April 2008 First Asia Chapter Global Issues Network Conference

On the afternoon of April 4, 2008 six of my School Year Abroad classmates and I boarded one of two buses headed for the Western Academy of Beijing to participate in the first Asian delegation of the Global Issues Network Conference. I didn’t know that the next three days were to permanently change my life.

The First Day

“You not only can make a difference, you must make a difference.”
-J. F. Rischard

After a confusing and loud registration process where we received ‘Earth’s Hope’ T-shirts, bracelets, lime green tote bags, a program, an environmentally friendly water bottle, and a savvy and professional looking name tag, we were broken up in to two groups of almost 200 (there were 300 students attending the conference from, among other places, South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore, Guangzhou and Hong Kong (China), Beijing, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand) for a “simulation.”
It turned out to be a simulation of the world and statistics, which at first sounded incredibly boring. The goal was to get these mundane statistics that we often hear to a more accessible place and realize their actual significance. It started with handing out color-coded cards with letters and symbols foreign to us. Our room was marked off in different sections of varying size with seemingly random numbers of chairs. We stood up according to dates on our cards (to represent the world population at various times in history), until the world was fully populated. Each person represented 65 million citizens of the globe. Asia had a great many chairs but even more people, with people standing close together to fit into the taped lines, or on each others’ laps. Europe had a good number of chairs, but only ten or fifteen people. North America had the greatest number of chairs by far, but five people. Four of the nine people in Latin America sat in chairs, and seventeen people in Africa sat on the ground around its one chair. Of course, my card was yellow unlike anyone else’s. This meant that I was to represent Oceania. Although, with just me (Oceania has less than 65 million people, about half that actually). Though it was lonely, my spot gave me a unique advantage of seeing pretty clearly everything that was going on. After we were all situated on earth, various statistics started being read. Various people stood up as they were called, showing as they stood the 65 million people they represent. This had an incredible effect. 34% of the world doesn’t seem like very many people, right? But it’s not until you’re in a room with 150-something people and 34% of them stand up that you realize how many people that really is. 34% of the people on this earth are illiterate. We had discussions following each of these statistics (things like undernourished/unreliable food sources/enough to eat, living in an (un)clean air environment, no/little access to clean drinking water, income of less than 2 USD/day). Besides showing the magnitude of these “statistics” that are really millions and millions of people, it showed us the distribution of these people. Of the seventeen people in our simulated Africa, one had the following situations, and the rest had none of them: access to clean drinking water, reliable source of food, sanitary environment, and literate. This simulation woke us all up to what would be an inspiring and moving three days.

Our first keynote speaker was a man named Jean-François Rischard. He wrote a book called High Noon: 20 Global Issues and 20 Years to Solve Them, which detailed 20 main global issues today and his opinions of what is necessary to solve them in the few years we have left. He spoke to us, explaining that his vision was not at all to create a conference such as this but was delighted that there were young people in the world so willing to make a difference. He explained his concept of a Global Issues Network that would transcend barriers of international governments and focus on the pressing issues, which no individual country can tackle alone. His ideas are worth reading and if you are interested I highly suggest picking up a copy of his book. This was the first time I had ever heard such an experienced, intelligent, and worldly adult look out at a group of 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 year olds and say “You not only can make a difference, you must make a difference.” He believes in the young people who already believe in themselves. We aren’t the children of the future or the leaders of tomorrow, but the change for now and protectors of our world.

A Voice of Truth: Hafsat Abiola

Last Thursday I couldn’t pronounce her name. Today, she is the most inspiring person I have ever encountered. Hafsat Abiola is an incredible woman from Nigeria who believes in a fair society and government for the people of her country, education for all, especially women and girls, and the power of youth throughout the world. She is the most inspirational speakers I have encountered. Not only is her passion sincere, but her personal convictions and strength demonstrated through stories she shared that one person not only has the right but the responsibility to make a difference. No words and certainly not mine can do this incredible person justice. Her vision, strength, compassion, and heart have reached out to so many all over the world. A conviction to help as many as possible is strong in Hafsat Abiola and is a conviction that I as well as many other young people will carry out with her determination.

Ms. Abiola’s speech was followed by an incredible performance of dancers doing a dance called “My Dream.” The only strange thing about it was the two seemingly useless women standing in the corner doing unnecessary but very rhythmic choreography in the corners. It was given no introduction, but the dance was in perfect time and no doubt required ridiculous amounts of rehearsal and talent. It wasn’t until the performance was over that we were informed that the performance had been put on by the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe, and every one of the dancers was deaf.

