The defining moment in my life that shifted the way I was thinking...and brought me to ubuntu.
Great question. Tough to answer.
In the sense of living and breathing and working and playing.
I just got home from an amazing experience - getting to see the President & CEO of UNICEF, Nigel Fisher's, keynote speech to kick off the "Is Peace Possible" Conference here in Winnipeg.
There were a couple of things I wanted to touch on:Nigel talked widely about the genocide that's happening in mid-Africa's Congo region. He talked about the soldiers there that are recruiting rebel armies of children, stealing them in the night, forcing them to take drugs and kill their families or community members because once they do that, there is no turning back. He talked about the rape and pillaging of women in this war-torn area, and showed a picture of a 13 year old girl who had been kidnapped, raped, forced to marry a commander of one of the rebel armies and had a 1 year old -- at the age of 13?! As he talked about these harsh issues, he talked about how we can make peace in these areas. One of the hugest ways -- COMMUNICATION.'
Coming from a communications background, this makes so much sense to me. If everyone could communicate and get on the same level, if we could understand where the other side of the story is coming from, couldn't that help generate loads of peace? Unicef does this through community centres, counselling children who have seen more trauma than our children in Canada could imagine. They do this by going right to the rebel armies and trying to negotiate with them to stop recruiting child soldiers. They do this by going to families of child soldiers and asking them to take back their children, to love them again. They go into women's camps and communicate with the women there - who have usually no opportunity for education or even hope.
The women in one particular camp asked that they take no pictures of the girls, in fear that if the soldiers who had originally taken them saw the pictures, they'd know where they were and come back for them. One young girl touched Nigel's heart, by reaching out to him and asking him to take her picture. She wanted to show the armies that they weren't afraid of them, that fear is the hatred factor and that they weren't going to stand for it. The picture he showed of her made my heart melt and feel so much hope at the same time. There is courage and hope all around us, in the midst of the Congo, in children everywhere.
He mentioned one figure that stuck out like a shining light to me. Currently, there is one trillion dollars being spent on weapons around the world. The UN got together to figure out the sum of money that it would take for education, healthcare, food, supplies and counselling in all areas of conflict --- that figure --- 50 billion dollars. Only 5% of what is currently being spent on weapons? As Nigel put it, "it's not a question of resources, but of choices." There are so many ways that peace can be accomplished - and it's not just taking war out of these countries:
- healthcare
- community
- counselling
- family
- food & supplies
- shelter
- photo tracking for displaced families
- education
- gender equality (which comes from education)
- LEADERSHIP
and one that made my heart feel more hope than ever
- the chance for children to express their childhood trauma through music and art, in a way that they can deal with it and move on.
He also stated that the UN has a list of all areas of conflict in the world that are using and recruiting children for their armies. The UN has sent messages back to these areas with this message, when peace comes, there will be no room for negotiation for you. You are outside the law.
A lot of his speech was based on the inequality that women and children face in these war torn areas and how vital their education is to our future. The last piece that I'll leave you with is this website, devoted to Graca Michel, wife of Nelson Mandela, my personal hero. She is an international advocate for women and children's rights.In the height of her career, she produced the groundbreaking United Nations report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.
Is Peace Possible? Yes.
There were a couple of things I wanted to touch on:Nigel talked widely about the genocide that's happening in mid-Africa's Congo region. He talked about the soldiers there that are recruiting rebel armies of children, stealing them in the night, forcing them to take drugs and kill their families or community members because once they do that, there is no turning back. He talked about the rape and pillaging of women in this war-torn area, and showed a picture of a 13 year old girl who had been kidnapped, raped, forced to marry a commander of one of the rebel armies and had a 1 year old -- at the age of 13?! As he talked about these harsh issues, he talked about how we can make peace in these areas. One of the hugest ways -- COMMUNICATION.'
Coming from a communications background, this makes so much sense to me. If everyone could communicate and get on the same level, if we could understand where the other side of the story is coming from, couldn't that help generate loads of peace? Unicef does this through community centres, counselling children who have seen more trauma than our children in Canada could imagine. They do this by going right to the rebel armies and trying to negotiate with them to stop recruiting child soldiers. They do this by going to families of child soldiers and asking them to take back their children, to love them again. They go into women's camps and communicate with the women there - who have usually no opportunity for education or even hope.
The women in one particular camp asked that they take no pictures of the girls, in fear that if the soldiers who had originally taken them saw the pictures, they'd know where they were and come back for them. One young girl touched Nigel's heart, by reaching out to him and asking him to take her picture. She wanted to show the armies that they weren't afraid of them, that fear is the hatred factor and that they weren't going to stand for it. The picture he showed of her made my heart melt and feel so much hope at the same time. There is courage and hope all around us, in the midst of the Congo, in children everywhere.
He mentioned one figure that stuck out like a shining light to me. Currently, there is one trillion dollars being spent on weapons around the world. The UN got together to figure out the sum of money that it would take for education, healthcare, food, supplies and counselling in all areas of conflict --- that figure --- 50 billion dollars. Only 5% of what is currently being spent on weapons? As Nigel put it, "it's not a question of resources, but of choices." There are so many ways that peace can be accomplished - and it's not just taking war out of these countries:
- healthcare
- community
- counselling
- family
- food & supplies
- shelter
- photo tracking for displaced families
- education
- gender equality (which comes from education)
- LEADERSHIP
and one that made my heart feel more hope than ever
- the chance for children to express their childhood trauma through music and art, in a way that they can deal with it and move on.
He also stated that the UN has a list of all areas of conflict in the world that are using and recruiting children for their armies. The UN has sent messages back to these areas with this message, when peace comes, there will be no room for negotiation for you. You are outside the law.
A lot of his speech was based on the inequality that women and children face in these war torn areas and how vital their education is to our future. The last piece that I'll leave you with is this website, devoted to Graca Michel, wife of Nelson Mandela, my personal hero. She is an international advocate for women and children's rights.In the height of her career, she produced the groundbreaking United Nations report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.
Is Peace Possible? Yes.
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