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Humanitarian, Carl Wilkens visits Millbrook, Discusses Rwanda — Transcript

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0:04who started out probably Barefoot with
0:07ragged little clothes on a one-speed
0:10bicycle taxi you know a little
0:12upholstery over the over the uh the bike
0:15carrier in the back or maybe they'd
0:17carry 200 pounds of bananas or 200
0:20pounds of banana beer or something so
0:22these little kids sweating and working
0:24on these little single speed bikes and
0:26imagine just you know kind of time
0:28lapsing
0:29and you've got these guys now with the
0:33most latest you know clothing and
0:35bicycle equipment and that kind of
0:38transformation
0:40that happened from these simple little
0:42peasant kids to riding in the Olympics
0:46um in in many ways is been rwanda's
0:49Journey over the last 19 years now
0:52nearly April will make it 19 years since
0:54the genocide started and and what I'm
0:57going to share with you guys is going to
0:58be some of our story
1:00um from when we lived there in 94 but I
1:03always want to start out with kind of
1:04Rwanda today especially since I was just
1:06there last month and and and then this
1:08last summer with Gabe and also with some
1:11teachers because I don't want to
1:13perpetuate this idea that Rwanda equals
1:15genocide Rwanda equals genocide there's
1:18so much more to Rwanda than than that
1:21horrible time and that horrible time no
1:23never to be forgotten really important
1:25to to
1:27um
1:27to learn about so we can appreciate
1:30after that what what has gone on but uh
1:33but this was just yeah one of the
1:35streets a couple weeks ago took the
1:36picture and I'm I'm I meant to get game
1:38student group picture and Gabe I
1:40destroyed my iPhoto library anyway these
1:42are some teachers and some giraffe we
1:44got really acquainted with
1:46um
1:46but no this last month these kids their
1:49bust State Theater kids so I'm pretty
1:51excited to be in this gorgeous theater
1:52too because these students their
1:55Professor the guy with the oranges shirt
1:56Drew is his name too he got another drew
1:59around here
2:00um he's he's real passionate about
2:02theater and um and changing the world
2:05and he says theaters about the courage
2:08to speak and if you've got the courage
2:09to speak and then the skills then you
2:11better have something to say and so
2:13these students after visiting Memorial
2:15sites I mean one of the hardest ones I'm
2:18sure
2:19um I start to even get a lump in my
2:21throat when I think about it because I
2:22remember going there with Gabe and the
2:24other students and I've been there twice
2:25now with college students and they've in
2:27a very crude way they've preserved
2:29bodies with lime and it's a very
2:31controversial Memorial site because this
2:33one college student said you know it
2:36stank and it was gross and that's not
2:38the problem the problem is that the
2:40people
2:41weren't beautiful lovely people they
2:44weren't stinky gross people and she was
2:46she was bothered by this by this memory
2:49of these innocent fun-loving joyful
2:52people now with skin all shriveled
2:54around their bones and and you could
2:56still see little patches of hair and and
2:58man one young lady who works in the
3:00government today in Rwanda
3:02um when when boy it's probably about 14
3:05years ago they used to have some clothes
3:07but it's it's like I said very primitive
3:10preserving and and and she and she was
3:13um just so moved by this little girl's
3:15dress that looked like hers that it
3:18changed her whole life that one moment
3:20so while it's a controver and and she's
3:22now involved in service in the kind of
3:25service that really is for the people
3:26not for yourself you know as we were
3:29talking about governments earlier today
3:30on some classes the whole idea of a good
3:32government and bad government for me
3:34boils down to is it all about me or is
3:37it about somebody else and and so this
3:40Memorial
3:40um it can have all kinds of effects on
3:42people understandably because it's very
3:45different than even seeing bones and
3:48bones are very hard and especially if
3:49they're in a glass case this is just on
3:51a table in a classroom and you're
3:53smelling it and you're seeing it and
3:55you're seeing the little children in
3:56them and the and the marks and their
3:58skulls and and and after two weeks of
4:03not just looking at memorials but seeing