The Second Day

“Can one person really make a difference? I think we’ve answered that here today. The question is: will you?”
-Austin Gutwein, age 13

The morning of the second day we, already excited about our new found responsibility to save the world, arrived at the complex to a video chat with none other than Jane Goodall. She greeted us with a trademark chimpanzee hoot and a stuffed monkey. After a short speech on the importance of protecting the environment, she opened up for a question and answer session. It was a shame we didn’t have more time to spend with her since she didn’t prepare a significant speech and wasn’t asked too many interesting questions. As amazing as it is to be able to say I skyped with Jane Goodall, the young man who followed makes my top three list of inspirational people in our lives.

He doesn’t break five feet tall. It’s hard to find a time when he isn’t smiling. As he walked up to the podium with a single note card to deliver a speech scheduled for an hour, we all wondered what this little kid was doing there. Austin Gutwein saw a video telling of the plight of children in Zambia (Africa) who are orphaned every year by a disease called AIDS. Though his friends and family walked away impacted and saddened by the video, it engulfed him. How could he help? What could he do? He was only nine years old at the time, and this was what he kept asking his parents. Austin decided to shoot free-throws to raise money for these children who now had reserved a permanent place in his heart. He was sponsored and, in one day, shot 2,057 free throws to represent the 2,057 children everyday who are orphaned due to AIDS. In subsequent years, his friends joined him and his even spread from five schools to twenty states to six countries. His organization spread worldwide, and became known as Hoops of Hope. By the age of eleven he had raised enough money and decided he wanted to build a school for the children of Zambia. 100% of his money went to the cause and he attended the opening of the school, greeted by its new students, many of whom had never attended school or had had only rudimentary facilities. As Austin shared his experiences, including a thank-you card he received from a boy called George (with a picture and a caption: Austin and George are friends), it was made clear that this was no ordinary human being. Austin is a mature, passionate, and caring individual who truly made a difference in the lives of these children who will now be educated and live a life with opportunity because of him. His school provides lunch, free classes, and boarding facilities for the orphans attending his school. But Austin didn’t stop there. His next goal is to build a medical facility to help these parents receive medical treatment for their HIV/AIDS, since the current situation is unacceptable. The faraway facility can only send out seven blood samples for HIV testing ever 2-4 months, after which they must walk for 30 days to another hospital to receive treatment. The current situation results in many of these parents dying waiting or on their way to get treatment. With a new facility, Austin will provide these people with testing, results, consultation, and suitable drugs all in one day. This can save these parents two years or even more, preventing many children from suddenly becoming orphans. As Austin described “two years may not seem like a lot to you or me, but those two years gives a parent the opportunity to train and raise their child so they can someday provide for themselves and provide for their family.” This incredible young man with a heart as big as the world he serves is a symbol of hope for our generation. “Can one person really make a difference? I think we’ve answered that here today. The question is: will you?”

After Dr. Goodall and Austin’s inspiring speeches we headed into our first session of workshops. There was way more workshops than I had time to attend so I’ll fill you in on the few that I did get the opportunity to go to.

The first workshop I attended was about how to reduce the carbon offset of your school, and was very informative with a lot of ideas to reduce the unnecessary use of energy, water, and other resources used at a typical school. There, I met a teacher from another area who taught AP Environmental Studies at an international school, who talked to me about the benefits of her class in understanding global warming, among other environmental issues discussed at the conference. She, among others, was careful to point out that although we need to start solving these problems now, getting an education is still important for us. J The other workshop I went to that morning was student-run, entitled “How to Run a ‘Service Summit’ at Your School,” which wasn’t incredibly useful to me. At lunch we met up with some kids from an international school in Singapore and got to hear their stories and all about projects at their school.
I attended Austin’s workshop after lunch, when he further explained his work, shared some more stories and videos, and had some Q and A time. Once more, he impressed me with his amazing work and passion for his cause. In his workshop he presented other issues that compared the kids he deals with in Zambia: what we value in our daily lives versus what they value, their fears that we don’t have, etc. It was yet again an eye-opening experience, and a good reassurance that young people can make a big difference in the world with a big heart and passion for a cause.

Marie So’s workshop was called Yaks for Development and was all about social entrepreneurship, which at first didn’t sound very interesting to me, but I’m very glad I went. She explained two projects (hers and her coworker’s) that were a merging of an NGO and a business, both of which happened to be centered on Yaks. Their goal was to enter into a field that would help locals in small villages in Tibet and Yunnan provinces in China use their own resources to increase development. Her project used yak down (fur) to manufacture products like rugs, scarves, items for the home, and even a baby clothing line. Yak down, which is very similar to cashmere, hadn’t been “discovered” in the fashion industry. She was able to train local people in villages in the south of China to harvest this previously unused material and knit it into her products, which are sold on the market. By doing this, she not only created development opportunities for these small villages and the people there, but also supported a functional business at the same time not relying on donations like most NGO’s to help these people. Her ideas helped these farmers and yak herders to help themselves. Her partner’s project was similar to Marie’s, but used yak milk to make into gourmet cheese now sold in Yunnan and exported to Hong Kong and Greater China. This interesting workshop described a business not only providing humanitarian services and allowing village farmers and herders the opportunity to support themselves and increase development, but sustain a successful business simultaneously.

