Fighting corruption in everyday life

“I have deleted all the non original music that I had in my computer.” “I have asked the plumber to give me the invoice.” “From now on, I will not illegally download series or movies.”

These are some of the numerous commitments that many have already taken through the #CortoConElla (literally #BreakUpWithIt, in Spanish) campaign.

At the beginning of October, a group of evangelical Christian Spanish students and young graduates propelled an initiative through which they publicly commit to “break up” with any form of corruption.

CHANGING THE SYSTEM FROM ITS VERY FOUNDATIONS

As Jordi Llenas, one of the promoters, told Evangelical Focus then: “This project is exciting because it is the first time that we change our focus from criticising others' corruption towards focusing on the change we want to see [...] A new generation that will take leadership in Spain could change the system from its very foundations.”

Now, almost two months later, the campaign has had quite an impact in social media, and every day someone joins the campaign and take the commitment of starting to fight against corruption, first in their own lives, and also in the environments where each one lives.

GIVING RESOURCES AND SHARING EXPERIENCES

After the campaign´s launching, the promoters are giving ideas and suggestions to make that commitment easier to keep.

In the blog of “Corto con Ella”, the organizers provide alternatives to use open free software for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, design, or editing photographs, among others; and are open to receive new ideas.

There are also articles with testimonies of people who have decided to “break up” with corruption, and explain what difference does it make in their day to day life.

Another important part of the blog is the multimedia section, where different kind of people, from pastors to youth leaders, journalists, or teachers, share their view of corruption in several videos.

CAMPAIGN PRESENTATIONS

The organising team have had the chance to publicly present the campaign during a national Christian graduates conference which took place last October in Valencia, Spain. The participants could know more about this initiative, and commit themselves to stop corruption at a personal level.

Additionally, students of GBU (IFES) Granada, in the South of Spain, also presented the campaign to all the students, in a public stand that the university gives to student organisations. The presentation was a success, and many students joined.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Apart from social media, the campaign has drawn the attention of Spanish evangelical media: the promoters have been interviewed by several radios and the online news site Protestante Digital

Internationally, the Swiss evangelical magazine "Viertelstunde zum glaube" wrote and article about the campaign, and the news site of the European Evangelical Alliance webpage, also mentioned the initiative.

STILL LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS

According to the organisers, #CortoConElla is a long-term campaign, a lifetime commitment, so they are always looking for people to join their cause, and contribute with new ideas, comments, or suggestions to make a better society, without corruption.

Both believers and non-believers are called to join it by publicly committing to do very specific actions to break up with corruption in their everyday life.

You can find more information about the campaign in the initiative's website here (Spanish).