hope and inspiration

ive been fortunate enough to listen, learn, and be inspired from various people the past few weeks. here are a few scattered thoughts about these diverse encounters:

today, chris and i joined thousands of other people in Crisler Arena to hear His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama give the Peter Wege Lecture on sustainability. we got there early and had pretty good seats showing a profile of the Dalai Lama. even though we were all packed in, i immediately got the feeling of compassion - or loving kindness - that i was in the presence of someone at inner peace. the dalai lama was humorous, was humble, and most of all, he was real. i think that's one reason that i've been kept grounded in the faith of my parents, in Buddhism: like the Buddha, all those who provide us with advice or direction are real people, and they embrace their own humanity. some points the Dalai Lama talked about in his lecture (in no particular order) included:

-the gap between the rich and the poor, and how a lot of our (Western) lives are both unsustainable and overindulgent. he noted the paradox that many of us find ourselves in when valuing material happiness over spiritual happiness - although there is a limited amount of happiness to be found in material goods and the physical world, we fixate on having more, or believe that the next thing will bring us happiness. on the other hand, there is unlimited happiness to be found in inner peace, in compassion, and in ourselves. sadly, very few people decide to nurture or focus on their inner happiness, and suffer as a result.

-valuing humanity by realizing that the potential (in terms of compassion, or "warm-heartedness") of all humans is the same due to the ways in which we are brought into and nurtured into life. i think this was a little different perspective on 'human rights' as ive learned it, but was refreshing to think about as a practical approach to looking at human emotions and values.

-the importance of diversity (in religion) of addressing different times, needs, cultures, and places...although all of them do have similar overarching messages, it is important that they all exist because they provide different approaches for the differing needs of the world. the importance of dialogue in recognizing the beauty and strengths of each belief system. collaborating together, building community to achieve a common good.

-the need for non-violent approaches to solve conflict in the increasingly interdependent world. war as an outdated mode of resolving issues. nobody wakes up in the morning saying, "i hope to make an enemy or get in a fight today!" even with the best intentions, unfortunate things still happen. if you believe in karma, how you react to those situations will determine future events - so it is important to take care of the present, to make choices reflecting the positive effects you want to have in your life (and others).

-the need for community (and the need to see community as including even those who don't agree with you). although he didn't say that explicitly, i thought of it when he was talking about dialoguing and exchange between different religions, and how he tries to engage in that exchange whenever he can. one example he gave of was when he went to the UK and was invited to be a part of this seminar where he had to give lectures about different passages from the Gospel (and inserted some Buddhist perspectives). he described the experience as super challenging (but also fulfilling) as he was trying to lead discussions to believers as a non-believer (and that he had to learn and read the passages the night before as "homework"). many Christians at the event appreciated his lectures and later came to India to participate in meditation retreats and Buddhist lectures. this was a pretty cool example, and made me think about how i (or we) so rarely engage those that are not already part of our value system, and how we should maybe try to do that more in either our daily lives or in the work that we do.

going back to the theme of community, i was really honored to be part of a panel that celebrated the opening of this new exhibit at the National Library of Medicine at the NIH titled "Against the Odds: Making A Difference in Global Health." kevin burns nominated me to be in it, and staff interviewed me a couple of months ago to put together a short profile on me for the "ordinary people" part of the exhibit at the end. anyway, to celebrate the opening of the exhibit, there was a panel of people featured in the exhibit speaking to a few hundred local area high school students, which was pretty cool. i was totally inspired (and humbled) to hang out with and listen to speeches by Dr. H. Jack Geiger, one of the founders of community health centers in the US and co-founder of Physicians for Human Rights, Dr. Victoria Cargill, Director of Minority Research in the Office of AIDS at NIH, and Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of the late Ryan White. before the panel, i got to enjoy almost an hour of good one-on-one time with Dr. Geiger, who regaled with me stories of S. Africa during apartheid, cases he got during his oral boards, and why it kicked ass to be an emeritus professor. he also gave me some good career advice and was just really honest and down-to-earth.

Dr. Victoria Cargill talked about running a health clinic out of her beat-up car, getting hepatitis as a resident from a needlestick and the inhumane ways she was treated by her own fellow residents, and how she never takes "no" for an answer (fave quote - when somebody says "no" i flip it in my head to "on".... BRING it ON!) Jeanne White-Ginder talked about how ordinary people can be called to do extraordinary things, and how she just tried to be the best mom she could be - before, during, and after Ryan's life. all of it was really super amazing. if you want to see the podcast of the panel, you can check it out here. Also, the interactive online exhibit can be found here. Shout-out to Hanni Stoklosa, who is also featured in a video interview in the exhibit and also online. it is really an honor to be part of a community and a movement that includes really amazing inidviduals like Ryan White and activists from ACT-UP. it is important to remember where we came from, as activists, and as people. sometimes it's hard for me to keep that perspective because i'm always used to looking forward to the future, to the next action, to what we have to do to try and make the world a better place. i realize that i don't think often enough about the past, about lessons learned, about the people who came before us, about their struggles and their strength. watching the interviews with ryan white and seeing his mom speak then, and now, i was pretty overcome by the maturity and the wisdom and the courage a young person like he could summon. it was the same kind of inspiration i felt as a young person reading his autobiography. wow, i thought - i haven't thought about this in a long time, and it feels good to have that connection again, to revisit one's past and connect it with one's future. i was thankful to be given the opportunity to make that connection, and i feel like that's what i hope to do through my writing, for myself, for whoever reads this - make connections between the past and the present, and the present and the future....

lately, for me, ive been thinking a lot about connections, about community, about how my experience fits into the larger human experience as a whole. there was a pretty cool talk by faith fitzgerald titled 'what is a human?' at the global health education consortium conference (follow the link for more of a synopsis on some of the events) in sacramento that touched on parts of humanity, and connections i had with both friends and colleagues there made me really happy - and hopeful - about the future. i spent good quality time with rohan, who gave voice to many commuter night children in uganda, heidi, a ghli'er who recently married a co-worker from cameroon, jen cohn, who is going to lead an awesome global health residency in medicine at penn, and dan, who wrote a kick-ass script for the pepfar call-in i added to the end of my presentation on the global health workforce crisis and bought me a drink at one of his favorite dive bars in his hometown. finally, i also shared fuzzy fleeces (& yummy ethiopian food) with hanni, amsa-ifmsa co-chair. it was good to make those connections and it was good to bring some action and advocacy to a venue which traditionally hasn't been organized in that way. i was approached by more than a few people (academics! physicians!) who said they hadn't done a call-in before, and it was so easy, and they would totally do it again. this was kinda sad, because these people have so much power, but then also kinda exciting, because they realized how easy it was to use that power to make a difference. i hope there will be more organizing and advocacy at ghec in the future, and am looking forward to more student involvement and direction as we move forward.

finally, i just want to say that i feel so blessed (in so many ways) to have a community that continues to inspire me. whether that's through an activist speech making students think about systematic change at a community service awards ceremony (yay rishi!) or posting an inspiring, amazing blog (yay cj!) or helping me connect to a memory of the past (multiple people, multiple ways- more on this later!), i never imagined as an awkward, gangly, angsty teen that i would be surrounded by so much love and hope. besides world peace and access to health care, education, housing, and food for all, im not sure there's much more i could ask for ;)