Meet a Sandbox Member: Patrick Boström
Patrick Boström is 24 years old and was born and raised in Sweden. He is currently studying in Hong Kong. Besides beeing responsible for coordinating a volunteer project with Light for Children he and his team just won the Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Challenge competition.
Patrick on facebook and twitter.
Tell us the story of your latest project / occupation.
The latest project I was working on was a volunteer project with Light for Children, being personally responsible for the coordination and execution of the project. The project was an educational initiative with the objectives to create awareness, reduce stigma, enable a dialogue and help children in the ages 10-19 to protect themselves against and prevent Sexual Assault. Throughout a 10 day travel in Accra and Kumasi in Ghana our group was able to teach at 7 different schools and reach out to around 1300 students.
What are you doing and how did you get there?
Currently I am involved in many projects related to Social Business in Hong Kong. Studying in Hong Kong as an International student and demonstrating my passion towards developing others and doing good in society has led me to the path I am currently on. Sharing your passion with others and taking action on ideas will get you a long way!
Tell us about the biggest successes and failures in your life. What worked, what didn’t, and what did you learn?
The biggest success in my life so far is going abroad to study full-time. The experiences and personal growth gained from it, far exceeds what I anticipated before going to Hong Kong. Living on your own having to take care of yourself, while adapting to a new environment and managing school work is very different from living back home. What I have learned is that we have to take responsibility for our feelings, actions and every result we get. I´m sure that once I finish undergraduate studies and can focus all my efforts towards Social Business I will experience more successes. I have not experienced any major failures, however there are always room for improvement when it comes to effectiveness and healthy living habits. We can all improve in many ways, we just have to put some effort into changing our bad, old habits.
What do you want to achieve in the next week, the next year, the next 10 years?
Next week: Win a Social Entrepreneur Competition in Hong Kong with ICE (Intercultural Education Centre), an initiative started by myself and Freddy Law Wai Hung.
Next month: Establish Young Drucker Undergraduate (A Social Entrepreneur Development Program) in Hong Kong, that continuously educates and develops students into future Social Entrepreneurs.
Next 10 years: Be the leader of the Social Business movement in Asia.
What was your most inspiring moment during the last two weeks?
The most inspiring moment during the last two weeks was going around to schools in Kumasi, Ghana, talking to principals and teachers about the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program. They were so supportive and grateful for our work, it touched me how valuable they thought our efforts were. We got asked to come back to help training teachers to be able to teach about this topic in school. After the first two days of teaching at schools, the Light for Children helpline received 5 calls from children asking to meet with staff to help them deal with assaults they have experienced. That is a good indicator of the impact that the Light for Children volunteers made.
How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support you and why would that be exciting for them.
Light for Children are always looking for passionate volunteers that can give a helping hand at orphanages for HIV/AIDS affected children, teach about Sexual Assault Prevention in schools and to help out at hospitals in Kumasi. We accept volunteers from all over the world, throughout the year, as long as you are passionate and want to make an impact! People in Ghana are very friendly and you will have a great time living there with a host family, learning the local language Twi and eating the local cuisine. Ghana is a peaceful and beautiful country. The experience of giving as a volunteer is something that I recommend whole heartedly. Let´s get going!
Patrick’s favourites:
Book- The lost symbol
Food- anything spicy
Drink- fresh milk
Quote- “To predict the future you have to create it” – Peter Drucker
On the 11. February 2010 at 08:59 o'Clock
Boom Boom Boom!
Lets create the future together. “know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” (Einstein)
What folks need to realize is that the ‘future is now’. We are in control of our own destiny!
Chop chop,
Seb
On the 11. February 2010 at 09:36 o'Clock
Great article!!! Good job Patrick!!
I can’t wait to go to Ghana myself..
On the 11. February 2010 at 12:53 o'Clock
Agree whith my children, Light for Children and Sebastian can be very happy to have you with the team….
On the 20. February 2010 at 16:01 o'Clock
Thank you, I am grateful for working with Sebastian. I have a lot to learn from him and feel that I am growing in his presence.
Together we can achieve more than we could individually. We will keep on working, making this world a better place.
Cheerio
On the 22. February 2010 at 20:35 o'Clock
Keep on with the good work Patrick!
On the 5. May 2010 at 11:49 o'Clock
[...] Sebastian Lindstrom and Patrick Boström participated in the Clinton Global Initiative University held at the University of Miami between [...]