Forces for a better world

Just before the holidays I attended a very enriching and fulfilling conference in Melbourne called Global Shifts. Danny Almagor, the social entrepreneur in residence at the RMIT University in Melbourne and CEO of Small Giants, which is a business with social impact, spearheaded the conference. It was attended by almost 400 people from all over the world. But it was the quality of the speakers and the “feel” of the conference that was very inspiring.

The speakers were diverse ranging from key executives of Avaaz.org, Purpose.org, Change.org to successful social entrepreneurs. These are huge enterprises. For example, Change.org has 25 million members. Avaaz.org has been able to successfully garner millions of signatures for a huge range of causes ranging from the exploitation of women in the Middle East to the destruction of the environment in various parts of the world. These signatures have created significant pressure pushing organizations and even governments in the right direction.

The conference was attended by Dr. Saamdu Chetri, the director of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre of Bhutan; and Bunker Roy, the founder of Barefoot College, a college that has been able to provide rural communities all over the world with solar power by giving training to illiterate women to be solar engineers! The mix was eclectic with leaders from various fields. Organizations that did impact investments — and having portfolios up to several hundred million dollars and looking for ways to invest in the world such that they made a difference. The people who attended were all individuals who wanted deeply to make a change in the world.

The discussions were stimulating ranging from groups presenting proposals to funders, on the food we ate to issues with government in creating a difference in crisis areas.

I met kindred spirits some of whom were very deeply inspiring. I found Bunker Roy of the Barefoot College special. I liked his humor and his vision.  He came from a well-heeled family in Delhi, went to a good university but upon visiting an underprivileged village in India — he knew that he wanted to do something more with his life. Going against the wishes of his family, he founded the Barefoot College — which has now made a difference in villages all over the world.

Dr. Chetri from Bhutan was also especially moving. When he spoke towards the end of the convention — tears welled in my eyes because I was so moved by his genuineness. My mother, my sister and my brother have all gone to Bhutan and they all say that the place is unique.  Bhutan is the happiest place in the planet. Their goal is not the economy, but the happiness and well-being of their people. The culture is distinctly non-materialistic. What is the use of money if the people are not happy?

When I was biking in La Mesa and I texted my brother, Gabby, about how beautiful La Mesa is — he texted me back saying well he just saw the King of Bhutan biking in the market. I invited both Bunker and Dr. Chetri to the Philippines. We have much to learn from them.

I was invited as a speaker. I was one of the resource speakers in the topic, “Creating Movements to Bring on Social Change.” I talked about the 10 million signature campaign to save our island economy, and the efforts to rehabilitate the Pasig River — focusing on the yearly run we have. Some people came to me and wanted very much to help save our islands. I met people who were interested in looking into my Green Fund idea, which is an effort to get investments into the islands to get our people out of poverty — but to do it in a sustainable way. I’ve already met with Department of Tourism, Department of Agriculture and DENR and there is an agreement to work together in chosen islands. This is very exciting. I even met people from the Philippines who want to get involved when they go back.

Asif Saleh, the director of communications and social innovation lab at BRAC attended the conference. BRAC is the largest NGO in the world with over 130,000 employees. It started as a relief organization and has since branched out into agriculture, education and now even runs an upscale retail chain employing 65,000 artisans. It generates 70 percent of its own revenue.

When I talked to Asif he mentioned that BRAC is in Mindanao — precisely because it is an area where a difference is badly needed.

The program was closed by Nir Tsuk from Israel and Aziz Abu Sarah from Palestine: humorously riffing off each other while swapping notes on pathways to a better world. Aziz’s brother, who he deeply loved, was killed by Israeli soldiers. He was consumed by hate and then he saw that this was getting him nowhere and he decided to shift. Now heads an effort to bridge the gap between the two cultures. Something magical happens when hate is transformed to affinity. It creates a feeling inside — a sigh of relief — an opening — and one just knows that this is the right thing to do.

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I watched Zero Dark Thirty and I thought the acting of Jessica Chastain was superb. She deserves her Best Actress in Golden Globe Award. The beginning torture scenes of the movie were very disturbing. It was hard for me to watch a human inflicting so much cruelty on another. War is abnormal. It just isn’t right. Hitting back doesn’t address the situation — it just goes on and on and on. Both sides suffer. One gets hit and then something inside dies and hardens — there must be a better way to address the conflicts and pain in the world other than inflicting more pain.

Negative forces will always exist. It’s the determination and creativity to “match” these forces and “win” over them — within oneself – and in the social milieu that is the challenge of the 21st century. The key is to find it first within oneself. To be aware that there are higher forces that are indeed helping.

The Global Shifts conference in Melbourne pointed to many exciting possibilities. It exposed me to major segments of society throughout the world that are currently dynamically at work making a difference. Integrating all these pieces together is crucial to the survival of the human race and the survival of our planet.

For more information on the conference, call Danny at danny@smallgiants.com.au or Julie at Julie.d.roberts@rmit.edu.au.

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I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.