SAGA - Alex's Letter From Asia -- Part 2
Students Against Global Apathy
If you have come this far already, I hope you are willing to go a little bit farther and help rebuild the dream that is known as SAGA. What we have in front of us is a blank canvas with no limitations of what direction our activities will be. [1] We might build the foundations of something epic that will last for fifty years or we might get caught up in useless squabbles that fail after fifty days. We are heading into the unknown and all I know is that right now I feel like a fisherman. In part one of my letter, I cast out my net into the vast ocean of talent which is our generation and now I am unaware of what skills, attitudes, experiences, and motivations I have caught. And the larger question is: Will these strangers be able to work together for the common good of humanity and SAGA?
So… we truly do have a blank canvas because SAGA currently isn't even registered as a UofA student group anymore. So we could be just a university group based in Edmonton or we could try reaching other campuses and the general public. [2] Furthermore the face of the group, me, will be on the other side of the planet with very limited access to the internet. Consequently I am going to have a small role in this whole process. Therefore, no suggestion is a bad suggestion; all positions are open as no positions have been created yet; and anything and everything is technically feasible at the moment.
Please, if you have a skill, a contact, a project, a group, a website, a story, a quote, a criticism or even half an idea please let it be known to all by commenting on the discussion boards of Google and/or Facebook in the next three weeks. And spread the word to everyone you know that might be interested because they could have that magic ingredient necessary to bridge two seemingly unrelated ideas.
Hopefully this active brainstorming and honest discussion will elicit capable candidates for leadership positions, general volunteers, suitable partners, and potential activities that will fulfill SAGA's mission for the next year and beyond. Then afterwards everyone can peacefully and collectively decide on the choices either through election or consensus.
Some other things you should know:
1) SAGA currently has about $10,000 in merchandise leftover from last year after we gave all our money away.
2) I have uploaded SAGA's first and only written constitution to the google discussion board. It should be re-drafted because I created it when I had absolutely no experience and was just fueled by the passion of returning from my trip to Kenya. I personally didn't really follow it very closely as I am not the type of person that follows strict rules (as you can probably tell).
3) I have started the commenting on the discussion board ( http://groups.google.com/group/saga_samurais ) by adding a letter I previously wrote for a friend.
[1] There is one general rule I'd like to be enforced: SAGA should not be aligned with any religious or political affiliations. Many concepts relating to poverty are discussed in both these circles; but I want SAGA to be independent from influences that have interests other than the sick, ignored, marginalized, and impoverished.
[2] Be cautious with this because too much, too fast could be harmful