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa before earning degrees in law and science from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.  In 2008, he co-founded The Global Poverty Project and set the goal to end extreme poverty by the year 2030.

 

After the introductory presentation two St. B’s students, Marshall M. and Harry K., interviewed Mr. Evans about The Global Poverty Project.  They discussed Global Citizen, an initiative launched in 2012 by the Global Poverty Project to recruit people worldwide to take action to help end extreme poverty.  The boys asked Mr. Evans about specific events, like the annual Global Citizen Festival which recently took place in Central Park.  They discussed current partnerships and campaigns tackling issues such as increasing funding for the education of girls, creating guidelines for policy change worldwide, and raising awareness about extreme poverty.  A particularly successful campaign is “Live Below the Line,” which challenges people to eat and drink on $1.50 per day for five days.  People who accept this challenge have sponsors who make donations, so this has become an effective campaign to raise money and raise awareness and empathy for those who live in such poverty. 

Mr. Evans emphasized that each boy is a global citizen and can make a difference in the world.  We extend our thanks to Mr. Evans for inspiring us and raising our awareness.