in my mind right now I’m thinking of a
compound that has the following
characteristics excess of this can cause
toxic lung damage and it can promote
rapid combustion now upon hearing those
two facts would you want to be near this
compound probably not but I’m describing
oxygen an element necessary to our very
survival nonetheless by telling you of
only its negative effects I am
channeling your perception to see only
the disadvantages now I’d like you to
view this photo this building is called
the center of innovation for medical
education now where would you expect to
find a building like this perhaps the
United States Canada or anywhere in
Europe with a budget of over 15 million
dollars in equipped with technology more
advanced than that of the United States
this building is part of the AG economy
located in Karachi Pakistan in the
Western world we are often under the
very prescriptions that society has
tempted us to obtain about the term
under development a label given to
countries of economic and political
instability however it would be
inaccurate to claim that countries that
have been labeled as such or void of
problems but today I argue that we
shouldn’t equate the under development
of a country to the under development of
its people an article by the Guardian
once claimed and I quote we must ensure
that nurturing this grotesque lack of
reality that most of the world is one
block of poverty-stricken people is not
the legacy of our generation this past
summer I had the privilege of attending
a camp called Global Encounters which
took place in Pakistan Global encounters
is an international program for Ismaili
Muslim youth focused on service
leadership development and global
citizenship over the past six years 720
participants from 33 countries have made
lifelong friendships contributed over
30,000 volunteer hours to local schools
and communities and transform the way
that they think about the world during
my trip my group and I traveled from
Karachi to Islamabad the capital of the
country and concluded our trip in the
northern areas specifically Kwanzaa and
gilgit during our time in Karachi 42
participants from 14 different countries
participated in service-learning
at one of four respective service sites
which included an urban based health
clinic a senior citizen home and two
community-based schools but today I like
to specifically share with you a
memorable highlight of my trip to gilgit
this experience transformed the way in
which I view women in third-world
countries during one of the cultural
exposure sites in gilgit all the
students of my camp and I were divided
into various activities that were
prominent in the northern regions which
included embroidery cooking and wood
carving during our time in Karachi
however we recognized that most of the
shops and businesses we explored were
predominantly run by men however in
gilgit we met two women who began to
tell us that while their husbands were
often working in the deeper ends of the
village to earn money for their families
sometimes that money wouldn’t be
sufficient to even feed one child due to
this teams of women gather together to
apply for loans and builds businesses
from the skills that they did have
whether that be embroidery wood carving
or cooking groups of Muslim women
suddenly became entrepreneurs feeding
their families on their own specifically
focusing on women we could also look at
Samina Baig the first Pakistani woman to
peak Everest or perhaps the two women I
met Shamim and goes adi who began their
own biz
this by simply baking bread with a 95
percent literacy rate and honza
more than any other city in Pakistan I
now view these women as not solely as
business entrepreneurs but also as
global trailblazers necessary for the
world to see so why don’t we ever talk
about stories like this in today’s
fast-paced world information is that our
fingertips and constantly surrounding us
because 35 gigabytes of information is
received by our brains every day it is
becoming increasingly easier to
compartmentalize groups of people and
certain environments into larger and
larger boxes the narrowcasting that news
outlets often display combined with an
often blurred line between fact and
opinion sometimes we don’t recognize the
complexities of others while the media
naturally magnetizes towards the
negative and associates terminology such
as underdeveloped lacking or
under-resourced with countries like
Pakistan we never hear stories of
success in entrepreneurship the men and
women I encountered however recognize
that while they may not have the
luxuries of the Western world and
sometimes not even the basic necessities
they recognize that but they learn to
live within their environments to the
best of their ability while Pakistan has
its share of problems when we umbrella
the term underdeveloped over any
third-world country we are choosing
intentionally choosing to limit that
country’s success to its economic and
political instability but what about art
history culture and music heritage
religion the other components that bring
out the best in any country and the best
in its people when we learn to recognize
third world countries as
multi-dimensional and as cosmopolitan
will we finally be able to view the
potential of its people as some of great
possibility as well when we learn to
recognize and understand
the diversity that surrounds us every
day we are truly recognizing the epic of
inclusiveness in today’s polarized world
I argue that being accepting of
diversity isn’t an option but rather is
our ultimate moral human responsibility
in a speech made by His Highness the
Agra condor is Jo Dee Dee lecture at
Harvard University he claimed and I
quote a pluralist cosmopolitan society
is a society which not only accepts
difference but actively seeks to learn
from it and understand it in this
perspective diversity is not a burden to
be endured but an opportunity to be
welcomed a cosmopolitan society regards
the distinctive threads of our
particular identities as elements that
bring beauty to a larger social fabric a
cosmopolitan epic accepts our ultimate
moral responsibility to the whole of
humanity rather than absoluta sizing a
presumably exceptional part perhaps it
is a natural condition of an insecure
human race to seek security in a sense
of superiority but in a world where
cultures increasingly intertwine
a more generous and a more confident
outlook is needed what this means
perhaps above all else is a readiness to
participate in a true dialogue with
diversity not only in our personal
relationships but in international and
institutional relationships as well but
that takes work and it takes patience
above all it implies a readiness to
listen end of quote while my trip took
place globally in Baucus on diversity
shouldn’t solely be expressed at the
international level when we choose to
recognize the essential ethics of
acceptance and inclusiveness we are
displaying the highest standards of
honor respect and compassion so today
let us listen to each other and to the
world as we collectively redevelop the
term under development and upgrade not
only our lives but also the eyes of others thank you
