Family: The Key to Human Life and Dignity
I am currently living and working with at-risk youth in the city of Detroit in a transitional living facility. The children I mentor on a daily basis all come from very different racial, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds. Although each child’s story of their dissent into homelessness is both unique and tragic, there is one common […]
Women and the UN
Women is one of the most popular topics right now in the international agenda and within nations. This is very important because women consistently represent a vulnerable group all over the globe. There are places where education is banned for women, and these are usually where we find leaders such as Malala Yousafzai, who struggles […]
International Arts Forum: A Dream Come True
One day I had a dream to change the world, in which nations were unified, peace available to all and no suffering. That is something that I was looking for since I was a child but I never understood. I received criticism. Sometimes I was teased and scolded. But my desire and feelings always remained […]
Kenya Needs a Holistic View of Family Planning
Recently in the Daily Nation in Kenya was an article titles “Expanding Family Planning Access to Poor Women Vital for Kenya’s Future” by Prof. Fred Segor, in the Daily Nation of 7th November 2013. The article was quite informative on a number of statistical issues. However, a reading of the article also reveals the unfortunate […]
Three Critical Words: “It’s a Girl”
I was in London this summer for the birth of Prince George. The city came alive with the news of Kate’s hospitalization. Smiling, I walked through the streets to my morning class; a birth is always an exciting event. I went with a friend from northern England to wait at Buckingham Palace for an hour, […]
Returning to WYA: What Europe’s ELC Offered That Was More Important Than Networking
My head is full and so is my business card holder – two definite signs of a recent trip to Brussels. “In Brussels you don’t socialise; you network.” This is a commonly-expressed statement about the ‘Euro bubble’ that is Belgium’s capital. However, WYA’s events give you an opportunity to excel at both professional networking and […]
Inspiration at the WYA Europe Emerging Leaders Conference
Brussels is not just a beautiful city for tourists; it is a city where you can smell the European dream, no matter who you are. As the capital of the European Union, Brussels is proof of the desire for peace that European citizens have held inside them since the Second World War ended. Today, Europeans […]
Man in the Mirror
We never swim in the same river. Nowadays, things change at the speed of light with no time even to blink. That is why many people find in the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama a shelter from the storm. With only seconds to think about what we are going to do – to […]
When Ideas Become Practice
During WYA North America’s Emerging Leaders Conference this weekend, we engaged in dialogue about the difference between seeing the person as a subject with inherent worth, versus an object to be used for various ends. One high schooler noted that her peers are always seeking to be different, but that “different” is really just the […]
A Hero at a European Parliament Prize Ceremony
On October 22, I had the pleasure to hear a speech which left me speechless. It was a message of hope and optimism based on the fact that freedom of thought and freedom to live in accordance with one’s conscience is the birthright of every human person. The speaker also emphasized her opinion that freedom […]