On my last day as an intern at the Carter Center, seven of us had the opportunity to go to lunch with Dr. John Hardman, the President and CEO of the Center. If you want to be impressed, read his bio: http://www.cartercenter.org/news/experts/john_hardman.html. It’s nearly impossible to repeat the conversation that transpired over 1.5 hours with Dr. Hardman, but perhaps one particular topic of that afternoon had special significance to me: Sudan.
Dr. Hardman spent much of our lunch speaking about the tenuous situation in Sudan. Following the elections in April, the international community is now focused on the lead up to the referendum in January. The majority of reports expect the South of Sudan will vote to secede from the North, and whether this type of transition could be achieved peacefully is one of the major challenges. Moreover, the capacity of the South to organize a fully-functioning government in such a short amount of time is an ambitious goal. It is admirable that the Carter Center is doing all it can to play a non-biased role in the referendum process, and yet the issue itself is daunting.
For me, the conversation struck a personal chord because Sudan is basically the reason I have shifted my career path. When I was 26 years old, I was three years into running my not-for-profit dance company and looking for a new choreographic challenge. I came across the book, “The Devil Came on Horseback”, which follows the life of US Marine Brian Steidle as he serves on the African Union Observation Mission in Darfur. For me, the images and deep inner turmoil Steidle expresses in his book were so powerful that they created a sense of individual responsibility for mass atrocities that destroy the human spirit. I knew I wanted to further Steidle’s story and message, and I used the voice I knew best to do it: choreography.
In 2008, my dance company premiered a ballet called “Darfur” based on Steidle’s story. It performed in several different cities and raised funds for an organization that assists victims of genocide, Global Grassroots. But at the same time, I did not feel that was enough to meet my responsibility as a human being to raise America’s awareness of the situation in Darfur or genocide in general. I looked toward foreign policy and NGOs for answers. I enrolled in a Masters program in International Relations, and two years later, I found myself in an internship at The Carter Center in Conflict Resolution.
Dr. Hardman speaks about Sudan in a way that pushes the boundaries of how I understand a conflict zone. Regardless of whether or not I can play a role in that dialogue through policy or the arts, I know that the Carter Center has been a significant part of my journey to meet my threshold of personal responsibility.
Monday, August 16, 2010
WEEK NINE: The Lunch Game
Did you ever play that game as a kid when you list the famous people with whom you’d most like to go to lunch? Although kids today would be answering Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, in my day it was more like Mariah Carrey and Arsenio Hall.
However, a more interesting collection of guests were at the table I found myself sitting at last week. On Wednesday, a group of twelve people went to lunch as a way to recognize the work of the Carter Center interns over the course of the summer.
Each of these individuals is fascinating:
1) The Arabic-speaking law student
2) The sophisticated Jamaican-born MBA businesswoman
3) A former leader of a youth project in Northern Ireland
4) The tennis-playing law student who has enough extra brain cells to educate another planet
5) President Carter’s son who is just about the best storyteller-ever
6) The PhD student whose heart is big enough to support her family – both in NY and in Lebanon
7) The former director for the office of the U.N. Secretary-General's High Representative for the Elections in Cote d'Ivoire
8) The English teacher who taught in Palestine and China before working in Afghanistan
9) A former Amnesty International UK student organizer who spent 18 months in Namibia after working in Central India
10) A Lebanese woman who seems competent to manage coordination of the entire world while working in multiple languages
11) The most energetic intern who happens to be a Paris graduate and knows more about “So You Think You Can Dance” than me
It’s pretty incredible to think that I have the opportunity to spend time with this dynamic group of individuals over lunch – mixing in Caesar salad with questions about the tri-presidency in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the status of the revoked residency permits of four Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Everyone at the table is part of the Conflict Resolution Program at the Carter Center. The diversity of experience and areas of expertise is quite broad given the specific geographic focus and primary issues of the Center’s current work in conflict resolution.
