Tales of Courage and Strength

As I stated in my of the One Young World Summit, I would be writing a series of posts so as to do justice to the summit overall. Although the conference lasted only three days, I feel as though I had a month of experience jammed into 12-14-hour days, with an additional 3-8 hours of interactions each night with my fellow delegates (seeing as how none of us could seem to sleep or adjust to the time change).

We gathered at the Kongresshaus Zurich for hours on end, listening to speeches from world leaders, CEOs of global corporations and philanthropists. However, the people that we learned the most from were our fellow delegates. I would like to focus this blog entry on examples of courage and leadership from three delegates who left an impression in my heart that will never be erased.

Bruce: On the first day of the summit, we were introduced to Bruce, a young man from South Africa. Bruce stepped up to the microphone, first apologizing to the delegation for speaking with a slight stutter. We waited patiently as Bruce made his comments and cheered him on with heartfelt encouragement. During the opening ceremony, Bruce interrupted the speakers because he had a message to deliver. I wish I had video of what occurred. He once again apologized for his stutter. But then, he fluidly recited a poem without missing a beat. He spoke of our ability to change the world. His words were inspiring, poetic and stunning. This young man who would blend into any crowd in the world without so much as a second glance captured the heart of every person in the room.

A young man from Uganda: The unfortunate part of this conference was that delegates were given so little time to comment and ask questions. We were limited to 30-40 seconds each. However, one man earned more than 40 seconds. The fact that his comments were cut off by the moderator was nothing short of criminal. This young man lives in a country mired in civil war for over two decades. He spoke about being kidnapped by the military at age 11 and his escape to return to his family, only to be kidnapped once more. This incredible young boy escaped yet again in his quest to reunite with his family. When the moderator ended his comments, she may as well have shattered the universe. The disdain in the room was palpable. We could have learned more from this young man than from any CEO on stage.

Anna from Bulgaria: As the Global Health plenary came to a close, the co-founders announced that one more person would like to address the delegation and that he or she would have something shocking to reveal. After listening to many tales of AIDS/HIV, I immediately thought that the beautiful girl on stage would reveal to us that she was living with AIDS. What she said, though, was almost more heartbreaking. She had just learned that her best friend had taken her own life. She wanted us to consider the importance of mental health and to promise her that, if we knew someone who was depressed, we would do everything we could to help him or her. I found Anna after her speech. She broke my heart. I have known people that have committed suicide. I have seen the pain that it causes. I cried with Anna, thanked her for her courage to speak about something so personal in front of so many people and encouraged her to take this experience and let it make her stronger.

There were many more people who spoke that I will never forget. Their personal tales of courage and tenacity were the most rewarding experience I had as a delegate. I consider myself privileged to have had such an opportunity to meet such a remarkable group of people all at one time. Most of us spend so little time outside of our comfort zone and our own community that it is difficult to truly grasp the world around us.

My hope is that, when One Young World comes to Pittsburgh in 2012, the summit focuses more on the lives and stories of the delegation than of the guest speakers.

When we learn from our peers, we learn about ourselves, as well, because we are exposed to what humans are capable of in the face of adversity.