4:06beautiful stuff there's this guy
4:09um let me just jump back out of this
4:12thing over here
4:13I've been rebuilding like I said my
4:15library this guy we went to visit there
4:18he's he's like the the prime example of
4:21what any kind of
4:23um wonderful local development could be
4:25he's got agriculture Farmers I mean
4:28agriculture uh what do you call it
4:30sample Gardens not a sample gardeners
4:32what do you call it like an example
4:33Garden
4:35yeah anyway it's just that yeah sample
4:37Garden example Garden I don't know he's
4:39got he's got demonstration thank you
4:42demonstration Gardens on all the hills
4:45around here that guy's got a basin full
4:46of strawberries heading down to the
4:48Juice Factory he's just adding value to
4:50his community all the strawberry plants
4:52you want all the passion fruit plants
4:54all the pineapple and then down there
4:56he's built this school and we could
4:58spend actually our whole time today he's
5:00introducing every year he wants a new
5:02product line you know he's introducing
5:04wine now and and the America the
5:06macadamia nuts are doing great and and
5:09he built the school for even a preschool
5:11I mean in a rural setting where you
5:13wouldn't expect a preschool and it's
5:14free to the community because this man
5:17is about investing in his community
5:18these aren't U.S British you know
5:20Swedish dollars that money funds this is
5:23from locally generated funds bringing in
5:26these 40 liter a day cows you know that
5:28give milkford to mix with the Rwandan
5:30two liter a decal and and and and you
5:33can get a stud service your cow for
5:36three bucks and it's just simple little
5:38things but making a big difference and
5:41the fun thing if you guys want to read
5:43about Rwanda very interesting book and
5:45every book has its biases this one
5:47obviously does too but it was this book
5:49called land of a Thousand Hills the
5:52rebuilding of a Nation a man who dreamed
5:54it and talking about playing classical
5:55music to pigs that actually introduced
5:58me to this guy he says they're more calm
6:01especially at feeding time when I play
6:03music and they eat less and but they
6:06still gain weight and and I mean he's
6:08just he's an innovator of all kinds a
6:11vertical garden instead of a horizontal
6:13garden and I mean you know one out in
6:15his donut and bakery and all he's got a
6:18hot sauce factory that'll burn the Smoke
6:19Stack off of off of anybody but I so so
6:23we're not just looking at the um we're
6:26not just looking at the uh hard
6:29harshness of
6:32the Rwanda story and the genocide we're
6:34looking at some of its wonderful
6:36successes and we also traveled uh these
6:39theater guys were doing plays for
6:41government officials for students this
6:43was a deaf school that we visited and um
6:46a refugee camp I'm walking around this
6:48refugee camp with three 20 year olds
6:51they've been at the camp since they were
6:53six they're from the Congo the
6:56Democratic Republic of the Congo they
6:58had to flee for their lives 14 years ago
7:01there's more than 20 000 people in this
7:03camp and and um they just shouldn't be
7:06there they shouldn't be there their
7:08country should not be shredded the way
7:11it is their government should not be
7:13allowed to continue to exploit the
7:15people and we shouldn't continue to give
7:17money to governments this way anyway I
7:19won't go off on all of that but it's a
7:21mixture you can imagine for these
7:23theater students now after two weeks
7:25last month they're in a class this
7:27semester at bus state
7:28writing a play a theater Ensemble class
7:31writing a play based on their experience
7:33in in Rwanda and you'll be able to see
7:36it online last year we did the same
7:37thing first time with a group of theater
7:39students and their play is already
7:40online and if you guys want to follow
7:42any of this stuff up and I talk I know
7:44really fast and stuff just shoot me a
7:47message on Facebook if you um world
7:49outside my shoes or if you find Carl
7:52Wilkins I'm not on the internet right
7:54now so I don't know whose message this
7:57was to me but if you type in
8:00World outside my shoes no point clicking
8:03on it since I'm not online but you'll
8:05see my wife and I and and and I'll put
8:07links there you'll find links as you go
8:09farther down to learn more about the
8:11Congo
8:12um more about all these things going on
8:14uh let me just introduce you to this
8:17group and then we'll jump back to 1994.
