Nobel Women’s Initiative blog

by Amelia Korangy, NWI rapporteur, FAIR fund

After the immense dialogue that took place today, I feel a bit foolish. Usually, I take solace and recognize my own self-efficacy that has come as consequence of my dedication to the non-profit world. As a well educated, 21 year old woman growing up just outside of Washington DC my everyday life is not perfect, it is not pristine, but I am grateful to admit that I do enjoy myself and my time. More than ever before, today I realized that I am beyond fortunate. I have an obligation to listen. There is so much to hear, and while it is difficult, I am glad to hear it.

At home, I bask in my family and my friends who are all healthy, vibrant human beings. I spend much of my time listenning to music, dancing, or in the glorious world of philanthropy and social change fundraising. I enjoy food, wine, and fashion. I long for the sunshine, fresh flowers, the ocean, Maryland crabs, and good films. I usually enjoy those without rationing, without much restraint, and usually with an angelic conscience.

I took a great deal of time today thinking of these things that make me happy in a world of such despair. I listened and compared my happiness to what my young women counterparts living in Burma, Palestine, or Iraq can only dream of experiencing. I felt rather foolish.

I learned from women who are the leaders of organizations and movements, women who have decades of life experience revolving around erasing violence around the world. For so many women around the globe – old and young – happiness is marginal. Instead, their lives are about survival. If my life is not about survival, it must be about contribution.

I added very little to the discussion today, as I felt it was better to instead utilize my very best civil listening skills. I heard something quite profound: humanity is trivialized by violence. It is not the economics, or the politics, or the power that will motivate change. It is our own humanity. By ignoring such, by failing to listen, a person always trivializes himself or herself, lives illegitimately, and fails. I believe very strongly that people cannot live their lives in the shadow of someone else’s strife, but I also believe that empathy for the suffering that people – real people all over the world – battle every single day is central to success.

Remember this humanity, listen to the people, to the women, to the cause and the effects that the work being done all over the world has. There are so many epic voices in the world, professing horrific problems and incredible solutions. Right now, what is need is ears. Listen. You will find that the recognition that we are all human, that we are all capable of the same strife and the same joy, that we are all responsible for recognizing our own impact on others, is the best call to action. That is what makes listening so profound.

Once we have broken down the stereotypes, the judgments, and the socially constructed barriers that exist, once we begin to look at the world as a network of people then, really, will there be no hesitation to act. Those who stand quiet, or who make general assumptions of situations, who make superficial investments that fail to consider the local culture and the international context of change are those who have not yet been able to understand that we are people.

By sharing the experiences of women and of organizations we see the people who are involved with social change work, we see the pain, but we also feel hope. And so today every woman in the room has been once again given the drive to act. Tomorrow we will define, organize, collaborate, and expand our actions so that people will listen. Testimonies today prove that it is women and girls who need your ears the most. Listen.