[Applause]
I grew up in a small town in a rural
village in Indonesia 10,000 miles away
from here my father is a small factory
worker and he is also a local Imam at a
local mosque my mom works at home and I
have two brothers an older one and a
younger one as a family we would go to
attend Friday prayers fast during
Ramadan and I also listened to my
brothers as they delivered the call to
prayer we’re a simple family living
under 200 dollars a month or less
my father always brought me home
newspaper for me to read because it was
cheap enough and it was also one of his
only ways of introducing me to the world
one day about 15 years ago I was 8 I
read the headline news it was a picture
of the twin towers engulfed in fire I
had never seen an explosion in my life
so that picture just haunted me after
that day every time my dad would come
home from work I would just rush into
him and then open the global affairs
section just to know what happened next
I followed the news patiently patiently
until the day the President of the
United States at that time announced the
war and terrorism I had no idea what
that meant
so in the following days I saw a footage
of a tank coming into the Middle East
and there were some children running
around it I suddenly thought of running
away from explosions and trying to save
my siblings and not being able to go to
school and I asked my mom mum when a war
happens to children what did he do do
they go to school that day in 3rd grade
that day I saw the footage I just
couldn’t focus at school and my teacher
asked me what was wrong and I told her
well there was war in the Middle East
and to calm me down she took us to a
room to pray for the children my prayer
was just simple then it was just for my
fellow 8 years old to be safe wherever
they were and to be able to go to school
but that day my life has changed I
gradually grew to be more and more
interested in global affairs
international relations I would look up
books in the library borrow newspapers
talk to my friends I joined the debate
team then in high school I was selected
to participate in a pitch mission
program as a peace ambassador this
program enabled me to go to an American
high school and also to live with an
American family when my neighbors in the
village heard about this they were kind
of confused you see I am the only
daughter of my family and in fact I’m
the only granddaughter in the extended
family so they didn’t understand my
parents decision to let me go to a
foreign land so far away their
understanding of the u.s. is that it’s a
country full of corruption capitalism
and disbelievers and so they told my
parents he’ll end up like that I finally
received my dad’s answer during the
farewell event of this program our
parents was were asked to put a flag as
a symbol of our departure I saw my
father’s eyes as he put on this flag on
me and he looked at my eyes and he said
don’t be afraid the Prophet peace be
upon him encouraged us to travel and to
be Rama tallil alameen which means to
show love and mercy on earth you my
daughter at the end of the day is just
like another human being you have that
responsibility too you have to show love
to others just like how you love your
family and I know you I knew that he saw
my afraid eyes and that my neighbors
were afraid them too I also know that
that what he said to me planted this
realization within my heart that I have
that responsibility to to love others
and to do that the first step for me was
to open myself up my journey in the
United States wasn’t smooth speaking
English 24/7 trying to figure out the
lock
system in the back of the school praying
in the library trying to be quiet but
everyone looking at you kind of weird
why are you worshiping is it full moon
tonight and it got even harder actually
because my first us family fell ill and
I had to originally move from that house
however all the families that sign up
for this program were at full capacity
so I had to depend on friends homes
teachers homes coordinators home and at
some point it felt like I was homeless
and I waited and I waited and I didn’t
have a host family and I thought to
myself do you want to quit and I told
myself no I wanted to keep going however
who would open their home for me a
Muslim girl from a foreign country it
was Joseph Malecha Joseph is a friend
that I met during lunch period he is
just like another Ohio high school kid
wearing Ohio State University t-shirt
carrying his skateboard around at school
it was just a lunch period and he asked
me hey how are you doing what are you
going through and I told him I don’t
have a host family to continue my
program to my surprise he actually told
his parents and his parents offered to
host me in that same week I moved in
with them and suddenly a new page of my
journey began the Millat Chuck made me
feel like I had always been part of them
knowing I’m a Muslim and I don’t eat
pork they actually did not cook pork the
whole time I was with them because it’s
the rules of the majek family not to eat
something that one family member could
not eat but I mean imagine they
practically gave up bacon would you do
that I remember taking Katy from school
and she was in the elementary school at
that time and she screamed at me showing
off me to her friends she’s my sister
and then her friends were like but she’s
so 10 though how is he your sister and
then Katie said she just is so ever