8:19a friend of mine had it has had a dance
8:22company uh Rebecca Davis in Philadelphia
8:24but she's like she got involved with
8:26wanting to end genocide
8:28so she's now started three schools
8:30around the one in Rwanda one in West
8:32Africa one in Bosnia and and they're
8:34they're targeted for Street kids you
8:36guys want to do dance classes and
8:38they're like yeah yeah and and so two
8:41days a week you're in dance classes
8:43three days a week your math English and
8:45Technology classes and I'm just gonna
8:47play this short little one
8:49um piece you guys got me hooked up with
8:50sound thank you so much
8:56do we have some sound coming
9:00okay I can use mine no worrying
9:06[Applause]
9:12[Music]
9:15now now the instructor said this is a
9:18routine the kids created themselves so I
9:21I'm sorry if I'm rushing kind of fast
9:23here these kids who've been they'd be
9:25living in dumpsters if they had
9:27dumpsters I mean they're living on the
9:28streets they now are finding a new
9:31a new identity a new it's like they're
9:34they're kind of redoing a childhood that
9:37the streets stole from them so as you
9:40see them kind of leap this is their own
9:42anyway you can figure that out their own
9:44creation
9:44[Music]
9:50this is
9:52[Music]
10:00fine
10:05I always have a hard time stopping this
10:07video because I want to watch the whole
10:09thing I just there's something about
10:11these guys
10:26I believe
10:30[Music]
10:50next time you read something about
10:52Rwanda and they use this phrase Tootsie
10:55dominated government think about these
10:57kids think about think about that
10:59refugee camp Rolanda is a safe place for
11:02the people of the Congo a place that was
11:04a place of death for hundreds of
11:06thousands of people today is a safe
11:08haven and this idea of a tutsi-dominated
11:11government there are so many people who
11:12had Hutu the majority group who to
11:14background that are in the government
11:16making decisions right from the
11:17Grassroots level right up to the top
11:20levels of government you know I'm just
11:22begging people please take off your
11:24ethnic glasses and look at Rwanda with
11:27some other glasses because you'll see
11:28some incredible incredible progress one
11:32of the ninth fastest actually growing
11:34economy in the world right now
11:37um okay this is I don't know if I should
11:39do this or not I don't
11:43[Music]
11:46motorcycle taxis are not safe so I tell
11:48people not to ride on them and here I am
11:50riding on it
11:51um
11:52I'm late for an appointment as if that
11:54makes it okay but I've got my new best
11:56friend here Mr GoPro
11:58and um so wherever I go these days I you
12:02know walking around Penn Station I had
12:04it hooked to my backpack the other day
12:07um but I just want you I dare you to
12:08find a piece of trash it's the cleanest
12:11city you would you'd ever set foot in
12:13it's beautiful as you can see the green
12:15even the walls you stop right here and
12:17you see this guy right here at the
12:19corner with the Green Jacket there is a
12:22large police presence a military
12:24presence but for the people of the
12:26country that for so many that means
12:28safety that's why Rwanda has one of the
12:31lowest crime rates if you're coming from
12:33a country where the government was
12:34killing you your family members your
12:37teachers your dentist your your
12:39grandmother and they say oh we're a new
12:41government
12:43sorry I'm not going to trust any
12:45government so this whole idea what
12:48Rwanda is working on is two things
12:50they're saying we've got to be
12:51accountable to the people and we've got
12:54to be transparent those are the two
12:56biggest things so I had a guy in a green
12:58jacket not with Gabe but I think the
13:01summer before
13:02um stopped me because I was foolishly
13:05driving and talking on my cell phone at
13:07the same time and he stopped me and he
13:09was very polite and kind and he actually
13:11didn't even give me a ticket which was
13:13very nice of him but um if you thought
13:16you know like in many developing
13:17countries like policeman stops you and
13:19all they want is money no not in Rwanda
13:21in fact if you try to slip a money
13:23you'll be in a whole lot more trouble
13:25than than if you get a traffic ticket
13:27believe me and that's so different from
13:29many many other neighboring countries