The Final Day

“Don’t take no as an answer, take no as a question.”
-Dr. Mechai Viravadya

Sunday morning’s keynote speaker was the founder of an organization called Free the Children, a network of children helping children through education. His name is Marc Kielburger, and shared his personal experiences to show instead of telling us how much of a difference we can make in the lives of other children. He shared his experience working at an AIDS clinic in Thailand, his first exposure to humanitarian work. From there his heart and passion for serving others grew, as he joined his brother Craig to create Free the Children, a movement to help youth throughout the world. Inspiring stories of students from villages in Kenya moved almost everyone at the conference to tears. He told a story of a boy named Santosh, showing us his picture on the screen. Marc said, “look at this boy, and take a good look at him because you will never see his face again. He will never be on the front page of a newspaper. He will never be on the cover of time magazine or in a documentary, even though he deserves to be. Yet, Santosh is my hero.” Santosh had been in his school when the rebel movement seized his school and after executing all the teachers, the students were asked to make a choice: to join the rebel army or not. The students who chose to join the rebel army had a mixture of powerful drugs injected into their bloodstream making them psychologically unstable, and were then taken to their homes to kill one or both of their parents, insuring they didn’t have a family to run away to. The students who opted to not join the army had to stand in front of the assembly of students and have their right hand chopped off. Santosh stood up for all of the students to these soldiers with rifles, pleading that they all be released, as their village believed in peace. In response, the soldier took a dull machete and amputated Santosh’s right hand. Santosh has trained himself to be left-handed and makes small wood carvings to sell in order to earn enough money to pay his school fees. Upon hearing this story from Santosh, Marc told him, “that must have been the most painful experience of your life getting your hand chopped off.” To which Santosh replied “No. The most painful experience of my life was meeting the very same soldier who had hurt me. There, in the market I had to shake hands with him in the name of peace, and I had to use my right hand.”

After listening to Marc’s speech, I went to a workshop sponsored by Free the Children on how to form your own social involvement group. The basic gist of this workshop was the six steps to create a group: 1. Choose your issue/pick your passion 2. Do your research 3. Build your team 4. Have a meeting 5. Set a mission/create an action plan 6. Take action and review. It was very helpful for anyone looking to become more socially involved or to start their own service group (probably at their school) surrounding an issue they are passionate about. The PowerPoint presentation is online and was extremely helpful, conducted by a wonderful staff member of Free the Children named Annie Ly.

The last workshop of the conference our group from School Year Abroad presented our workshop. We discussed our work at two local organizations: teaching English at a school for the children of migrant workers on the outskirts of Beijing, and volunteering at Blue Sky Healing Home, a facility for orphans in need of surgery or medical attention and those recovering from surgeries. Our presentation really excited our school director, Mr. Bissell, and there will likely be much more publicity about our presentation in the future possibly even including a video and publication in the SYA newsletter. Let me know if you would like more detailed information about our presentation or would like to see a copy of our presentation.
The last day of our conference was concluded with two more keynote speakers. The first was Carol Chyau, the partner of Marie So who gave the workshop Yaks for Development, and her speech was along the same lines as Marie’s workshop. The other speaker, through video conferencing was Dr. Mechai Virayadya from Thailand. He is known in Thailand as “the condom guy”, for almost single-handedly reducing the birthrate there from 3% to less than 0.5% and almost completely abolishing HIV/AIDS in Thailand. By introducing birth control methods to the general public starting at an early age, he boldly breaks the taboos of a conservative society with a wonderful sense of humor to truly make a difference in his home country. I highly suggest looking into this man and his fascinating work (as a result, condoms in Thailand are more commonly known as “Mechais.”) He changed the world with hard work, determination, and a sense of humor.

We left the first Global Issues Network Conference in Asia profoundly changed. Not only had we met incredibly intelligent and influential people from around the world, networked with like-minded youth from many places in Asia, and learned more about global issues and humanitarian work than we thought possible, we were inspired. Example after example had not told, but shown us that young people truly can make a difference. We are not too young, and not the leaders of tomorrow or the future: our time is now. To quote Marc Kielburger of Free the Children, “this is the generation we have been waiting for.” I left this conference knowing that I can, and will, change the world.

Some resources for those of you who are interested:
*Recommended book: High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them by Jean-François Rischard.
*Austin Gutwein www.hoopsofhope.org
*Marc Kielburger www.freethechildren.org
A video of a speech by Marc and Craig http://youtube.com/watch?v=TiegN-2J0sM
*Hafsat Abiola: www.kind.org
*Dr. Mechai Viravadya www.pda.or.th/eng
*Jane Goodall www.janegoodall.org www.rootsandshoots.org

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