Seriously! Time flies when you’re attending amazing events. These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of education and inspiration for me…all starting with the Shot@Life Social Fellowship Summit. The agenda was impressive – but I expected nothing less from that fabulous team; working with Devi, Anastasia, Chrysula, Emily, and Morra over the years has been both an honor and a treat. But enough with the gushing – onto the content!
The presenters were passionate and knowledgeable and the discussions that followed were thought-provoking. The first day I sat in on sessions led by senior officials from organizations and agencies from USAID to the State Department, discussing how the United States is investing in health for women and girls to how social media can influence foreign policy.
the Shot@Life Social Fellows with Deputy Asst. Sec’y of State, Victoria Esser
Day 2 rocked my world though. I was inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit exhibited by John Nesbit, the founder of Medic Mobile, when he dreamt up the idea of using mobile technologies to deliver healthcare solutions to people in developing countries. {He was easy on the eyes too, ahem}. Right after that, Kirsten Gagnaire, the Global Director for MAMA Global blew us away with stories of how they immerse themselves in local culture to meticulously develop their mobile maternal health information services to deliver life-saving guidance to pregnant women and their families in countries like South Africa and Bangladesh.
The title of the next session caught my eye as soon as I saw the agenda: “Cooking Shouldn’t Kill.” I was so curious to find out what that was all about. Radha Muthiah, the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves explained to us the life-threatening dangers that cooking on ’3-stone fires’ pose to families.
Did you know that cookstove smoke kills 1 person every 16 seconds?
Insanity. It is one of the world’s biggest – but least known – killers. Compounding the hazards of cookstoves are the personal risks that the women are subjected to, walking in dangerous parts of their areas to search for cooking fuel, in the dark hours in the morning, becoming targets of sexual and physical abuse.
All so that they can prepare food for their families.
The day wrapped with a candid and poignant discussion with Teddy Ruge, Lead Social Media Strategist at World Bank. Teddy showed us fantastic examples of how the populations that aid organizations serve need and want to be responsible for the stories being told about them. We watched several different amazing video clips, all driving the point home that continually telling a single-sided story can be dangerous. Here was one of my favorites:
What would you think of Norway if you only saw this video?
Truth be told, I am still digesting a lot of the information that was shared during the Summit. And I’m grateful to Tina Musoke and the UN Foundation Shot@Life campaign for inviting me to be a part.