since Joseph opened his family’s door to
me I learned one thing that we could be
family with people that have not
thing to do with how you look that you
could create that deep connection with
someone as long as you open yourself up
to one another halfway through my
program
Joseph was graduating and he decided to
join the u.s. army around the same time
I won an essay contest held by my piece
mission program and I got the chance to
attend a week-long leadership training
in Washington DC while I was in DC I
found out that actually my program that
my piece mission program was funded by
Congress as a response to 9/11 that same
week too I got to attend an open foreign
affairs budgeting meeting with secretary
Hillary Clinton and they were discussing
the war on terrorism in the Middle East
I suddenly I sat there in that room and
I felt very conflicted I was sitting
there as a direct result of Congress
funding my program that was a response
to an event that took on so many lives
and I was also sitting there that time
assists as a sister with my brother
about to entering the army and may well
serve in a war zone in the future
and I asked myself is this what it means
to discover our common humanity what I
mean by our common humanity is the fact
that we’re all humans and we’re all
connected and because we’re all humans
that must mean that we’re bound to be
able to feel the same sense of
contentment the same need of safety and
that we all we all want to belong at
some point to someone we’re all
connected because one event has nothing
to do with you could impact you whether
you realize it or not or whether you
realize it now or much later and then I
was sitting there both as a Muslim girl
that often has to defend her own faith
cuz of what had happened but that same
event now made me feel concerned because
my brother is about to enter the army
and may well serve in a war zone because
of that same event because of that too I
realized that our common humanity also
has challenges although we’re able to
feel some sense of contentment safety
and also sense of belonging but the way
we choose to achieve those senses could
be different and although we’re all
impacted we could be impacted by this
one event the way we choose to react to
this event could also be different
Joseph and I would often be in the car
and we would debate about world affairs
we would fall in a completely driven up
different opposite views I would argue
that we don’t need any of this war we
don’t need any of these violence and he
would argue that no sometimes we need to
be armed in order to do what’s right and
to protect others and we would debate
and debate like there’s no tomorrow but
at the end of the day we’ll make that
turn in the corner of the street and
realize that actually we were both in
that car to get some icecream and so
we’ll end the debate and be like get off
and just get my our ice cream and just
go home happily that made me think as
well then as our common humanity we’re
able to find that common ground at the
end of the day our humanity continues to
exist because we can get out of our own
self and start thinking about the bigger
picture if it’s true that one event like
9/11 could impact us all it must be also
true that the small act that you do
every day
and create the ripple of changes within
our common humanity at the end of the
day I am a living proof of that act of
kindness the act of Congress sponsoring
this program has changed my life the
small act of kindness that Joseph did by
telling his parents about me and opening
up their doors for me also changed my
life and because of that I want to do
that small little change of kindness too
with this spirit I started joining a lot
of social impacts bro
I helped build a library in a rural
village in my country I also built music
programs for the homeless shelters in
New York City lately I’ve been working a
lot on survivors of human trafficking
empowerment program in Jakarta it’s
called buchumi where we train survivors
human trafficking to learn to get back
on their feet again because of this
project – in New York City I was able to
work with a similar organization
empowering human trafficking survivors
working on social impacts social issues
made me think that you know what a
problem in one city is not an isolation
from the world human trafficking
happening in Jakarta is not an
installation – what’s actually happening
in a global scale but at the same time
learning about one issue can help you
learn about what’s going on in the
different parts of the world with the
spirit of opening myself up I also join
an NYU Abu Dhabi a school where my peers
come from a hundred countries more I did
a study away program again in Belgium
where I got to live with the Coneheads
family the Coonrod family opened their
door for me to learn French and also to
learn about European Union when I shared
with them that I joined a lot of social
impacts project
they showed me films about social
empowerment took me to organizations
that do empowerment they invested in my
project and they were actually more
excited that I was being with the
Coneheads family made me learn that
actually as well it doesn’t matter where
you are it doesn’t matter who you are
the act of kindness of them showing me
about all this information giving me
feedback on my brainstorming session
helped me better understand my idea and
then I carry their impacts forward in my
