17. “A journey of a
thousand miles must
begin with a single
step.”
Editor's Notes
Good evening and welcome to World ChangeThank you for comingI am Luke Jones – work for Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea has been leader in comparative international education for 50 years. If you don’t know – we own a ship and we take students around the world during a semester 12 countries – 110 days. Amazing
And as a program we are encouraged by the huge increase in the number of students in the past 5 years that come to our voyages and want to participate in work projects, service trips, want to or have already started their own non-profit. They quickly become engaged and invested in the most pressing issues of our time and are asking themselves what can they do to make a difference? How can they be a part of changing the world?And to me that suggests that students are hearing the message – that while we have made huge advances in the past 50 years, -Children who die under the age of 5 has decreased 50%-4 million Africans have access to AIDS medications-50 million more Children are in primary schools-1 billion lifted out of povertywe still have significant challenges.
1.4 billion people are living in extreme poverty (earning less than $1.25 a day) Women comprise 70% of the world’s poorest people 99% of maternal deaths happen in developing countries
9.2 million children die before their 5th birthday most from treatable diseases35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS65 percent of young people living with HIV/AIDS are women
Unfortunately not all of our problems are on foreign frontiersthe US faces its fair share of inequities and setbackWith all the most advanced technology and equipment, spending far more on healthcare than any other nation we only rank 37thapproximately one in seven were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United StatesEvery year 3.5 million people experience homelessness20.5 million Americans live in extreme povertyI can present you with figures all day – many of which you’ve seen before but the question is – what moves us to action – to undertake the task of addressing these challenges. I believe that it is not enough to know about the issues – information alone does not motivate us – if it did I would work out every day and eat extremely healthy.
Rather – I would argue – we become and we are what we love – that what we desire most is what guides our actions and choices – not at a mind level – but at a heart level.And to create change we must become connected with these issues and people in a way that binds us and changes that which we desire, shapes our vision of “the American Dream” of what we see as the “good life”. Because it is those visions that will guide our decisions and choices.We at Semester at Sea believe that an international experience, one that develops a global perspective is critical to both gaining the skills, and knowledge necessary to address these challenges but also to shaping the heart desires of those who would make a difference.
It’s the process of discovering what the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of our trustees and Nobel laureate, describes as Ubuntu.That word is “Ubuntu”: This word is from the African Bantu language and means: “I am what I am because of who we are”, or taken another way, “people are people through other people”. It is the essence of being human.
Ubuntu speaks to the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It is based on a premise of interconnectedness. And so we believe an international experience abroad is absolutely critical to recognizing and experiencing this interconnectedness first-handAnd I want to spend a moment on this notion of connectedness.
When we talk about international education or study abroad it’s easy to think about it in terms of adventuroustravel, consuming the exotic, and too easily envision an individual pursuit.
But what we have observed is that the most powerful learning experiences are done within the context of a diverse communityIn fact it is this very relational aspect that leads us towards and encourages the development of a global perspectiveOn Semester at Sea our students travel and learn with their faculty, adult lifelong learners, family members, our crew, staff and fellow students.Within this environment and in countries on the itinerary you learn to connect, to open yourself to new ideas, perspectives and learn about yourself and form and reform your own ideas about the world.Discovering this interconnectedness within a community is key because takes a community to address these challenges because the problems our world faces do not recognize borders or boundariesthey are human problems that impact the global community and it will take the global community working together to solve them.that’s why we believe the education of our rising generation of leaders who have a global perspective is so important.
What if our world leaders in all sectors lead from with a perspective informed by this global perspective and committed to the notion of connectedness and communityExhibiting traits of:adaptabilityempathyCreativityUmbuntuAnd be guided by deep core desires that pursue a good life for all people.Amazing things – and it is happening – we see it in our alumni:
-Pencils of Promise has helped communities in Guatemala, Loas, and Nicaragua complete over 66 schools and are serving over -4,000 students served and impacted the lives of many more.
They have offered entrepreneurs -345 million in micro loans, by mobilizing over 800,000 lenders and boast a loan repayment rate of nearly 99 percent
They have: Served 70 ventures, helping them scale, who are now working in 36 countries who collectively have raised over 23 mil and employee over 400 people – addressing the most pressing issues of our time.These alumni started off as students just like you –they wanted to help change the world. They, and others are why we are undertaking the most innovative experiment in international social entrepreneurship education this coming Spring voyage.
With Unreasonable at Sea we are bringing 11 ventures, 26 entrepreneurs from countries on the itinerary along with 20 amazing mentors to live on the ship and be mentored by 20 amazing mentors for an entire semester as they look to take their solutions to big challenges into new markets. Our students will get to learn about social entrepreneurship first-hand along with this amazing group of entrepreneurs, faculty and mentors.Our goal is to help students take their passion for changing the world into concrete steps and that’s why we are here tonight.Because others share that goal as well and you are going to hear from some amazing individuals.
So start by asking yourself – what holds you back.of failing, fear of the unknown, you just don’t know where to start – our speakers will be talking about some specific skillsets, opportunities, experiences, programs of study you can look to that can help you make a difference, not after you graduate, but now.
Step by step – you can make a differenceYou are ALL capable of that first step.
