Being away for a week with the most inspirational people that someone can ever meet changes your life. It changes your life in the most positive way, and it is an experience I would not exchange for anything.

From July 1-7, the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY ZEROSEVEN Roadtrip occurred in Australia. From Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, and teams in Sydney and Perth, 500 Youth Ambassadors campaigned on behalf of MPH, all converging in Sydny for a finale concert and something that has never been done before - the projection of video and photos onto the Sydney Opera House, showing Australia and the world that our generation does care about ending extreme poverty.

So, why ZEROSEVEN? Throughout the trip, we campaigned for one thing: a commitment to 0.7% of GNI to go towards foreign aid (Official Development Assistance)by 2015. We campaigned for our nation's leaders, both Government and the Opposition alike, to commit to this target. We also ran a campaign called Face Up To Poverty, asking Australians to Face up and show the government that they support the 0.7% target for foreign aid.

And what happened? None of us doubt that we made history, but it is only the start of the journey. We held 5 concerts, plus a celebration concert in Sydney. We mobilised over 6,000 young people through these concerts. We had more than 35,000 people Face Up To Poverty throughout the week. We even saw the PM, John Howard, Face Up To Poverty. And on the 6th July, we witnessed a commitment by Kevin Rudd, Federal Leader of the Australian Labor Party, to 0.5% of GNI to Foreign Aid by 2015, if the ALP win the next election. Yes, this isn't he target of 0.5%, but it is a start. It is recognition that our campaigning efforts, and that the Australia public, give the government, of whatever colour, the permission to spend our money on foreign aid.

As for myself, I was part of the NSW team, campaigning around Sydney for the entire week. The week for me can be summed up with sleep deprivation and emotional ups and downs, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.

I personally spent about 4 months helping plan the NSW leg of the Roadtrip, and it was a great experience to see this planning eventuate into tangible action and campaigning. Although i must admit that when the first day of the Roadtrip swung around, I approached it with nervous feelings, not knowing whether the whole week would work or not.

And the first day didn't come with much luck. All 100 Ambassadors, along with crew, were told to expect rejection along the way, and the first day was just that. We were campaigning in the Eastwood area of Sydney, in John Howard's electorate, and it was the hardest day of campaigning. But it did prepare us all for disappointments along the week.

The rest of the week can only be described as awesome. On the second day we campaigned in the city, which included a flash mob of sorts where 100 people dressed as pirates chanting and generally campaigning in Martin Place.

Third day, we went to Bankstown, and this was an awesome day of campaigning in an area that had not been targeted by MPH in the past. All in all, a great day, including a very cheap BBQ for the public, and live jazz music!

Fourth day, we did another day of campaigning in the city, this time focusing on Face Up. Throughout the whole week, there was a Face Up wall outside Customs House, near Circular Quay, where the public could see 10,000 faces from the Face Up campaign. We had teams of ambassadors at this wall at many times throughout the week, and crried out Face Up mainly in the city.

On the fifth day, we headed out to Bondi Beach to do a "people sign" spelling out make poverty history on the beach. While this was smaller than we would have liked it to be, it was a great time, and we did involve a lot of passers-by in the photo. The Daily Telegraph and channel 9 was also at the beach, so we gained some media exposure through the event.

Sixth day, we saw the 'finale' at the opera house, and the MPH Projection onto the side of the opera house, follwoed by a wrap up and chill out/party atmosphere for tall 500 ambassadors plus crew and national team.

Seventh day, we went to the National MDG Summit, which was interesting to hear the various political parties opinions regarding the 0.7% of GNI goal. After this, we went off to Live Earth,as zeroseven campaigners had got cheaper tickets, and that wrapped up the week!

Yes, that was a very short wrap up, but all i can say is that the week was damn amazing. The projection onto the Opera House gave us a sense of completion, as well as a sense that we did achieve something out of the Roadtrip.

Emotionally, it was a week that went from up to down in about as much time as it takes to read this line. Many nights the crew didn't get to sleep till 2am, and got up early every day for the next days activities. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, but we dealt with the issues as they came up, but all in all, a great week!

FRor more info on what ZEROSEVEN was, go to www.zeroseven.org

It's only the start of the journey!