projects and I wouldn’t be able to feel
all of this had my parents never let me
go
and I would never be able to feel all of
this if it’s just the fear that I’m
following if it’s the fear of my
neighbors for example fear and ignorance
are the prisons within our own
understanding they prevent us from
seeing us as our common humanity in a
bigger picture and to fight this is to
get out of our own comfort zone to be
another Joseph Milotic who just asked
that one more question to be my parents
or more parents in the world to
encourage young girls to discover the
world and to ask us a question every day
on how to let others live beyond our own
judgement as I was preparing for this
talk I actually feed yo called Joseph
and I told him hey bro
so I practice my talk and my friends
were wondering how is it like to have a
Muslim sister and he made a strange face
and he said that question is wrong and
I’m like how is that wrong and he said
why does it matter to have any label
before the word sister the question
should be how is it like to have a
sister and your brothers at home would
know actually any brother in the world
would know how is it like to have a
sister it really sucks and you still owe
me a lot of ice creams but you’re still
my sister so we support each other this
day last year I got an assignment in my
principles of marketing class to attend
ground zero to go to ground zero to see
the location eight-year-old deal but
never thought that she would actually
stand there that day where it all began
and as I was touching the names on the
dark marble stone I suddenly had a
flashback of the footage of the tanks
and the children I saw 15 years ago but
something within me has changed you know
15 years ago when I
was eight I made a prayer for the
children that day in ground zero I
realized I needed to pray for so much
more I pray for the children but out of
the soldiers I pray for the families who
lost their loved ones but also the
Muslim community who has had to carry
the stereotypes I pray for the reactor
month of that the war and the refugees
with no homes and I walk home that day
looking up the Stars and I wrote a song
called a letter to the stars
this song is a reflection of a daughter
realizing that our common humanity is
beautiful but it has a lot of work to do
[Music]
what do you see or the wish
what do you hear from above things we
fight all the time
[Music]
there’s historian would you share it
with me
keep this one story
the heads were home
there is
the future
[Music]
this one story
you share it with me
[Music]
would you write it with me stars someday
when somebody’s this is the story it’s a
story
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
I grew up in a small town in a rural
village in Indonesia 10,000 miles away
from here my father is a small factory
worker and he is also a local Imam at a
local mosque my mom works at home and I
have two brothers an older one and a
younger one as a family we would go to
attend Friday prayers fast during
Ramadan and I also listened to my
brothers as they delivered the call to
prayer we’re a simple family living
under 200 dollars a month or less
my father always brought me home
newspaper for me to read because it was
cheap enough and it was also one of his
only ways of introducing me to the world
one day about 15 years ago I was 8 I
read the headline news it was a picture
of the twin towers engulfed in fire I
had never seen an explosion in my life
so that picture just haunted me after
that day every time my dad would come
home from work I would just rush into
him and then open the global affairs
section just to know what happened next
I followed the news patiently patiently
until the day the President of the
United States at that time announced the
war and terrorism I had no idea what
that meant
so in the following days I saw a footage
of a tank coming into the Middle East
and there were some children running
around it I suddenly thought of running
away from explosions and trying to save
my siblings and not being able to go to
school and I asked my mom mum when a war
happens to children what did he do do
they go to school that day in 3rd grade
that day I saw the footage I just
couldn’t focus at school and my teacher
asked me what was wrong and I told her
well there was war in the Middle East
and to calm me down she took us to a
room to pray for the children my prayer
was just simple then it was just for my
fellow 8 years old to be safe wherever
they were and to be able to go to school
but that day my life has changed I
gradually grew to be more and more
interested in global affairs
international relations I would look up
books in the library borrow newspapers
talk to my friends I joined the debate
team then in high school I was selected
to participate in a pitch mission
program as a peace ambassador this
program enabled me to go to an American
high school and also to live with an
American family when my neighbors in the
village heard about this they were kind
of confused you see I am the only
daughter of my family and in fact I’m
the only granddaughter in the extended
family so they didn’t understand my
parents decision to let me go to a
foreign land so far away their
understanding of the u.s. is that it’s a
country full of corruption capitalism
and disbelievers and so they told my
parents he’ll end up like that I finally
received my dad’s answer during the
farewell event of this program our
