Transformational training for 19,000 young people
Duration: 5 days
Paraguay: 3 years after the first leadership transformation initiative in Paraguay, 19,000 young people are now benefiting from it.
Coaches: 180 coaches from the John Maxwell team
Objective: to reach the youth of Paraguay and the Minister of Education
Leadership expert John C. Maxwell and 180 coaches from around the world came to Ascuncion, Paraguay, at the invitation of the government, from May 18 to 23, 2019. This special delegation continued a strategic project for transformational leadership development at youth level. The goal is to reach children and young people in the population by equipping them with values-based principles that they can learn, live and transmit in their social and school environments.
Astrid Meyer & John Maxwell
Testimonial
With the Maxwell Leadership Team, I had the privilege of accompanying John Maxwell to Paraguay in 2019. Paraguay’s education system is in crisis. More than half the children currently attending public school will not graduate. Many live in poverty and have no access to training to put into practice the basic values they need to live a fulfilling life. Because of the problems in the education system, fewer people are choosing a career in education, so Paraguay is also suffering from a severe shortage of teachers.
Throughout 2018, Transformación Paraguay has been working hard to ensure that John Maxwell’s youth program can enter the Paraguayan school system.
With 180 JMT coaches we visited over 19,000 children in 200 Paraguayan schools (public and private) in May 2019 to teach them how to use the “I choose – YODECIDO” program with a Values Journey methodology. In front of a stadium full of students, the Minister of Education signed an agreement with Paraguayan schools to teach them about leadership and personal development. This is the first country in the world to incorporate this into its legislation. These children and their teachers will use this material throughout 2019 and into 2020 to learn the skills and values they need to succeed in life. With the slogan: Your choices will impact your future more than your circumstances!
We also visited companies to run Values Journeys to equip, motivate and practice leadership values. An unforgettable experience!
Taking part in #TRANSFORMACION PARAGUA with 180 coaches from the Maxwell Leadership Team was a very enriching experience. With the help of 400 interpreters and exceptional teamwork, we trained 19,000 young people over five days, with a potential impact of 150,000 to 250,000 young people over the next six months. They will each engage in a program according to their age “I CHOOSE – YODECIDO, SOY VALIOSO, INTENTION LIVING”. Our initial goal is to reach at least 10% of the country’s population. We started in Paraguay in 2015 and are now continuing with this second initiative for the new generation. We have successfully launched similar projects in Guatemala (2013), Costa Rica (2018), Dominican Republic 2020 etc… I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of these amazing countries and be part of this transformative movement!
“If I want the world to be a better place, I have to become a better person. We must be the change we want to see by becoming intentional about our own growth so that we can add value to others because we have something to offer them.” John Maxwell
John Maxwell stated. “Hundreds of our coaches and volunteers around the world pay out of their own pockets to serve, add value and make a difference at Paragay. This is how transformation happens – one person cares enough to take action – then hundreds care enough to take action.”
Each trip has such an impact! I admire every single person who went, from JMTers to coordinators to faculty members. But most of all, I was touched by the local organizers, the interpreters and the 19,000 young people who got involved in the process! Yes, transformed lives become transformed communities and then lead to transformed nations!
PARAGUAY
Although Paraguay is a small country that has faced many social, economic and political problems in the past, it is a fast-growing country with a very young population, 70% of whom are under 35. In the middle of the last century, a civil war took its toll on the country. A surprising act of leadership turned the tide. One side pledged to support the other, leaving them in charge of the country. As a result, the military was disbanded and the money invested in building schools and universities.
The Paraguayan people deserve the right opportunities and the right tools to ensure a better future. We believe that those who embrace values, leadership and education will make the difference.
- Official name: Republic of Paraguay.
- Population: 6.9 million
- Capital: Asunción – 2 million.
- Climate: Tropical and subtropical
- Languages: Spanish and Guarani
- Religions: Catholic 90%, Protestant 6%, other 4%.
- Percentage of population under 35: 70%.
- Average annual income: 4,100 U.S. DOLLARS.
- Percentage of population living in extreme poverty: 28%.
- Main industries: Soya, beef, corn, wheat, hydroelectricity.
