The Butterfly Effect Project

We often hear how the flap of a butterfly’s wings can influence weather patterns around the world. Striking an allusion between this natural tendency and a metaphor, the butterfly effect is tantamount to the analysis that small changes, if properly situated, can bring about wide-ranging effects.

In a world stricken by poverty and divided by chaos, individual butterflies needs to step up to create an impact. Each butterfly, assigned to a specific task, should work in synergy with other butterflies to elicit an effect.

An analogy of this process could be paired to individual youths aspiring to make a difference in their respective communities. Each youth, tasked for a specific purpose, should integrate oneself to a larger group working for a common goal.

This month of May, 18 young people from the UK and the Philippines will endeavor in this process of social transformation. Under the Global Xchange Programme, the 18 youths will be forming the Team 107 of the Global Xchange Programme (GXP) that is jointly implemented in the Philippines by VSO Bahaginan and the British Council. They will be placed in communities, first in the UK and then in the Philippines, to do volunteer work in the areas of disability, secure livelihood, and environment.

Carrying the brand The Butterfly Effect Project, the team will work for six months to make significant contributions to both UK and the Philippines. As they emanate the value of volunteerism, these individuals will influence change to their counterpart pairs, to their host homes, and to the communities that they will be in. These changes, when put together, would bring about large-scale and lasting effects.

Like butterflies that emerged from the cycle of metamorphosis, nine youths with different backgrounds and upbringing will represent the Philippines. Ready for their counterparts from the UK, each will try to flap one’s wings to make significant contributions to the world.