parents was were asked to put a flag as
a symbol of our departure I saw my
father’s eyes as he put on this flag on
me and he looked at my eyes and he said
don’t be afraid the Prophet peace be
upon him encouraged us to travel and to
be Rama tallil alameen which means to
show love and mercy on earth you my
daughter at the end of the day is just
like another human being you have that
responsibility too you have to show love
to others just like how you love your
family and I know you I knew that he saw
my afraid eyes and that my neighbors
were afraid them too I also know that
that what he said to me planted this
realization within my heart that I have
that responsibility to to love others
and to do that the first step for me was
to open myself up my journey in the
United States wasn’t smooth speaking
English 24/7 trying to figure out the
lock
system in the back of the school praying
in the library trying to be quiet but
everyone looking at you kind of weird
why are you worshiping is it full moon
tonight and it got even harder actually
because my first us family fell ill and
I had to originally move from that house
however all the families that sign up
for this program were at full capacity
so I had to depend on friends homes
teachers homes coordinators home and at
some point it felt like I was homeless
and I waited and I waited and I didn’t
have a host family and I thought to
myself do you want to quit and I told
myself no I wanted to keep going however
who would open their home for me a
Muslim girl from a foreign country it
was Joseph Malecha Joseph is a friend
that I met during lunch period he is
just like another Ohio high school kid
wearing Ohio State University t-shirt
carrying his skateboard around at school
it was just a lunch period and he asked
me hey how are you doing what are you
going through and I told him I don’t
have a host family to continue my
program to my surprise he actually told
his parents and his parents offered to
host me in that same week I moved in
with them and suddenly a new page of my
journey began the Millat Chuck made me
feel like I had always been part of them
knowing I’m a Muslim and I don’t eat
pork they actually did not cook pork the
whole time I was with them because it’s
the rules of the majek family not to eat
something that one family member could
not eat but I mean imagine they
practically gave up bacon would you do
that I remember taking Katy from school
and she was in the elementary school at
that time and she screamed at me showing
off me to her friends she’s my sister
and then her friends were like but she’s
so 10 though how is he your sister and
then Katie said she just is so ever
since Joseph opened his family’s door to
me I learned one thing that we could be
family with people that have not
thing to do with how you look that you
could create that deep connection with
someone as long as you open yourself up
to one another halfway through my
program
Joseph was graduating and he decided to
join the u.s. army around the same time
I won an essay contest held by my piece
mission program and I got the chance to
attend a week-long leadership training
in Washington DC while I was in DC I
found out that actually my program that
my piece mission program was funded by
Congress as a response to 9/11 that same
week too I got to attend an open foreign
affairs budgeting meeting with secretary
Hillary Clinton and they were discussing
the war on terrorism in the Middle East
I suddenly I sat there in that room and
I felt very conflicted I was sitting
there as a direct result of Congress
funding my program that was a response
to an event that took on so many lives
and I was also sitting there that time
assists as a sister with my brother
about to entering the army and may well
serve in a war zone in the future
and I asked myself is this what it means
to discover our common humanity what I
mean by our common humanity is the fact
that we’re all humans and we’re all
connected and because we’re all humans
that must mean that we’re bound to be
able to feel the same sense of
contentment the same need of safety and
that we all we all want to belong at
some point to someone we’re all
connected because one event has nothing
to do with you could impact you whether
you realize it or not or whether you
realize it now or much later and then I
was sitting there both as a Muslim girl
that often has to defend her own faith
cuz of what had happened but that same
event now made me feel concerned because
my brother is about to enter the army
and may well serve in a war zone because
of that same event because of that too I
realized that our common humanity also
has challenges although we’re able to
feel some sense of contentment safety
and also sense of belonging but the way
we choose to achieve those senses could
be different and although we’re all
impacted we could be impacted by this
one event the way we choose to react to
this event could also be different
Joseph and I would often be in the car
and we would debate about world affairs
we would fall in a completely driven up
different opposite views I would argue
that we don’t need any of this war we
don’t need any of these violence and he
would argue that no sometimes we need to
be armed in order to do what’s right and
to protect others and we would debate
and debate like there’s no tomorrow but
at the end of the day we’ll make that
turn in the corner of the street and
