We Are All Human

Aviva Ireland

Young Social Innovators are delighted to partner with Aviva. YSI empowers young people to reimagine the world and to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. Aviva’s support will inspire, enable and recognise their innovative efforts to create stronger, more caring communities by creatively addressing the issues that matter to them. We look forward to working together across the year. Visit Aviva.ie, rated 4.5/5 stars by our car insurance and home insurance customers.

We Are All Human

Largy College, Monaghan

The Social Issue

This group of Transition Years were inspired by the difficult journey faced by one of their fellow students, Lilav, who fled the war in Syria, eventually gaining asylum with her family and settling in their hometown of Clones, Co Monaghan.

The Idea

Recognising that change should start within their own school and wanting to further UN Sustainable Development Goal 10: “Reduce inequality within and among countries”, this ambitious group developed the ‘We Are All Human’ project. The team held a flagship event, ‘Flight to Freedom’, which raised awareness about refugee rights by simulating the journey that refugees take. They also created and printed a children’s book called The Gingerbread Man’s Flight to Freedom to explain the issue to children in an accessible way. A board game called ‘Lilav’s Journey’ was produced by the young changemakers. They also worked to develop their school’s tutoring system in a way that supported a role-model culture. The team performed at their Christmas show and at the local Direct Provision Centre. They held additional events, which included a toy drive, mural painting, fundraisers, and language lessons for newly arrived students from overseas. Finally, the group created an app called ‘Monaghan Welcomes You’, designed to provide essential information about local services in a variety of languages.

We knew of the horrendous journeys asylum seekers undertake in order to be safe, we were upset that young people in our school had to suffer in this way and we wanted to make them feel welcome and included.

The Impact:

The ‘We Are All Human’ team worked with various local and national groups, including local media, community organisations and the Irish Refugee Council. They were awarded €1,000 by Monaghan County Council to further develop their project. Their efforts were further recognised when the Clones innovators won the silver award at the Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards, 2019. The team was further recognised at the ceremony when they received the Global Citizens Award 2019 which is supported by WorldWise Global Schools.