At just 7 years old, he created an eco-friendly bank just for kids in Peru. The currency? ... recyclable waste. Here's how he did it...
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00:00Hi, I'm Jose Alfonso Guizojala Condori, I'm 15 years old, I'm from Arequipa, Peru,
00:05and I've created a bank for children and young people where money is the solid waste.
00:10I'm going to bed.
00:25I realized that in my school's container there were a lot of sheets of books,
00:30papers, bottles, and I was very frustrated to see that,
00:34because my grandmother taught me when I was very little to take care of the environment.
00:38I remembered that the recyclers used to pass by my house.
00:41Here in Latin America it's very normal for the recyclers to pass by your house
00:46and tell you to buy bottles, cardboard, papers, everything you have,
00:50and you don't need it anymore, they buy it for you.
00:53So I said, aha, that's the solution,
00:55that way I can help this not happen,
00:57and that way I can also help children get money.
01:09When you just take the courses,
01:11you'll be able to bring other types of recycling,
01:13apart from white paper,
01:15and when you take the financial education course,
01:17you'll be able to have your card with which you'll do the financial operations.
01:33In my school, my classmates,
01:36In my school, my classmates told me that,
01:39they told me, I haven't had breakfast,
01:41you can't invite me to your recess,
01:43or they told me, can you lend me a pencil, please?
01:45I don't have one, and I don't want my other classmates to know.
01:48So I realized that the problems were not only there,
01:52but also outside of my school.
01:54I realized that there were a lot of children who worked,
01:57a lot of children selling candy,
01:59children cleaning the windshields of cars,
02:01children asking for alms,
02:03things that we shouldn't do,
02:05because they always teach us that children shouldn't work.
02:20Well, my dad is a very fundamental part of my project,
02:23because he helps me a lot,
02:25especially emotionally,
02:27because, despite everything, I'm 15 years old,
02:30and managing a project with 5,000 children is a lot of stress.
02:34For me, it was super complicated to do this project at 7 years old,
02:37because even so, people didn't believe in me,
02:40in my own family, nor did they believe in what I was doing.
02:44When I went to ask for help from the state,
02:47government companies, private companies,
02:49so that they could support me,
02:51they also closed the door for the simple fact of being a child.
02:53So it was super complicated to be able to make this project work.
02:58I'm really not very different from the kids my age.
03:01I just think that what makes the difference is that I decided to do something.
03:05We are the generation that is keeping quiet,
03:08and that is raising their voice.
03:10We need to do more, more than that.
03:12We don't just need to raise our voices,
03:14we need to take action.
03:16So I invite all of you to see a problem in your society,
03:19because there are always problems,
03:21and find a solution.
03:23Let's show adults that children and young people
03:25are the ones who are making the change,
03:27not in the future, but from now on.