“There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living” — Nelson Mandela
Time is Nothing // Around The World Time Lapse from Kien Lam on Vimeo.
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Time is Nothing
Jocelyn Ling
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(No)Where // (Now)Here
Jocelyn Ling
Just discovered an incredible photographer and his website: 365q.ca. Thought I would share a couple of my favourite pictures I find inspiring. Enjoy!
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Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Jocelyn Ling
Women hold up half the sky — Chinese ProverbReality is hard. It is a startling revelation at times often because we choose to surround ourselves with our view and experience of the world. This Thanksgiving, I am reminded of reality when I sat down to read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In Half the Sky, Kristof and WuDunn throw an interesting twist into the conventional view of plights of women around the world: by telling their stories. From Cambodia to South Africa. From sex slaves to maternal health. By putting a name, emotion and passion into the stories. This tentative foray into the realm of story-telling melds surprising well with what is, essentially, a passionate call to action against our generation’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls worldwide.
The opening of the book follows the story of Srey Rath, a young Cambodian teenager, who was sold as a sex salve across the borders, ending up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she endured routine brutality and constant humiliation. It was a huge shock to my system, as Malaysia is someplace I call my home town… to read in such vivid detail the human rights violation done to Srey Rath was stunning in every sense.
These stories of human perseverance, injustice and ultimately hope, just like Srey Rath, are woven into three main issues: sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence e.g. honor killings and mass rape and maternal mortaility. Sub issues include education, microcredit and religion. The stories in the book are shocking, but ultimately this is the central truth of the book: Women aren’t the problem but the solution. The plight of girls is no more a tragedy than an opportunity.
“It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all battles of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine “gendercide” in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century.
In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it was the battle against totalitarianism. We believe that in this century, the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world. ”
Through stories, Kristof and WuDunn demonstrate how the key to economic progress lies in the fact that as a society, we need to stop ignoring women who hold up half the sky. Unleashing this incredible human potential is not only the right thing to do in terms of our own shared humanity, but also the best way to tackle poverty. They show how in vastly different circumstances, the endurance of the human spirit and how a little help can go a long way e.g. the simple act of iodizing salt to improve a baby’s IQ.
I won’t go into the details of the book because my summary will not do these incredible stories justice. However, on a personal level, this book’s message has imprinted itself deeply within my beliefs in international development. After all, how many books make such a statement about a matter than concerns everyone because of our shared humanity? The stories of these women show me the resilience and amount of hope they have within themselves who have every reason to give up but continue on. It’s so moving and inspirational that I just want to shout it out loud and tell everyone about the issues Kristof and WuDunn have written about. If there is one thing that this book is about, it is the story of transformation.
Rating: 10/10
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” — Derek Bok
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Vancouver Peace Summit
Jocelyn Ling
Something exciting is happening in Vancouver on September 27th-29th 2009!!! Vancouver is hosting a Peace Summit: Nobel Laureates in Dialogue. The Peace Summit will be holding 5 sessions centered around World Peace, Creativity, Well-being and Women & Peace-building.
The main speakers of the event would be World Peace through Personal Peace @ UBC Chan Centre:
1) The Dalai Lama “When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.”
2) Desmond Tutu …is a South African cleric and activitist who won a Nobel Peace Prize in his fight against apartheid. He also won the Albert Schweitzer prize for Humanitarianism and the Gandhi Peace Price. Desmond Tutu campaigns for human rights, the oppressed, AIDS, homophobia, poverty and racism. Tutu is widely regarded as “South Africa’s moral conscience” and has been described by Nelson Mandela, as ” the voice of the voiceless.”
3) Matthieu Ricard — http://www.matthieuricard.org/ …is a Buddhist monk, author and photographer in Nepal. Dubbed as “the happiest person in the world” by scientists, Ricard’s books mainly center around the meaning and fulfillment of happiness. He is also deeply engaged in the effect of mind training of the brain at Princeton and Berkeley. Ricard received the French National Order of Merit for his humanitarian work in the East.
4) Eckhart Tolle … is a Canadian-German spiritual teacher, author and motivational speaker. He is most famous for his book “The Power of Now”, which emphasizes not being caught up in thoughts of the past and future and being aware of the present moment. It has been a NY Time bestbeller, and listed as one of Oprah’s favourite book. Since, he has published “A New Earth” exploring the structure of the human ego and how it acts to distract people from their present experiences.
Other notable speakers are:
Co-Recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams for their work in Peaceful resolutions in Northern Ireland, Nobel Peace Prize Jody Williams for her work in banning landmines, Ken Robinson (Creativity expert), Daniel Siegel, Kim Campbell and Ashley Judd.
Tickets start at $100 for the main event and $60 for the others.
The event can be viewed here. Tickets can be purchased here.
See YOU there!
Note: Bios of speakers and pictures are taken and paraphrased (bios) from Wikipedia
