Inspiring Change by Sharing Stories

I have been fortunate to grow up in a developed country with understanding parents who wished to share the world with me. In high school I had the opportunity during my summers and volunteer in countries around the world including Cost Rica, Botswana, China, and India. I then pursued my undergraduate degree in International Relations.

When I finished my degree, I started travelling. My travels took my from my university in Boston to London, Sydney, South Africa, and China. In my travels I began to recognize the differences around the world. Living in the UK and Australia I grasped a greater understanding of how others in the ‘developed’ world think. In South Africa I saw the both the beauty of nature and the disparity of the people. In China, I saw how quickly a country could ‘develop’, and that fast development had both positive and negative affects on society and the environment.

This led me to pursue my Master’s degree in International Development and Environmental Analysis. One of the things I enjoyed most about my studies was hearing the stories and learning about all the creative and innovative ways people around the world have been working to change their situation.

So I started blogging about these stories. A couple of years ago I got an email from an individual at World Pulse who encouraged me to share my stories on the site. It was exciting to learn about the site and this community of women who come together to share their stories from around the world and Voices of the Future has inspired me to engage the site more regularly.

I am currently living in New York City and this past week the UN Summit has been going on. I started the week at a Stand Up Against Poverty event. The event brought together a number of organizations who are working to end poverty. At the event I met an amazing young women who is working with women’s groups in Zimbabwe. She had come from half way around the world to meet and learn from organizations working towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Last night I attended a networking event for organizations who are interested in International Development. A diverse group of people from various different causes gathered to discuss what they were doing to create change. I had a long conversation with a doctor from India who had come to America to finish a degree in public health. His belief was that being a doctor wasn’t enough - to really create change one must also be involved in policy. Treating an illness is not enough, you must also confront why that illness exists in the first place.

These events of the past week and others I have been to in the past have inspired me. It is possible to create change in the world and tools such as Pulse Wire bring people together to find ways to do so.