In my opinion, that diversity of thought allows the Center to integrate existing best practices into innovative and pioneering programming approaches. In fact, this is reflected in one of the organization’s five guiding principles: the Center addresses difficult problems and accepts risk. In the limited time I have spent here, I’ve seen that principle embodied in so many different ways – from a re-doubling of efforts in Sudan to a persistent commitment to observe the elections in Guinea.
Sitting and looking around the table at these particular people deepens my belief that the “resolution” part of the conflict-resolution equation is possible. If 12 people can sit-down and brainstorm ideas that an organization is willing to institutionalize and implement, then there is some sort of pathway forward – even if it does involve a little trial and error.
As the group packed up and left the restaurant, I couldn’t help but think Lady Gaga missed out.
However, a more interesting collection of guests were at the table I found myself sitting at last week. On Wednesday, a group of twelve people went to lunch as a way to recognize the work of the Carter Center interns over the course of the summer.
Each of these individuals is fascinating:
1) The Arabic-speaking law student
2) The sophisticated Jamaican-born MBA businesswoman
3) A former leader of a youth project in Northern Ireland
4) The tennis-playing law student who has enough extra brain cells to educate another planet
5) President Carter’s son who is just about the best storyteller-ever
6) The PhD student whose heart is big enough to support her family – both in NY and in Lebanon
7) The former director for the office of the U.N. Secretary-General's High Representative for the Elections in Cote d'Ivoire
8) The English teacher who taught in Palestine and China before working in Afghanistan
9) A former Amnesty International UK student organizer who spent 18 months in Namibia after working in Central India
10) A Lebanese woman who seems competent to manage coordination of the entire world while working in multiple languages
11) The most energetic intern who happens to be a Paris graduate and knows more about “So You Think You Can Dance” than me
It’s pretty incredible to think that I have the opportunity to spend time with this dynamic group of individuals over lunch – mixing in Caesar salad with questions about the tri-presidency in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the status of the revoked residency permits of four Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Everyone at the table is part of the Conflict Resolution Program at the Carter Center. The diversity of experience and areas of expertise is quite broad given the specific geographic focus and primary issues of the Center’s current work in conflict resolution.
In my opinion, that diversity of thought allows the Center to integrate existing best practices into innovative and pioneering programming approaches. In fact, this is reflected in one of the organization’s five guiding principles: the Center addresses difficult problems and accepts risk. In the limited time I have spent here, I’ve seen that principle embodied in so many different ways – from a re-doubling of efforts in Sudan to a persistent commitment to observe the elections in Guinea.
Sitting and looking around the table at these particular people deepens my belief that the “resolution” part of the conflict-resolution equation is possible. If 12 people can sit-down and brainstorm ideas that an organization is willing to institutionalize and implement, then there is some sort of pathway forward – even if it does involve a little trial and error.
As the group packed up and left the restaurant, I couldn’t help but think Lady Gaga missed out.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
WEEK EIGHT: Adversity
Four years ago, Gerry Lenfest, one of Philadelphia’s hallmark entrepreneurs and philanthropists, told a group of young business students to be prepared for three things in life: hard work, adversity, and steadfast vision. His comment about adversity struck me then, and now, I wonder what a former president would say about adversity?
On Friday, the Carter Center interns had their second chance to interact with President Carter and Mrs. Carter in a Q&A session in Atlanta. Forty young people perched on the edges of their seats in newly dry-cleaned suits, listened intently as the Carters spoke about the history of the Center as well as the demographics of this intern class.
In true entrepreneurial fashion, the Carter Center started with just two people in 1982. Instead of a 35-acre state of the art facility and a $90 million annual budget, the Carter Center was housed in a spare room at Emory University. Even then, President Carter recognized the critical role of education and academics in his pioneering international work by forging a partnership with an educational institution. Nearly 30 years later, the Center has observed 77 national elections in 30 different countries, nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease worldwide, and built an Atlanta-based staff of 175 employees with field offices in 12 countries around the world.