compound that has the following
characteristics excess of this can cause
toxic lung damage and it can promote
rapid combustion now upon hearing those
two facts would you want to be near this
compound probably not but I’m describing
oxygen an element necessary to our very
survival nonetheless by telling you of
only its negative effects I am
channeling your perception to see only
the disadvantages now I’d like you to
view this photo this building is called
the center of innovation for medical
education now where would you expect to
find a building like this perhaps the
United States Canada or anywhere in
Europe with a budget of over 15 million
dollars in equipped with technology more
advanced than that of the United States
this building is part of the AG economy
located in Karachi Pakistan in the
Western world we are often under the
very prescriptions that society has
tempted us to obtain about the term
under development a label given to
countries of economic and political
instability however it would be
inaccurate to claim that countries that
have been labeled as such or void of
problems but today I argue that we
shouldn’t equate the under development
of a country to the under development of
its people an article by the Guardian
once claimed and I quote we must ensure
that nurturing this grotesque lack of
reality that most of the world is one
block of poverty-stricken people is not
the legacy of our generation this past
summer I had the privilege of attending
a camp called Global Encounters which
took place in Pakistan Global encounters
is an international program for Ismaili
Muslim youth focused on service
leadership development and global
citizenship over the past six years 720
participants from 33 countries have made
lifelong friendships contributed over
30,000 volunteer hours to local schools
and communities and transform the way
that they think about the world during
my trip my group and I traveled from
Karachi to Islamabad the capital of the
country and concluded our trip in the
northern areas specifically Kwanzaa and
gilgit during our time in Karachi 42
participants from 14 different countries
participated in service-learning
at one of four respective service sites
which included an urban based health
clinic a senior citizen home and two
community-based schools but today I like
to specifically share with you a
memorable highlight of my trip to gilgit
this experience transformed the way in
which I view women in third-world
countries during one of the cultural
exposure sites in gilgit all the
students of my camp and I were divided
into various activities that were
prominent in the northern regions which
included embroidery cooking and wood
carving during our time in Karachi
however we recognized that most of the
shops and businesses we explored were
predominantly run by men however in
gilgit we met two women who began to
tell us that while their husbands were
often working in the deeper ends of the
village to earn money for their families
sometimes that money wouldn’t be
sufficient to even feed one child due to
this teams of women gather together to
apply for loans and builds businesses
from the skills that they did have
whether that be embroidery wood carving
or cooking groups of Muslim women
suddenly became entrepreneurs feeding
their families on their own specifically
focusing on women we could also look at
Samina Baig the first Pakistani woman to
peak Everest or perhaps the two women I
met Shamim and goes adi who began their
own biz
this by simply baking bread with a 95
percent literacy rate and honza
more than any other city in Pakistan I
now view these women as not solely as
business entrepreneurs but also as
global trailblazers necessary for the
world to see so why don’t we ever talk
about stories like this in today’s
fast-paced world information is that our
fingertips and constantly surrounding us
because 35 gigabytes of information is
received by our brains every day it is
becoming increasingly easier to
compartmentalize groups of people and
certain environments into larger and
larger boxes the narrowcasting that news
outlets often display combined with an
often blurred line between fact and
opinion sometimes we don’t recognize the
complexities of others while the media
naturally magnetizes towards the
negative and associates terminology such
as underdeveloped lacking or
under-resourced with countries like
Pakistan we never hear stories of
success in entrepreneurship the men and
women I encountered however recognize
that while they may not have the
luxuries of the Western world and
sometimes not even the basic necessities
they recognize that but they learn to
live within their environments to the
best of their ability while Pakistan has
its share of problems when we umbrella
the term underdeveloped over any
third-world country we are choosing
intentionally choosing to limit that
country’s success to its economic and
political instability but what about art
history culture and music heritage
religion the other components that bring
out the best in any country and the best
in its people when we learn to recognize
third world countries as
multi-dimensional and as cosmopolitan
will we finally be able to view the
potential of its people as some of great
possibility as well when we learn to
recognize and understand
the diversity that surrounds us every
day we are truly recognizing the epic of
inclusiveness in today’s polarized world
I argue that being accepting of
diversity isn’t an option but rather is
our ultimate moral human responsibility
in a speech made by His Highness the
Agra condor is Jo Dee Dee lecture at
Harvard University he claimed and I
quote a pluralist cosmopolitan society
is a society which not only accepts
difference but actively seeks to learn
from it and understand it in this
perspective diversity is not a burden to
be endured but an opportunity to be
welcomed a cosmopolitan society regards
the distinctive threads of our
particular identities as elements that
bring beauty to a larger social fabric a
cosmopolitan epic accepts our ultimate
moral responsibility to the whole of
humanity rather than absoluta sizing a
presumably exceptional part perhaps it
is a natural condition of an insecure
human race to seek security in a sense
of superiority but in a world where
cultures increasingly intertwine
a more generous and a more confident
outlook is needed what this means
perhaps above all else is a readiness to
participate in a true dialogue with
diversity not only in our personal
relationships but in international and
institutional relationships as well but
that takes work and it takes patience
above all it implies a readiness to
listen end of quote while my trip took
place globally in Baucus on diversity
shouldn’t solely be expressed at the
international level when we choose to
recognize the essential ethics of
acceptance and inclusiveness we are
displaying the highest standards of
honor respect and compassion so today
let us listen to each other and to the
world as we collectively redevelop the
term under development and upgrade not
only our lives but also the eyes of others thank you
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