24 Apr Jonathan activates collaboration in Lima, Peru
Jonathan is volunteering in Lima, Peru as a Youth Livelihood Officer with Canada World Youth and Youth Challenge International’s EQWIP HUBs project. Read on to learn how he activates collaboration and why it’s essential to achieving our goals and accessing a career in international development!
I remember the first time I had to run a meeting in EQWIP HUBs as a Youth Livelihood Officer. It was about the first Initiative Advisory Team event that we were going to hold at our EQWIP HUBs Lima with participants from our programs as well as representatives from partner organizations. I had spent many hours preparing all the necessary documents for the meeting and collaborating with different colleagues to gather information. Afterward, I presented them with the objectives that were identified - the guiding principles that supported them and the agenda for this meeting. This process taught me that it was important to listen to the opinions and comments of each integrated team member. This experience has taught me that…
Collaboration is synonymous with openness
It relies on the importance of remaining receptive to the ideas of others in order to consider different perspectives from ours and enrich our own ideas.
Teams reach new heights when they collaborate
Without collaboration there would be no synergy, fruit of collaboration, and mutual integration when 1 + 1 = 3. That necessary force can emerge from a team where the forces of one complement those of others and which propels us to heights hard to reach alone.
Collaboration sparks self-growth and improvement
Collaboration is also an essential mirror in which we can see, in the healthiest possible way, what we bring to a group and potentially to our whole society. It is a way of getting to know ourselves better and, inevitably, to continually improve.
Collaboration expands and diversifies skillsets
Collaboration, through teamwork, is a way of diversifying our arsenal of skill-sets and knowledge, as it allows us to learn about things that are different from our fields of expertise or interest.
Collaboration allows us to connect on a common level
In the same way, increased collaboration, both at the level of individuals and companies, is the key by which we can improve our situations. Collaboration goes hand in hand with solidarity and serves everyone, equally.
Collaboration between different individuals and different communities is the bedrock in what can be appreciated in daily life today, together. It is the real progress, the one that makes us collectively better and that we share.