“I’ve gained a sense of fulfillment from my activism by knowing that the work I’m doing is motivating students in my school, and at the same time is helping students across the world,” says Megha Fernandes, a junior at Benjamin Franklin High School.
“The people of a community build and strengthen it, so getting involved in the community gives citizens a direct way to change and better their society,” she adds. “Being involved can bring people of a community together and give people a sense of pride in the good they have done in their neighborhood.”
Fernandes is involved in Benjamin Franklin’s Key Club, Iota Sigma Club (Christian Fellowship), Student Council and Peer Assistance Team. She also created and is the president of The Invisible Children Club, which raises money and awareness for the child soldiers in Uganda.
Last March, Fernandes, the Invisible Children “Roadies” team from California and two women from Uganda spoke at Benjamin Franklin at an event Fernandes organized.
During the event, the two women spoke about the struggles that they faced while living in Uganda and how the Invisible Children team provided the school with ways to contribute to their cause. Being able to spread the knowledge, compassion and joy that these women felt for their country was a great task for the team.
Invisible Children is run by international activists and use the media to inspire young people to help those that are less unfortunate than them.
Fernandes says, “My most rewarding volunteer experience has been volunteering in Ochsner Hospital because it gave me a chance to interact with patients and showed me how such little things I did every day, such as a common smile, could make a patient’s day so much brighter.”
In addition to the clubs that Fernandes is involved with at Benjamin Franklin, she also has been singing with the New Orleans Children’s Chorus Youth Chorale for the past nine years.
In the future, she would like to go to college in Washington D.C. and hopefully major in political science to become an International Human Rights attorney. She decided that this would be a helpful job because it relates directly to the Invisible Children organization. She will be able to firsthand try to stop unlawful acts occurring around the world.