13:31and so the whole idea of the government
13:34being there for the safety and to Serve
13:37the People is something that I could
13:39give you a ton of examples I am let me
13:43let me just uh
13:46I gotta pull the sack over this thing I
13:48scratched the lens on the case and
13:50anyway any of you know GoPro CERN figure
13:52that out
13:55um I was just on my way up here to the
13:57mill Colleen Hotel any of you who've
13:59seen the movie Hotel Rwanda
14:02um this is the hotel that that movie
14:04Hotel Rwanda is based on and um it's
14:08interesting I mean as it's obviously
14:09been up and running for years and it's
14:11just beautiful but for me as I was
14:14walking through this parking lot just a
14:16few weeks ago you know I've got all the
14:18memories of the genocide coming back to
14:20me because I
14:22I visited this hotel three or four times
14:25a week during the genocide it was
14:27basically under unlike what the movie
14:29portrayed it was basically under the
14:32protection of the United Nations and
14:35while there were 2 500 U.N soldiers
14:40who were in the country when the plane
14:41is shot down the 2500 soldiers could
14:44have stopped the genocide but we made
14:46the decision along with other countries
14:48at the U.N to take those soldiers out
14:50that was this it was good we'd sent
14:52soldiers we had three years of war there
14:55was now going to be a new government and
14:57the U.N would kind of help that happen
14:58provide security they patrolled the
15:01streets I'm gonna I'm still looking to
15:03see if my camera's on
15:05um
15:05I'm going to pause it here in just a
15:07second because I have a picture a little
15:10bit of news footage from 1994 that I
15:14want to um play for you you can see
15:16we're coming up to the entrance you know
15:18where the Bell the person meets you for
15:20your luggage and all that stuff just
15:22pause it right there
15:24um
15:26there were people the soldiers were un
15:28soldiers were patrolling the streets in
15:30groups of seven or eight so when you saw
15:32them before the genocide before the
15:34plane is shot down when you saw them
15:37you just kind of felt okay they're here
15:40it's going to be okay there's tension
15:42mounting we could see signs today we
15:44don't have time to get in all the
15:46details of the signs of the genocide
15:47that were coming we could tell I sent a
15:49fax to the church headquarters I was
15:51working with um building schools
15:53basically with the Seventh-day Adventist
15:55Church and I sent a fax to their
15:58headquarters saying uh we're sitting on
16:01a keg of dynamite I've been meeting at
16:03the embassy regularly with the
16:04Ambassador I'm communicating to the
16:06other group of Americans I was
16:08responsible for we've got an evacuation
16:10plan in place we've got assembly points
16:12you know like you're going to meet at
16:13Target or you're going to meet at Wilson
16:14High School or whatever and and and then
16:17from there we'll evacuate we had all
16:19that ready but we hoped that we wouldn't
16:21have to because we hope this new
16:23government would come in and all the
16:25tension would be dispelled released by
16:28this new government but there's
16:29extremists from the old government who
16:31said no no to share power is worse than
16:34defeat kind of like somebody who win the
16:36game is going wrong they knock all the
16:38characters off the game board because no
16:41it's all about me and US holding holding
16:44on to power and so in in any case we
16:48vote to take the soldiers out and what
16:51that means is that people who didn't
16:53flee the city when they heard about
16:55truckloads full of machetes people who
16:57didn't flee the city when they heard the
16:59hate radio they they heard even
17:01comedians with their hate message
17:03because they said it's going to be okay
17:04the U.N is here we don't have to run the
17:06U.N is here so they're they're right up
17:09until the point of those who plan the
17:11genocide the politicians who are afraid
17:13of losing power
17:15um don't don't fall into the easy trap
17:18that some people try to just say oh
17:19hutus hated tootsies for years killed
17:22each other and finally a genocide I mean
17:24number one there's nothing spontaneous
17:25about genocide it is hard to pull off a
17:27genocide but but number two if they
17:30hated each other so much why'd they
