On 11th February the archbishop visited the University of Southampton to address students during their charity fundraising (RAG - raise and give) festival week. I felt it a privilege getting to go to the event, having never heard such a speaker live before. It was inspirational and thought provoking.
Two speakers spoke before the archbishop, Alexander Rose and Lesley Belinda.
Alexander Rose
Alexander started and runs the
Stop: Gun and Knife campaign which works to stop young people carrying weapons. He does this because of personal experience of the consequences of weapons - in particular, a very close friend of his was killed through being stabbed.
Early on he emphasised a point which he stressed throughout the talk: everyone can make a difference. He showed a video which emotionally presented how a young lad lost his life through knives being on the street. It went on to tell us that's why the the campaign is running and showed how he's getting the message out, through leaflets and t-shirts.
Alexander then explained his personal experience. He grew up surrounded by violence. It was normal to hear about killings around him until a tragic event - the death of his good friend Eugene, whose story was presented in the video. He refused, after that point, to accept this killing as normal.
He decided to do something about it and used his skills in graphic design to produce a book, which he had with him at the talk. It was his way of expressing his feelings and thoughts - the start of the campaign.
He presented two equations to us, as an engineer I use equations to help explain things in nature and science so I like them as a representation. They are:
Talent + Belief = Success
Passion + Faith = Change
He strongly believed in using both together to motivate the campaign and explain what he needed to get somewhere with it.
People often ask why he's tackling such a huge challenge and his answer is that when you know you've helped someone it 's a tremendous feeling. It seems fitting to add in here the point he kept emphasising, that we can all make a difference.
Lesley Bilinda
Lesley, in ways, seemed to have a similar background to Alexander. Her husband was murdered in the Rwandan genocide. She now works for the
Tutu Foundation UK, a charity whose vision is of a world in which we are human in fellowship, in community, in peace. Recently she worked alongside Desmond Tutu in a BBC television series "Facing the Truth" which brought together, across a table, victims and perpetrators in the Northern Ireland troubles.
She started her talk by complimenting the courage Alexander has shown. The courage particularly in the choices he's made. Lesley was face with a very difficult choice - her response to meeting who might have murdered her husband. She said that choices and decisions affect many people, relating it to the 'global village'. She questions, "Can we be independent individual?", suggesting that we can't.
Our relationships with others are what make us human. This leads to the Ubuntu concept which she summarises as "seeing ourselves [everyone] as a whole, we are because we belong. You can only be you in relationships with others. " She advised looking up Nelson Mandella's U-tube clip on Ubuntu.
She explained her experience, initially she found very little in common with those who killed her husband, but this changed. In retaliation we would loose something of humanity too. The perpetrators need us to rediscover their humanity. Her work in Northern Ireland was mentioned where she brought together widow and murderer.
We have as much capacity for great harm as we do for great good, it is our choice what we do. She finished by saying, "Ubuntu - by God's grace, together we can become more human."
The Archbishop
As he was addressing young people the archbishop's talk was based on the young generation. He said he was "browned off" by the media when they present a poor image of young people - those that go off the rails. Their stories may need to be told, but most people don't go off the rails and their stories need to be broadcast. He commented on how difficult it is for kids to grow up in today's world with so many challenges presented by advertisements and the internet.
He mentioned how young people are often the leaders of demonstrations; where money is spent on destruction when we would have enough to pay for food, health and education for the world's population. Young people tend to ask why. Further examples of how young people work for good causes were given including the many students that go on gap years to poverty stricken areas.
He stressed how we are all part of the world together. We can't quarantine ourselves, we can be prosperous only together. 'Over there' is part of our world. This was both a talk commending the work carried out by us (younger people) and a talk stressing how important it is to carry on with this work.
We are all made for goodness, the best things God has made. None of us are accidents, although - as he said - one or two of us may look like it! We need to use our potential for good.
We were told how, instead of shaking hands, Buddhists bow indicating 'the God in me meets the God in you'. This should be extended to everyone we see and meet. The beggar on the street corner, that's God, he should be treated reverently. (This point has stuck with me - I've found it very challenging)
The finishing comments were as follows. When we enhance the humanity of one-another, without knowing it, we enhance our own humanity. Dream God's dream - no-one go to bed hungry, no war ever again. Dream, dream, dream...