- Neighboring countries: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia.
- Current president: Mario Abdo Benítez.
Paraguay is a small landlocked country in the heart of South America.
How did it all begin?
Gaby, a young woman from Paraguay, certified JMT coach, asked John Maxwell in 2013, “Can you come to my country to help transform it?” John agreed. And as a first step, a transformative action took place to train leaders from the country’s 7 spheres of influence. Then, in 2019, Paraguay launched this transformation program for the new generation.
I had the pleasure of visiting Gaby and her husband’s organization. Beautiful places with a remarkable team and a lovely family.
PRESENTATION OF THE MATERIEL
John Maxwell and his team have created materials for teaching leadership values to children/young people based on the Values RoundTable methodology.
LEADERSHIP & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
CHILDREN -> SOY VALIOSO (I have value)
A little illustrated book with the 15 laws of growth taken from John Maxwell’s book of the same name. Each law is beautifully illustrated and developed with a playful approach for children aged 8 and over.
VALUES
YOUTH -> I CHOOSE – YODECIDO (I decide)
A Values RoundTable with the following 16 values: (suitable for young people aged 13 to 25)
“Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow will be better”. – John C. Maxwell
Module 1: Choices – Attitude – Growth – Commitment
Module 2: Relationships – Character – Forgiveness – Self-esteem
Module 3: Responsibility – Courage – Initiative – Priorities
Module 4: Learning – Self-discipline – Perseverance – Influence
VALUES
ADULTS -> “LIVING INTENTIONALLY” VALUES ROUNDTABLE
The values of ATTITUDE, FORGIVENESS, SELF-ESTEEM Etc.
VISITS TO SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES
Every day, all the coaches leave by bus to visit schools and universities. An interpreter accompanies them to translate into Spanish. Materials follow for each child/youth. Here are a few stories:
My interpreter and I arrived one morning at an isolated college. No one knew we were there. It turned out that the address was wrong, but that our driver was only coming back for lunch. To make every moment intentional, I asked the secretariat if I could teach a class of children and a youth class, explaining the initiative.
We soon found ourselves in a class where the teacher was absent… It was then that we realized that our material had not been delivered to this false address. I quickly asked the students if they had a cell phone. Of the 45 students, 4 had one. I asked a young volunteer leader to take photos of our only booklet and share them with the others.
The children were so keen to learn that they organized themselves into small groups with a lot of discipline and followed the training very actively. With a highly interactive methodology and fun materials, the values had a profound impact on them.
What a surprise it was when, a few weeks later, I received a FB message saying: “I’ve finally found you, just to let you know that we’ve continued these courses during the breaks between us students, and we’re very grateful to you”.
TRANSFORMATION PROCESS
John presents the initiative at an evening event.
The Maxwell Leadership Foundation is pioneering a values-based transformation process.
These mandates enable us to develop and inspire leaders in all eight spheres of influence for transformational impact.
Using Stanford’s collective impact methodology combined with a values-based vision of individual education through values pathways, MLCT has created the Maxwell Transformation Process. This catalytic tool provides a framework for countries and communities to:
- DISCOVER their common purpose,
- SET an agenda,
- DESIGN a transformation program,
- DEPLOY their initiatives.
Maxwell’s transformation process is based on positive values that create intolerance of the current state. People’s culture becomes fertile ground for measurable, perceptible change.
We believe that engaging at least 10% of the population in a Values Journey will bring us to a tipping point that will result in a transformative movement.
Our mission
We add value to leaders who multiply value to others, resulting in growth and transformation.
The Maxwell Leadership Foundation marries influence and resources with desire and commitment. Top leaders from the major influence streams work together to create transformation. The Maxwell Transformation Process (MTP) becomes the means for leaders to see positive change in their countries and communities.
As individuals are transformed, the families and businesses where they live and work change, the culture of homes and organizations improves, and the results of transformation are real and measurable.
Imagine the potential when key currents of influence are collectively impacted and we see lasting, positive change at personal, community and national levels.
The Maxwell Leadership Foundation trains leaders to transform their world, and we do it one community, one school and one country at a time!