17:32marry each other so much
17:34hutus were like 85 Tutsis like 12
17:36according to ID cards but in reality
17:40they were married married
17:43and and and by the thousands it was just
17:46not unusual at all so you really can't
17:48build a case for this group hating that
17:50group and a genocide no it's it's people
17:53in political power who are want to hang
17:55on to power and need to combine a force
17:58have a strong enough group to stay in
18:00power and construct an enemy and and
18:03that's that's a huge part of the lessons
18:06coming out of I got something I want to
18:08tell you about that in a minute but a
18:10huge part of the lessons coming out of
18:11the Rwanda genocide is this whole idea
18:14that enemies
18:16are not born I you can't no such thing
18:19you cannot convince those little boys
18:21frog hopping across the stage I don't
18:22care what country they're born into
18:24their little boys frog hopping there's
18:27no such thing as born enemies so so what
18:30we do is we construct
18:33enemies and if we believe that enemies
18:37are constructed then we should be able
18:39to what
18:41no I know we'll destruct is what
18:43destruct is what our presidential
18:45candidates in their debate said we have
18:48to destroy our enemies you know but but
18:50no no deconstruct
18:53and is that even no it's not
18:56deconstruct
18:59and how
19:01um
19:01two tools Guys these are the these are
19:05so incredibly powerful and yet I'm like
19:07I hope they're not disappointed because
19:09they're so simple but but the power of
19:12stories
19:15and the power of service
19:17to deconstruct an enemy what's what's up
19:19with the stories the stories are
19:22hopefully
19:23inspiring us to to act
19:28to do some some form of service and and
19:31the service is empowering
19:34the stories I don't care what you'd say
19:38if you don't do anything so this
19:40powerful cycle I mean I'm not trying to
19:43minimize anything but whether it's
19:45whether it's your neighbor's dog pooping
19:46in your yard or whether it's something
19:48as complex as Syria I think these two
19:51tools can be applied in terms of
19:53learning the story learning the back
19:55story what's really going on when I was
19:58in in Jordan in December and I'm writing
20:00in shared taxis and we're going to a
20:02Syrian refugee camp and if you guys want
20:04to walk through a Syrian refugee camp
20:05with me and my best friend the Mr GoPro
20:07come on the Facebook page and you'll see
20:09about four videos there just walking
20:11through the streets of Amman going down
20:14getting in the shared taxis and then
20:15riding up to the camp with Jordan
20:17actually a kid named Jordan in Jordan
20:19he's he's one of my here he's a
20:21sophomore at UC Long Beach his his when
20:24he graduated from high school he skipped
20:26the senior party that weekend because he
20:27was on a plane in La going to South
20:29Sudan distribute he had to go find out
20:31what he could do in South Sudan and and
20:33and and he raised 3 500 bucks and was
20:36Distributing like
20:37thousand thousand no no no no 525
20:41mosquito Nets to women who were pregnant
20:43or had little babies he had made a
20:44friend a Lost Boy of Sudan these guys
20:47who you know fled their country at five
20:49a thousand he had made a friend and
20:51traveled there together and his friend
20:52was doing an mph so I think that's why
20:54he was doing the mosquito net you know
20:55the health issue but Jordan every time
20:57he hears something he's studying Arabic
20:59at UC Long Beach and his Arabic teacher
21:01is Syrian and and and and she's talking
21:04about her family and what's going on in
21:05Syria and Jordan's like what do we got
21:07we got to do something and so Jordan on
21:08his own he's on the internet and can't
21:10find a program with UC
21:12um Long Beach and so he finds another
21:14program to study Arabic in Amman and he
21:17goes to the dean there at UC Long Beach
21:18and he says look Dean I want to go over
21:20there I want to study Arabic but I got
21:21to get into the camps and the dean at UC
21:23Long Beach is smart enough to say go
21:26Jordan we'll give you credit absolutely
21:27give us some letters what's the school
21:29and and so I'm there because Jordan
21:31invited me first he invited me to his
21:33high school three years ago after he saw
21:36ghosts of Rwanda like baby and he
