Peter Emer
Image: Instagram
Peter Emer is the director of The LIL Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering children to be the authors of their own stories. He has spent the last 8 years working to tackle extreme poverty in some of the poorest parts of the world through education and sustainable community development. He is a passionate advocate for children's rights and empowerment.
What is your definition of changemaker?
A changemaker is someone who is able to pursue their purpose regardless of what others think or how hard it is to achieve.
What is the biggest challenge you have experienced as a changemaker?
Doing something different than what others expected of me. I grew up in a household that many people might relate (to), I was always kind of pushed towards a certain career choice - and that was medicine for my family. Because of parental pressure I gave in to studying medicine and enrolled for pre med. My first year of pre med, I hated it. It just didn't sit well with me. I think I actually went through depression. Like that's how much I hated it, because it was just not aligned with the things that I was really passionate about.
How do you bring about change in your life, in your community, or in your field?
Through the LIL project, I am able to bring about impactful change to some of the most vulnerable children in the poorest parts of the world. We have a responsibility to ensure that every child has an opportunity to live a life beyond poverty where he or she can pursue his or her dreams. By ensuring this, we are not just helping that child, we are opening doors for a brighter future.
What is your hope for the next generation of changemakers?
Follow your heart and you will land in your purpose. I feel like we get trapped in those moments where we're doing something, and we can feel the friction. But a lot of times we tend to ignore it because of what our surroundings expect from us. [...] I had to decide that this is my life and I only get to live it once. I have the opportunity to do whatever I want to do with it. The last thing that I would ever want to do is live somebody else's dream.
These answers were collected during an interview conducted by Audaz Mag, listen to the full interview and learn more about Peter’s organization, LIL project.
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