Last week, I related the story of how one of my business partners in Keystone Augusta, Kirk-Anthony Hamilton, came to me with his dream of attending the One Young World summit that was to be held in South Africa in early October 2013.

I believe that his use of crowd-funding to raise most of the money to attend the event as a delegate representing Jamaica serves as a motivational story for all young people around the world, and especially those in developing countries, because it is a real example of how technology has truly changed the way the world works.

Kirk-Anthony made the long trip to South Africa to meet up with 1,300 other “brilliant minds” representing 190 countries. Attendees had a range of backgrounds, some working for well-known firms like Google, HP, Bain, Pepsico and other large firms. Others were running non-profit organisations with various purposes.

The summit was held in Sandton City, Johannesburg, the “wealthiest square mile in South Africa”, according to Kirk-Anthony. The numerous malls, modern office buildings and great infrastructure ensured that South Africa surpassed expectations.

The most surprising part of the trip was the sheer number of young South Africans who were active in their communities. He felt like every single person he met ran or was actively involved in some kind of non-profit, significant project. A stark contrast to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands he has visited.

Even though these South Africans were themselves under 30, they all focused on uplifting those younger than themselves and ensuring that those children would have positive and exciting futures to look towards.

Most Jamaicans know of South Africa thanks to a successfully staged FIFA 2010 World Cup. It was in Soccer City inside the Calabash Stadium — one of the venues that hosted the tournament — that the opening ceremony was held. Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general; Sir Bob Geldof; and Nobel peace Laureate Professor Muhammed Yunus addressed the delegates, welcoming them as “the generation that can and must change the world for the better”.

One Young World also invited 8,000 children from local schools to experience the opening ceremony and speakers. That is an incredible way to create a lasting positive impression on the next generation.

Kirk-Anthony, being a serial entrepreneur, was looking forward to hearing more from Sir Richard Branson. He spoke about getting started in business and how he is all about challenging the shortfalls of corporate giants, allowing him to identify many opportunities.

He also pointed out that “failure is a part of the process” and his attempt to go up against Coca-Cola was testament to that, having succeeded going up against the big record labels, British Airways and major telecoms firms in the US and UK. The important thing is to learn and move on.

There was a question and answer session and Kirk-Anthony managed to ask one.

He focused on asking for advice for today’s entrepreneur, considering that they have access to things that Branson never had, such as crowd-funding. Naturally, Kirk-Anthony mentioned that he was from Jamaica, and that sent Branson on a tangent. He spoke about his love for Jamaica, his many visits, the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship that was launched (South Africa also has one) and he eventually admitted that he got so caught up in talking about Jamaica that he forgot the question and had to be reminded what was asked.

This is the power of Jamaica and the power of dreaming big. Few people would have read about this summit or seen themselves there, asking Sir Richard Branson a question. Too many are quick to be dismissive of even trying, resigning themselves instead to work with the hand that they are dealt in life.

Thirteen hundred people witnessed a ringing endorsement of Jamaica from Sir Richard Branson because one Jamaican decided he was going to try and make it to this event and hopefully learn a few things that he could share with Caribbean youth and contribute in his own way to helping future generations.

The next time you come up with a big idea, don’t talk yourself out of pursuing it. Take inspiration from this story and make the effort. You never know where it will lead.

Next week: Conclusion of the trip and lessons for the Caribbean

David Mullings is CEO of Keystone Augusta and was the first Future Leaders representative for the USA on the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board. He can be found at facebook.com/InteractiveDialogue and twitter.com/davidmullings