21:38invited me to a school and and now he
21:40invites me to Jordan and I'm walking
21:42through the camps with him so you can
21:43meet him in that in that situ in that
21:46place Jordan was there learning the
21:48stories as he learned the stories of the
21:50families mostly women and children in
21:51the camps he's like okay how can we
21:54partner what's the action what's the
21:56service and for Jordan it was to improve
21:59their their housing from these tents in
22:01the bitter cold winter to like box
22:03houses that the U.N is trying to bring
22:06in so in any case in any case stories
22:09stories and service Are For Me The Way
22:11We deconstruct an enemy and the part uh
22:15I am like racing against the clock and
22:17not winning
22:20this little movie clip
22:24I won't even play the whole two minutes
22:26of it
22:27um
22:28is from French television you can see
22:31the 19th of uh oh some of you who speak
22:34French
22:38sorry but for the rest of us I'm going
22:40to mute them I mean well I kind of
22:42understand French too but
22:45so during the genocide the footage is
22:47coming out the rest of the world is
22:49seeing what's happening there's you know
22:51it depends how much footage is played
22:53depending on what we demand in our media
22:55appetites but in any case the rest of
22:57the world seeing what's happening and
22:59there's a French diplomat going there in
23:01the middle of the genocide and here he
23:03is at this hotel I'm walking through the
23:05parking lot uh of right there I'll pause
23:09you see the overhang this awning that
23:12I'm talking about right there instead of
23:14a shiny car under the awning
23:16you can see the UN armored personnel
23:18under the awning that's it's just one
23:21example visual example of how the UN a
23:24few soldiers maybe just a dozen at the
23:26airport sometimes I mean at the hotel
23:28sometimes only four
23:31we're protecting the lives of thousands
23:33of people but but in any case I I wanted
23:36you to not just see that from that time
23:39but
23:40um I wanted you to see this is kind of
23:43strange thing
23:45that's the Frenchman and these are some
23:47of the orphans he's kind of doing a I
23:49don't know maybe it's a Goodwill visit
23:51in the middle of genocide I people are
23:54mortars are falling this day people are
23:57being killed this day and anyway
24:00um
24:01right up there those are my barrels guys
24:04it might be like you know what's he
24:06attached to his barrels the the one
24:09orphanage that I was working with
24:11especially had fresh little graves in
24:14the parking lot when I first arrived
24:15they weren't from little ones who were
24:17killed by machetes or by mortars and
24:19stuff they were little ones who were
24:21dying from diarrhea all they needed was
24:23water to live so so these barrels were a
24:27huge part and what I grabbed out of the
24:29suitcase there and what I brought if you
24:30guys are interested during the genocide
24:33about the second week and I'll introduce
24:35you to my wife and children in a minute
24:38um
24:39and why why Teresa and I decided that I
24:42would stay I'll try my best to explain
24:44that but about the second week as this
24:47thing was going on and on it finally I
24:49kind of came to the point of saying I
24:50might not I might not survive to see my
24:53wife and children so I started to talk
24:55on a cassette tape telling them what was
24:58happening and each time I filled a tape
25:00I would write you know my address Katie
25:02Lane Spokane Washington 99223 hoping
25:05that if I was killed and and the house
25:07was trashed somebody might see that see
25:10the address on that cassette tape and
25:13send it to its intended destination and
25:15obviously I wasn't killed and you know
25:17the house wasn't trashed and and nine by
25:19the time the genocide was over I had
25:21nine cassette tapes I went in the shoe
25:23box for about 16 years and finally last
25:25year and a half ago I finished this
25:27little 170 page book what's exciting for
25:30me about this there's several things but
25:32one is that the stories here aren't me
25:34trying to now how did that happen 17 16
25:37years ago no the stories in here
25:39are are told the day they happen the
25:42stories are recorded the day they have
25:44or a week after they happen and if you
25:46guys because we obviously don't have
25:47time to get into the different stories
