The Hoyas Global Initiative began as a promise. Several Georgetown students, now alumni, made a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative to start a club on campus that followed CGI’s model — that even small actions from individuals can have a large impact. Today, Hoyas Global Initiative continues to organize service events and engage development challenges at the personal, local and global levels. We believe that only by integrating all three levels of developmental challenges will we be able to effectively confront complex social issues.

We follow a CGI model of identifying five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health. Each semester we highlight one of these areas of need by designing related service events. Last year, we focused on education and designed a healthy eating workshop at a local school as well as donated and built a playground at a disadvantaged D.C. school. We also hold an annual charity dodgeball tournament each fall to raise money for international charities addressing these challenges in other parts of the world. Last fall, we focused on public health by fundraising for “Nothing But Nets,” which distributes life-saving nets to those at risk for malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. We also volunteered at Damien Ministries, which supports poverty-stricken individuals dealing with HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C.

This semester we are continuing to hold events related to global health while transitioning to poverty alleviation since these two issues are so often related. The first event is a discussion and film screening of the movie Babies to raise awareness about challenges facing mothers and infants around the world. We are also planning to hold a speaking event later this semester about the impact of poverty alleviating programs such as microfinance. We usually send leaders each year to the annual CGI University Conference, hosted by former President and Georgetown alum Bill Clinton.

The Hoyas Global Initiative is a young and growing club whose goal is to make service a lifestyle — not just an activity — for its members. We welcome new members to join us in taking concrete and measurable steps to confront world challenges. Our meetings are every other Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. More information can be found by either emailing [email protected] or visiting www.hgigeorgetown.wordpress.com.