Once again in an uncanny show of appreciation and respect, President Carter complimented us! Our class of interns had an 8% acceptance rate from the applications submitted this year. Collectively, 12 languages are spoken fluently – ranging from Khmer to Swahili to Arabic. There are three law students and three Ph.D. candidates. We have lived and worked in countries around the world: Lebanon, Ecuador, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ghana, Cambodia, Iraq, China, Jordan, Guinea, and many more. Two students were missing the day we met with the President – because they were in Democratic Republic of the Congo and the West Bank in the Middle East. President Carter acknowledged the importance of the work interns provide to the Center each and every year.
The questions we asked ranged from the mental health work of Mrs. Carter to advice from the President on career paths. I simply couldn’t resist asking my question:
“President Carter, could you please give us some advice about how we might handle adversity in our future careers?”
Silence.
“Well, I wouldn’t have thought that a group like this would need to handle much adversity…” President Carter explained to us that we represent one of the most fortunate (“blessed”) groups of people in the world, perhaps representing the top 1% or so of young, educated multi-lingual students entering the workforce through the United States. He reminded us that three-quarters of the population in Liberia live on less than $1/day where the idea of education simply does not fit into their daily fight for survival. So,“ just put in perspective the challenges you face or the setbacks you have,” he said. “If something doesn’t work out for you, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be and another opportunity will emerge.”
He acknowledged that the question “caught him by surprise.” He then added the most important remark I’ve heard yet since arriving at the Carter Center, which is perhaps a re-affirmation as to why we are all here:
“In my view, you have a great obligation to use your talents and the resources you’ve been given to a greater good and to serve those around the world where you can be of assistance.”
The next time I see Mr. Lenfest, I am going to tell him that “vision and hard work” trump “adversity.”
On Friday, the Carter Center interns had their second chance to interact with President Carter and Mrs. Carter in a Q&A session in Atlanta. Forty young people perched on the edges of their seats in newly dry-cleaned suits, listened intently as the Carters spoke about the history of the Center as well as the demographics of this intern class.
In true entrepreneurial fashion, the Carter Center started with just two people in 1982. Instead of a 35-acre state of the art facility and a $90 million annual budget, the Carter Center was housed in a spare room at Emory University. Even then, President Carter recognized the critical role of education and academics in his pioneering international work by forging a partnership with an educational institution. Nearly 30 years later, the Center has observed 77 national elections in 30 different countries, nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease worldwide, and built an Atlanta-based staff of 175 employees with field offices in 12 countries around the world.
Once again in an uncanny show of appreciation and respect, President Carter complimented us! Our class of interns had an 8% acceptance rate from the applications submitted this year. Collectively, 12 languages are spoken fluently – ranging from Khmer to Swahili to Arabic. There are three law students and three Ph.D. candidates. We have lived and worked in countries around the world: Lebanon, Ecuador, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ghana, Cambodia, Iraq, China, Jordan, Guinea, and many more. Two students were missing the day we met with the President – because they were in Democratic Republic of the Congo and the West Bank in the Middle East. President Carter acknowledged the importance of the work interns provide to the Center each and every year.
The questions we asked ranged from the mental health work of Mrs. Carter to advice from the President on career paths. I simply couldn’t resist asking my question:
“President Carter, could you please give us some advice about how we might handle adversity in our future careers?”
Silence.
“Well, I wouldn’t have thought that a group like this would need to handle much adversity…” President Carter explained to us that we represent one of the most fortunate (“blessed”) groups of people in the world, perhaps representing the top 1% or so of young, educated multi-lingual students entering the workforce through the United States. He reminded us that three-quarters of the population in Liberia live on less than $1/day where the idea of education simply does not fit into their daily fight for survival. So,“ just put in perspective the challenges you face or the setbacks you have,” he said. “If something doesn’t work out for you, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be and another opportunity will emerge.”
He acknowledged that the question “caught him by surprise.” He then added the most important remark I’ve heard yet since arriving at the Carter Center, which is perhaps a re-affirmation as to why we are all here:
“In my view, you have a great obligation to use your talents and the resources you’ve been given to a greater good and to serve those around the world where you can be of assistance.”
The next time I see Mr. Lenfest, I am going to tell him that “vision and hard work” trump “adversity.”
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