At the end of the evening, a philharmonic orchestra offers a magnificent concert. Read about these unusual instruments below.
TESTIMONY OF KELLY
I was invited to travel with John Maxwell along with some of his team members to the country of Paraguay to facilitate round tables to develop leaders.
We traveled all over the city of Asunción (the capital) where we taught leadership values to government officials, educational institutions, businesses, and Congress.
With the official language of Paraguay being Spanish, I was paired with an interpreter who was by my side to translate as I taught values and leadership workshops.
Halfway into our trip, there was a planned visit to a place that I wasn’t so sure of at first. Upon arriving, what I experienced left me a changed person and inspired me in a way that I had never imagined. This special destination was a place called Cateura.
To be clear, Cateura is not a town in a traditional sense. It’s a slum located alongside a landfill, just outside of Paraguay’s capital city, Asunción.
Every day, about three million pounds of solid waste is dumped in Cateura. Many families live out their existence by scavenging through the trash inside the landfill seeking to resell items that are found. This process involves children who are regularly pulled out of school to provide assistance in the hunt for salvageable items in the trash. During rainstorms, the landfill floods, and residents are forced to wade through contaminated water.
Shockingly, a section in the middle of this landfill has been cleared and is actually designed to serve as a music school where trash is turned into musical treasures for many of the city’s youth who have a passion for music. These were kids that don’t have much at all, but through a passion for music and a keen imagination, they saw what could be through the help of the school’s founder, Favio Chavez. To simply describe it, they turned trash into musical instruments.
Favio had a dream of providing the city’s youth with a place to come and learn how to play music. They would learn important values in life, such as responsibility, respect, and teamwork. These are kids who didn’t have much in the way of educational opportunities and most of them turned to gangs as a means for survival.
We were given a tour of the makeshift music school, which was no bigger than your standard two car garage. We were shown the unique instruments that were made for the students.
A typical violin would never be found in this area, but instead, a violin, like many in the orchestra, is created using cans, wooden spoons and bent forks. One of the ensemble’s cellos uses an oil drum for its body. String pegs are created from detritus, like old cooking utensils, and even the heel of a worn-out women’s shoe ends up as a part. Drum heads are made from old X-ray films. One student played a saxophone made from a drainpipe, melted copper, coins, spoon handles, cans, and bottle caps.
They were known as, “The Recycled Orchestra”.
As we sat and listened to the students tell us how their instruments were created from pulling useful pieces from the landfill they worked in, I started to realize that if you put your imagination to use, and think out of the box, you can truly do anything. They put on a little concert for us and the sound that came out of what was once trash, was even more beautiful than I could have imagined.
It’s all about perspective.
Some of us focus on all that we don’t have, and some see all that they can create with what little they do have. This even includes garbage!
In that moment, my personal and professional worries diminished to absolute zero. That day, I realized that changing how we look at things can change our life too.
I sat witness to a man living in the third world country of Paraguay who was making a huge impact in the lives of children. The brilliant part of his actions relates to his ability to not allow what he didn’t have to get in the way. His success and actions placed my own goals within reach. In short, I could make an impact in my community and begin to build a business to help leaders develop their full potential as professionals and a citizens.
The best way to change your life is to take ownership and ACT. If you want to change your job, act. If you want to learn how to do something you’ve never done, act. If you want to take that certification course, act. If you want to start a business of your own, act.
If you want anything, act.
Start with being grateful for what you do have and stop looking for the things you don’t have in life. Focus on the things that you allow to take steps towards your dreams and the pursuit of happiness. Be a little proactive rather than being victimized by your situation.
That trip to Paraguay changed my life in so many ways. It lit a fire inside of me which began my quest to make a move and reinvent myself.
It’s been five years since I launched my own company and I owe a lot of where I am now to that visit I took to the landfill in Paraguay.
Sometimes we all need to learn how to “recycle” our careers and reinvent ourselves. Sometimes we find our best selves when we dig deep and start with a pile of nothing. That’s where imagination and hard work come in and create beauty.
Learn more about the story behind the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay here.
To your growth,
Kelly Merbler
After what I experienced in Paraguay, you can imagine that a dream has sprung up in my life: to bring transformation to my country, Switzerland and Europe, and even to Africa.
