Writing Workshop #35 – Change

Well I’m firmly back in Blighty, still trying to make sense of everything we’ve seen and wondering what to do now. Everything looks very different the other side of last week, it’s a strange feeling. Pretty soon I, and my blog, are going to have to find their way back to other topics and new focuses. But before that there is still some work to be done, and I need YOUR help to do it.

As you know mine, Eva and Sian’s trip to Bangladesh last week with Save the Children was to raise awareness of what a difference simple changes can make to the lives of people living in extreme poverty. NOW was the time to make some noise as on September 22nd Nick Clegg would have the opportunity to address these issues at the UN Summit in New York when the Millenuim Development Goals (MDG) the UN nations committed to in 2000 will be reviewed. The Guardian preview of Save the Children’s report on the MDG today reveals that targets are way off track and that all it takes to save lives is for governments to give the same financial commitment to the world’s poorest children as we do to the richest. That’s only fair, right? We need a renewed commitment to making the reality of a child under 5 still dying every three seconds in countries like Bangladesh a thing of the past and Nick Clegg holds the power to help make that happen.

Which means you have that power. He IS listening. And the more people we can get behind us the better. We’re collecting signatures to help hammer our point home. It takes two minutes but as a collective voice will ring out loud that, as a country, we want so many avoidable child deaths addressed, that it is important to us. If you haven’t signed already then DO SO. It’s the simplest way to make a difference.

This week our Writing Workshop is devoted to one topic: Change.

You can write about anything that word evokes in you.

Write about personal change, or hopes for change, or about life’s journey and where it has taken you.

Or, you can take on our own message and write about global change, perhaps using the stories that me, Eva and Sian have told, or our photographs, to inspire creative writing on inequality and poverty, and join in our voice as we push for political change.  I believe words to be one of the most powerful forces for change. Can you use that gift this week? What change do you wish for?

Whatever you write about, write from your heart and where you’re at. Write about what’s important to you and what invokes feeling in you. True change comes from that. As always it doesn’t need to be long, or perfect, just something.

Write your post and publish it on your blog between now and THURSDAY. On Thursday come back and use the widget that will be up to paste in the URL of your post to share. Then take some time to read some of the other entries.

And, most importantly, consider sharing the link to our Press for Change petition and encouraging your readers to sign.

Thanks my friends.

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