Global Leadership

This is our US global leaders meeting to talk about challenges of our project and thinking about the trickle down effect that the U.S. in a worldly sense.

Today was again nothing short of amazing and truly awe-inspiring. The day started with the same group of 60 or so global leaders that we met yesterday...by the way, we are all becoming fast friends. I have never had a friend from Zimbabwe or Uganda. The layout of the day was the basis for the work that is to come for the global leaders. The morning worktime was spent on learning more about public policy and how to influence decision makers through using evidence based research along with studies that show the value in putting funding toward early childhood development.

The piece about advocacy that followed really sparked my thinking. We all advocate in our own way and it really made me think about what was going on at home and who was speaking and advocating on my behalf. (Thanks Elsa) We advocate for children and families, we advocate for our own child, we advocate for changes in program policies, we advocate for public pilicy changes. There are all kinds of ways we advocate-through personal stories, voting, petitions, face to face interactions and using language others understand. "You must believe change is possible and you can make a difference." Funny how a quote makes you pause and think....and how about this one..."advocates may not have all the answers, but they know what they want." The 60 of us broke up into pairs with people we did not know. I was paired with Bonita, a lovely lady from Uganda. Our task was to talk about a time we advocated....Bonita told me a story that not only made me think in context about the very different issues her region faces, but again caused me to think about the book I read on the plane called Mountains Beyond Mountains. So strange that I have been drawn to think about the similarities to what I read. It seems ironic in a weird way...but anyway-Bonita is passionate about reproductive health for women in Uganda and family planning and access to birth control that is reasonable and easy. It is a huge issue for them. Depoprovera injections were a good alternative for these women who wanted to avoid pregnancy-the larger issue was the remote areas these women live in and the difficulty of travel in order to get the shots. Allowing someone else to give the shots in the village would risk infection and unsanitary practices. Work with an anthropologist and health care officials made it possible to provide a way for women to continue to get these shots. This has been a proven technique in reducing pregnancies and has been expanded to other areas. I know that Sara had heard similar stories that she related back to me-

Sara was paired with Patrick, a young guy from Zimbabwe...he talked of how their is issues with children not being registered. After some discussion Sara discovered that this is what our birth certificate is. Only in Zimbabwe to get one, both parents have to be present and if you don't have one that you will not be allowed to go to school. This is a huge issue for them. We both learned a lot from these two individuals and find their stories and experiences enlightening, inspiring and really puts the issues we face in to perspective.

Youseff is from the Arab countries and is very worldly and knowledgable. He spoke at length about leadership to us.

Our next session or meeting time was in regards to leadership...."leadership is enabling others to face challenges and achieve results in comples conditions." From Managers who Lead. In our understanding of leadership we had to pick 2 ingredients we would need. Our list went something like this: inspire, empowerment, knowing when to stop or move, encouragement, advocate, imaginative, out-of-the-box thinker, positive role model, passionate, self-starter, visionary, can be a follower, sensitivity, delegates, open to constructive criticism, conviction and permit failure. The two most ingredients in our group are passion and empowerment.

By lunch time I would have to say most of the global leaders brains were a little mushy and were grateful for a break to reenergize themselves. Once back in our meeting room we listened to past global leaders and what they had chosen and followed through with for projects. We heard from India, Mexico, Africa, Uganda, Lebanon, Brazil and Fiji.

It was then time for us to think about our own projects and start defining what that would look like. For Sara and I, our project is loosely laid out for us as this was part of our application process. Others are just starting to create ideas and brainstorm. Sara and I met with our regional leader and reviewed the ideas, outcomes and next steps. It was a good end to the day.

On another note-it has not rained but maybe 6 times since January-guess what? Yes...it is pouring buckets...flash flood warnings and 2 inches of rain an hour. Hmmmm...did we bring it with us?

Tomorrow is called "Super Tuesday Tours". Sara is headed out to visit early childhood programs and I am headed out to visit and tour discovery gardens. I am very excited!!