Karim - the story of a refugee

Today I heard a story about Karim. His father was jailed, tortured and killed. Karim, together with his mother and four sisters was forced to flee his country, Syria, across the border into Lebanon, hopefully to safety. At the age of 13, he was the head of his family and had to go out to earn a living. For the past two years they have lived in a tented camp. Karim goes to work at a place where he is abused mentally, emotionally, physically and, often, sexually. He is grateful that it is him, and not one of his sisters. At least, he earns enough for food. 

Karim is only one of thousands of refugees. It may be five or ten years before he can go back to his country. By then he may have become a drug addict or a gun-runner. Certainly, he would have lost the opportunity to go to school and, probably the chance to make a worthwhile contribution to his country.

For a short while I had the opportunity to walk a few steps in the shoes of a refugee like Karim. I was herded and pushed around, shouted at and threatened, forced to give up what little I had with me in order to get food. I felt out of control, helpless and frightened. I wanted to curl up in the back of the tent and hoped that when I stuck my head out again, everything would have returned to normal. But when I lifted my head, bright lights were shining in my face and I was being shoved somewhere else. 

For me, this was only a simulation. For millions of people this is a reality that has stretched into years and in some cases, a lifetime. Crossroads Foundation  connects people in need with those who can help them. Through the Refugee Run they are presenting at the World Economic Forum, they gave me the opportunity to deepen my awareness and understanding and to make concrete the images from the newspaper and television. One tiny way that I can help is to spread the word. 

Reflections on Improving the State of the World

I couldn't help taking a childish delight in witnessing people, from all over the world, coming together to talk about how they can improve the state of the world. Here's Moshe and Mohammed, Enrique and Navanethem, Cho Yoon-Sun and Olafur, sharing platforms with Elif, Shirin and Aliko, engaging in debate and exchanging ideas. 

This is my second World Economic Forum meeting in Davos and I am energised and inspired by the discussions which I have been fortunate to attend. It's not perfect - only 15% of the speakers are women and 'global' discussion is dominated by the US and Europe. But today I listened to Al Gore talking about global change, Lewis Pugh sharing insights about extreme swimming, and the new Iranian president's vision for his country. Writers and artists debated identity and cultural heritage and Young Global Leaders (under the age of 40) discussed creative solutions to rebuilding nations. 

Imagine that we could sit together like this in our country and listen to each other and share our experiences. After 20 years of democracy, I am deeply saddened by the level of debate in our country. It seems that we are so quick to draw lines to divide and polarise our society. It's always 'us' or 'them' and if you are not with 'us', you must be with 'them'.

Charter for Compassion shared this quote, by Martin Luther King Jnr earlier this week:

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

The only way we are going to heal the rifts in our historically divided society, is to start communicating with each other. Let's take time to listen to each other's stories. We have a wealth of experience which, collectively, can build a strong and stable nation. 

Images of Switzerland

Sharing History

I first heard Elif Shafak speak on one of the TED talks. Her gentle, accented voice drew me in to her story. She spoke about growing up with her traditional Turkish grandmother who was a healer in the community. People would come to her with warts which they wanted to get rid of. Her grandmother would draw circles around the warts and, in time, they would shrivel up and fall off. She made the analogy that when we draw circles around ourselves, or build walls to isolate ourselves from others, we are at risk of shrivelling up and dying.

It struck a chord with me, having grown up in apartheid SA and experiencing the walls that the government built around our communities in order to cut us off from each other. If we don’t interact and learn from each other we run the risk of shrivelling up and dying – if not physically, then at least in our attitudes, beliefs and compassion for each other.

I was delighted to be able to hear her speak on more than one occasion last week in Davos. As a child she straddled two worlds – the modern, western world of her educated mother, and the traditional, superstitious world of her uneducated grandmother. In her books she allows space for both voices.

Many societies have a rich oral culture which is deemed to be “lesser” because it is women who are telling the stories.  History is remembered differently by different people and who is to say what is important enough to provide a window of understanding on what went before? 

Listening to her speak I realised that in SA there are many stories which need to be told so that we can get on with the process of healing and move forward. Sometimes all that is needed is for our experiences to be acknowledged, to feel that our voices have been heard. We all need a voice.

Getting back to Normal

Yesterday I was doing a quick grocery shop to replenish the shelves after our trip. It seemed a terribly mundane activity after the week I have just had. In fact I think that you do need to be slightly schizophrenic to travel. One moment you are being exposed to bright minds, the next getting the bread and milk; or freezing at -15 degrees and then being blasted by temperatures of 30 deg as you get off the plane.

The World Economic Forum exceeded any expectations I might have had before I left. I was not sure about the “spouses’ programme” but I discovered that all the sessions were open to everyone with the proviso that, if they were full, partners/spouses might have to make way for participants. But that certainly did not happen at any sessions I attended. So no fondue- or chocolate-making sessions for me...

The rest of the week pretty much fulfilled the promise of my last blog. I have been stimulated and moved by talks on a variety of topics:  music, art, creativity; the future of museums in the digital age; the plight of girls around the world; and the challenges of doing business in Africa.

It is hard to settle down and be normal again after all this stimulation. I had an Oprah-style “aha” moment there at 4000 metres above sea level.  Writers like Henning Mankell and Elif Shafak made me realise why I want to write. Bear with me over the next few blogs and I will tell you more... 

Davos 2013

This morning when I woke up it took a few moments for me to remember what day it was. Since leaving 30 degree weather at home on Monday, I have landed in below-freezing temperatures and it has been go, go, go. In the last two days  I have met the president of Rwanda, listened to the PM of Italy talk about how his country has turned around, heard what three young global leaders think the future of business is, attended a session on de-risking Africa, which was televised for CNBC, and fallen in love with Henning Mankell. I have also had to put on and take off so many layers of clothing several times a day which at this altitude has left me breathless. 

After one too many persons telling me that I was stupid to not take the opportunity of attending the World Economic Forum with my husband, I decided to join him. Usually I don't travel with him on business trips as he gets into  a different zone and is not much fun...

This time, however, the programme is packed full of interesting presentations which I think that he would secretly like to attend, rather than the many meetings he is sitting in. Here there are 2500 business and political leaders, as well as artists, musicians and religious leaders...all putting their heads together to "improve the state of the world".

I'm not sure how much progress they are making but when I hear what the young leaders have to say, I am full of hope that maybe the next generation will get it right. Other than wondering whose bright idea it is to have a conference in sub-zero temperatures, I am in awe of the vision to create a think tank such as this, and the implication that we need an inter-disciplinary approach to create a better world.