25:49like the stories of the of the little
25:51kids who helped me clean those barrels
25:53while snipers are shooting at us or the
25:56story said the orphanage that I was
25:58getting to and stuff like that if you'd
26:00like to I have books here you guys are
26:02welcome to them we ask a donation like
26:0510 bucks but if you don't have money
26:06with you that's not the issue you can
26:08take an envelope and send it or you can
26:09wait to graduate from college and make a
26:11hundred dollar donation always kind of
26:13make that joke it sort of works
26:15but the I the thing is if you want to
26:17read the stories I want you to empty my
26:18suitcase and so if you want to take
26:20those stories and and understand why
26:22those barrels I get so excited about
26:25those barrels or or read about this guy
26:27with long hair I wish I wrote more but I
26:31didn't have right here with his long
26:32hair and beard the diplomats hugging
26:34them right now with long hair and beards
26:36the kids called them Jesus he he was in
26:38a home a Frenchman in a home with about
26:4012 or 14 orphans and when all the other
26:42foreigners were leaving
26:44Mark said no
26:46he says you know I'm not leaving and and
26:50and mark stayed and his 14 his house
26:53took a bomb that house became unlivable
26:55he moved to the basement of this church
26:56where this footage is his 14 became 104
27:00over 200 kids by the time the genocide
27:02was over
27:04um and for those of you who are studying
27:05French and you'd like to read and is
27:07there a French teacher here with us not
27:10right now but there's some French
27:11students I know
27:13um if you if you'd asked your teacher to
27:15look for this book it's in French I'm
27:18not even exactly sure the title it's
27:20it's we couldn't save them all the guy's
27:23name is Mark Vader I haven't read the
27:26book because while I sort of speak
27:27French I'm really slow at reading it but
27:31um in any case uh let's let's go ahead
27:34oh okay and that's me I know it's blurry
27:39but um uh I was leaving that hotel one
27:42day and CNN was there and a reporter
27:44came after me and I didn't really want
27:46to talk to reporters because I was
27:47trying to keep a very low profile I
27:49didn't want to be labeled as the guy
27:51trying to save Tutsis in Rwanda I was a
27:53humanitarian trying to help people in
27:55need but in any case there's another
27:58chapter about little baby and biscuits
28:00because that baby in my arms I saw her
28:02last summer she just graduated from high
28:03school at the top of her class her mom
28:06and dad were killed and her aunt was
28:08killed I can't remember if it was her
28:10mom or her aunt the the nun who gave her
28:12to me said that it was her mom or her
28:14aunt she was on her back when a bomb
28:16landed and took the life the the moms or
28:19the aunt's body shielded her and she had
28:22just this little scar over her over her
28:24eyebrow but anyway that's the little
28:27baby in in that chapter about biscuits
28:30and and babies
28:32which I won't go into okay now give me a
28:35time check where
28:41all right well there it goes for the
28:45question and answer time guys let me
28:48leave this word with you and then if you
28:50want to take some books please take a
28:52look along with you
28:55um the idea so many times is who's
28:57responsible
28:59who's responsible to intervene who's
29:02responsible in Syria who's responsible
29:04in the Congo and stuff take that word
29:06responsible cut it in half split flip it
29:09over and take this
29:15ask that question when somebody's broke
29:18down on the side of the road it's like
29:19who's responsible to help them no no ask
29:21do I have the ability to respond
29:25and and I think that changes the whole
29:27conversation and the ability to respond
29:30is largely based on knowing the stories
29:33so I mean a lot of people want to go out
29:35and help but we don't learn what we need
29:37to the background so we actually make it
29:39worse when we're trying to help but that
29:41ability to respond is something that has
29:43really changed the way I think and
29:46approach things and I hope it hope it
29:48makes a little difference thanks guys
29:50for coming and thank you Gabe for making
29:53this happen and
29:57and I hope hope we can meet sometime on
30:00on Facebook or something like that

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