realize that actually we were both in
that car to get some icecream and so
we’ll end the debate and be like get off
and just get my our ice cream and just
go home happily that made me think as
well then as our common humanity we’re
able to find that common ground at the
end of the day our humanity continues to
exist because we can get out of our own
self and start thinking about the bigger
picture if it’s true that one event like
9/11 could impact us all it must be also
true that the small act that you do
every day
and create the ripple of changes within
our common humanity at the end of the
day I am a living proof of that act of
kindness the act of Congress sponsoring
this program has changed my life the
small act of kindness that Joseph did by
telling his parents about me and opening
up their doors for me also changed my
life and because of that I want to do
that small little change of kindness too
with this spirit I started joining a lot
of social impacts bro
I helped build a library in a rural
village in my country I also built music
programs for the homeless shelters in
New York City lately I’ve been working a
lot on survivors of human trafficking
empowerment program in Jakarta it’s
called buchumi where we train survivors
human trafficking to learn to get back
on their feet again because of this
project – in New York City I was able to
work with a similar organization
empowering human trafficking survivors
working on social impacts social issues
made me think that you know what a
problem in one city is not an isolation
from the world human trafficking
happening in Jakarta is not an
installation – what’s actually happening
in a global scale but at the same time
learning about one issue can help you
learn about what’s going on in the
different parts of the world with the
spirit of opening myself up I also join
an NYU Abu Dhabi a school where my peers
come from a hundred countries more I did
a study away program again in Belgium
where I got to live with the Coneheads
family the Coonrod family opened their
door for me to learn French and also to
learn about European Union when I shared
with them that I joined a lot of social
impacts project
they showed me films about social
empowerment took me to organizations
that do empowerment they invested in my
project and they were actually more
excited that I was being with the
Coneheads family made me learn that
actually as well it doesn’t matter where
you are it doesn’t matter who you are
the act of kindness of them showing me
about all this information giving me
feedback on my brainstorming session
helped me better understand my idea and
then I carry their impacts forward in my
projects and I wouldn’t be able to feel
all of this had my parents never let me
go
and I would never be able to feel all of
this if it’s just the fear that I’m
following if it’s the fear of my
neighbors for example fear and ignorance
are the prisons within our own
understanding they prevent us from
seeing us as our common humanity in a
bigger picture and to fight this is to
get out of our own comfort zone to be
another Joseph Milotic who just asked
that one more question to be my parents
or more parents in the world to
encourage young girls to discover the
world and to ask us a question every day
on how to let others live beyond our own
judgement as I was preparing for this
talk I actually feed yo called Joseph
and I told him hey bro
so I practice my talk and my friends
were wondering how is it like to have a
Muslim sister and he made a strange face
and he said that question is wrong and
I’m like how is that wrong and he said
why does it matter to have any label
before the word sister the question
should be how is it like to have a
sister and your brothers at home would
know actually any brother in the world
would know how is it like to have a
sister it really sucks and you still owe
me a lot of ice creams but you’re still
my sister so we support each other this
day last year I got an assignment in my
principles of marketing class to attend
ground zero to go to ground zero to see
the location eight-year-old deal but
never thought that she would actually
stand there that day where it all began
and as I was touching the names on the
dark marble stone I suddenly had a
flashback of the footage of the tanks
and the children I saw 15 years ago but
something within me has changed you know
15 years ago when I
was eight I made a prayer for the
children that day in ground zero I
realized I needed to pray for so much
more I pray for the children but out of
the soldiers I pray for the families who
lost their loved ones but also the
Muslim community who has had to carry
the stereotypes I pray for the reactor
month of that the war and the refugees
with no homes and I walk home that day
looking up the Stars and I wrote a song
called a letter to the stars
this song is a reflection of a daughter
realizing that our common humanity is
beautiful but it has a lot of work to do
[Music]
what do you see or the wish
what do you hear from above things we
fight all the time
[Music]
there’s historian would you share it
with me
keep this one story
the heads were home
there is
the future
[Music]
this one story
you share it with me
[Music]
would you write it with me stars someday
when somebody’s this is the story it’s a
story
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
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