If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that it's important to be grateful for what you have. Gen.T editor Lee Williamson takes a look back at some of our favourite wins over the last year
This won't come as an earth-shattering shock to anyone, but it's been a challenging year. In the malaise of 2020, it can be all too easy to live in a constant trance, playing the waiting game until all this is over and we can walk confidently into our inoculated future. But we all know that's at least a few months away.
Meaning it's still up to us to remain positive and resilient in this toughest of times. In that vein, I've spent some time taking a look back at 2020 and some of the great work done under the most difficult of circumstances by the editorial team and the wider team at Gen.T over the past year.
Here are some of my standout stories and moments that have offered glimmers of positivity and hope in an otherwise dark cloud of a year.
1. We built a library
In Pictures: Gen.T Built A Library In Cambodia With Room To Read
We built a library! Since 2018, Gen.T has has a strategic partnership with global literacy charity Room to Read. As part of the collaboration, we raised US$35,000 to build a Gen.T Library in Cambodia, which we launched in April 2020.
The money raised covered the cost of everything needed to establish and run a library, including filling it with 1,705 local-language books and 144 English books; training courses with teaching staff and librarians on how to build students’ literacy skills; and the cost of running it for a period of three to four years, until it is self-sustaining. We established the partnership with Room to Read because we subscribe to the charity’s driving force: “World change starts with educated children.”
At the very beginning of this year we also built a home for an indigenous family in rural Malaysia with our partner Epic Homes, founded by Gen.T honouree John-Son Oei. Having raised the money the previous year, the house was built over a weekend by members of the wider Gen.T community.
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