Conclusion
On the final day, we attended the signing of the agreement between the Paraguayan Minister of Education and the Transformación Paraguay organization, in a huge stadium packed with thousands of young people. The agreement makes leadership and personal development training an official part of the school curriculum. The “YoDecido” and “SoyValioso” programs will transform young people in Paraguay’s 9,000+ schools.
What a privilege to have been able to attend this inspiring event for all countries, and to experience the transformation of a new generation.
Astrid Meyer
MAXWELL LEADERSHIP TEAM (MLCT) certified coach, speaker and trainer – Executive Director of MLCT – Director of RESSOURCES DE VIE and GLOBAL HUMAN VALUES
We are pleased to offer you these youth courses now with GHV below.
TEAM: John Maxwell, Mark Cole, Chris Robinson, Mike Poulin, Carolina Rodriguez, Ivona Polkowska, Dorota Cebratowska, Daisy Arce, Gaby & Tim Teasdale, Genesis Eakes, Norma Zambrano, Carlos Rodriguez, Sumer Hahn, Denise Watts-Wilson, Sadika Kebbi, Jody Loussarian, Patrick Mayo, Al Nanji, Renay Taylor, Albert Braun Harder and many more!
Photographer: Christian Del Rosario,
Performers: Tobias Gimenez, Lucero Diaz, Juliette Hebest, Humberto Ozuna, Dania Lopez
Schoolchildren: Yamileth, a young schoolboy who found me on FB to tell me that he and his class have continued the program and are experiencing a transformation.
The Maxwell Leadership Foundation is a non-profit organization that equips and trains leaders around the world. John C. Maxwell is an author, coach and speaker who has sold over 26 million books in fifty languages. In 2014, he was identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association® and the world’s most influential leadership expert by Business Insider and Inc. magazine. As founder of the Maxwell Leadership Company, Maxwell Leadershhip Team, EQUIP, and the Maxwell Leadership Foundation, he has trained more than 6 million leaders. In 2015, he reached the milestone of having trained leaders from every country in the world. Recipient of the Mother Teresa Award for Peace and Global Leadership from the Luminary Leadership Network, Dr. Maxwell speaks annually to corporations, presidents of nations and many of the world’s leading business leaders.
#JMT #TRANSFORMATION #MLCT #MLF #TRANSFORMACIONPARAGUAY #COACHING #LEADERSHIP #ROUNDTABLES #VALUES “PARCOURSDEVALEURS
I CHOOSE
New module for YOUTH i CHOOSE ichoose Powerpoint of presentationFor more informations please contact us. This material is available in english and french. You can subscribe to a Round Table in your area Sign in below
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Author: Astrid Admin
Si vous vous posez des questions sur le fonctionnement sociales (leadership), le développement personnel (psychologie/coaching) et la création de solutions (entrepreneuriat) connectez! Mes domaines de prédilection: Gouvernance & Culture d’entreprise (Leadership & Valeurs) Psychologie du travail/Analyse de la culture/Coaching/Formation/Trouver des solutions entrepreneuriales Offre Ressources de vie pour Individus, RH et CODIR Consultante, conseillère psychologique et spécialiste Culture des Valeurs & Entrepreneuriale DISC: Compréhension de l'être humain et de son comportement (intelligence émotionnelle et sociale) Bilan de leadership, de compétences humaines, de caractère (évaluation comportementale) et de valeurs. Entrepreneuriat social -> Trouver des solutions créatives Fondatrice de GLOBAL HUMAN VALUES et de RESSOURCES DE VIE et d'autres organisations ----- Mon histoire: Il y a 10 ans en 2014, lorsque la première grande vague m'a surprise, elle a failli m'emporter. J'ai dû apprendre très vite à ne pas me laisser engloutir par ce cancer des ovaires, mais à chercher la crête pour surfer et avancer plus vite ! 2 ans plus tard, en sortant des hôpitaux et des cliniques, j'ai réalisé que cette vague m'avait fait découvrir une force de vie très puissante qui avait toujours fait partie de moi, mais que je n'utilisais que très peu. Consciente que cette force se...