Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Social Good Summit: Day 3 Recap


Day 3 of the Social Good Summit was marked with inspirational words from noted personalities. The day began with the presentation of the Social Good Award to the much deserved President Kikwete of Tanzania. Kikwete has championed social media in his country to create awareness on health issues, including maternal health. "We want to get to a point where not a single woman will die from childbirth," he said. 

"Social media is taking over the medium of communication all over the world." Tobeka Zuma, First Lady of South Africa
In a light-hearted but informative session, two First Ladies joined the stage to talk about the power of Twitter. Tobeka Zuma, First Lady of South Africa, and Dr. Ida Odinga, First Lady of Kenya, both alluded to how social media has helped spread awareness about health issues in their respective countries. "Social media helps to network, inform, and educate," Odinga said. The session ended with both ladies tweeting for the first time on the stage on smart phones.

"I made the choice to work for the poor," Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank
One of the most inspirational sessions of the Summit was with the father of micro-finance, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who spoke about the "social business way." This entails starting a business that not only creates profit for the entrepreneur but solves a particular social issue. For example, "you can design a business with the sole purpose of creating jobs for young people," he said. "Pick up one problem that bothers you, refine it, and find a business solution for it," he asked of the audience.

Yunus also commented on the technology-savvy younger generations. "They have all this power at their disposal but don't know what to do with it. In 10 to 20 years time, all this power will be at our disposal. The question is what do you use this power for." He ended his session with advice for younger generations on starting their own business: "The first thing to learn as an entrepreneur is patience. I have never seen failure as a separate issue. It's part of the process. You fail. You overcome."

"I fed the entire neighborhood using only the power of the sun." Chef Jose Andres
FYI: Smoke inhalation from cooking is the fifth largest killer in the developing world. Around 3 billion people around the world are still using methods to cook food that exposes people to harmful smoke. Chef Jose Andres, Ambassador to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, is not only passionate about food but also about using food to solve some of the world's problems, including clean cookstoves. "Food is the most important energy on the earth, not gas. Food should be at the heart of energy talks," he said. Andres advocated for solar cookstoves, which would reduce the loss of trees and protect the soil and farming.

"Let girl be girls and not brides." Archbishop Desmond Tutu
A moving session with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson was one of the highlights of the day. Both personalities make up The Elders, an independent group of global leaders who lend their name, voice, and expertise to pressing social issues. The group, founded by Nelson Mandela, have launched a campaign to address child-bride marriages called Girls Not Brides. Ten million girls under the age of 18 are married. This translates to 25,000 girls getting married every day. In order to be successful, the campaign needs to target cultural and religious traditions. "One of the issues that causes girls to feel like a second class citizen is a misuse of religious tradition," Robinson said. "We can end child marriage in a generation and we couldn't have 10 years ago without the technology we have now," she added.

Tutu also spent some time chatting on hope. "I'm not an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope," he said. "How often over the span of history that good prevails. Even when the stakes are high against us, in the end good wins." And Tutu believes that the younger generation shares in this hope: "I’m glad to see what young people can do. They blow my mind. I’m amazed at how idealistic they are. They believe that poverty can in fact become history." The Archbishop even said that young people are "awesome" and "have oomph!"


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