Who can you 'uplift'?
Elizabeth Nyamayaro (@e_nyamayaro on Twitter) head of UN Women and the @HeForShe Campaign raises an important question in her recent TED talk:
Who will you help?
Who will you 'uplift'?
- Elizabeth Nyamayaro
In her specific case she is talking about getting men involved in gender equality - making them partners in fixing the long standing wrongdoings against girls and women. More generally, her message is that we can all help each other, no matter where we start.
Recalling a United Nations aid worker that helped her in Zimbabwe during a famine when she was 8 years old, she said:
"That's who I want to be -- someone like [the UN worker in Zimbabwe], someone who uplifts other people."
This isn't a new idea, and a quick search will find many quotes extolling the personal benefits derived from helping others (for instance, from Braing Quote ):
Helping others is good for your mental health:
Through our willingness to help others we can learn to be happy rather than depressed. - Gerald Jampolsky
But you also have to remember to help yourself as well:
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others. - Audrey Hepburn
And of course the aphorism "a rising tide lifts all boats" applies here as well:
You need an attitude of service. You're not just serving yourself. You help others to grow up and you grow with them. - David Green
An important question worth repeating, and considering in your own life.
(Original photo Chinese Rail Workers Monument :: July 8, 2005 from my photoblog seemsArtless, text added using addText.com.)
