Why I was in the same room with a Nobel Peace Laureate

My long time close friend and fellow nurse, Ms. Evelyn Nakachwa at the registration desk in Queen Elizabeth II centre, Westminster
It was upon invitation from the Mayor of London. Well, that and also I am a scholar under the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) One Young World (OYW) Program. J&J designed a six month mentorship and coaching program for health workers on the front lines of care. Each scholar is paired with a coach and a buddy team that plays a supervisory role and offers general support for the scholar to grow in their career and multiply our impact. Part of the program involves attendance at the OYW Summit. Now, OYW is in the business of inspiring and igniting fires – fires inside people – to do more, to give more and to lead better. This year, it was held in London, with 2,100 delegates representing 190 countries. Like a moderator on the sports discussion said, “It is the closest I have come to attending the Olympics.”

Delegates wave 190 different flags at the opening ceremony at The Royal Albert Hall, London

The Summit structure was phenomenal: from the awe-inspiring flag waving opening ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, in the presence of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Prof. Muhammad Yunus and others, to small breakout sessions about ways to tackle some of the most pressing global challenges and ground shaking anecdotes from the giants that move the earth. Literally.

I listened to many great people, who have done incredible stuff, and done it well, for humanity, for the planet. Important stuff. I left the sessions awestruck – there was a common theme: each of them had at one time felt an over whelming responsibility to do something positive in their community. But they didn’t stop at feeling, or hoping, they acted. We all hope to change the world. Given the chance to change the world or not to change the world, many have chosen to change the world. While many people have this feeling or hope, they don’t actually get around to doing anything because they can’t decide when, how, what, where and how to. So how have the giants before us answered those questions?

[Left to Right]: One Young World Co-Founder Dave Jones, HRH The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle,  2006 Nobel Peace Laureate & Founder of Grameen Bank, Prof. Muhammed Yunus and Prof. Thuli Madonsela, Chair, law Trust & Social Justice and Law Professor, Univeristy of Stellenbosch attend the Opening Ceremony in the Royal Albert Hall

Feike Sijbesma, CEO of DSM, advised us to use a booklet to write down all the things we learn, what makes us tick, our competencies and our passions, as well as to assess every three weeks if that energy – that spark and drive to act – is still there. It’s something he had done all his life, written down all his ideas. I started thinking about my own ideas, how many had I actually acted on and why had I not acted on the others? Feike posed a question that delved me even deeper into this line of thought: What is more important — impact, power or responsibility?

It started becoming clear to me that great change makers often start where they are, with what they have, an idea, a solution. They do not go out seeking to be great. They go out trying to make their community better for the people in it. It starts with responsibility to a small group of people or even to yourself. A little power and a big determination to create an impact. It is this positive impact that spills over to the rest of the world. The same power you and I have, right now, is enough. But what about experience, how much of that do young people have? I will tell you what Feike told us, “Experience is over rated, having experienced it, I know. Many young people are holding themselves back from doing more, because they are amassing experience [or they don’t have funding].”

Posing in front of J&J's pledge board, where summit attendees wrote our commitments to building the resilience of ourselves and our communities.

So you want to change the world? Here’s what I learned. “Idealism and a plan to achieve what you want trumps experience,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Norvartis. We all have the responsibility to make use of what we have now to create resilient communities, through the most cost effective, feasible and scalable ideas. “For a long time you might be led to believe that you are too young to do anything, but then you may wake up to find that YOU are too old to do the things you have been preparing yourself to do.” Vas Narasimhan. Act now.

Early this year, I identified a challenge in health service delivery that I could act on. In my country, Uganda, healthcare providers (especially those working with the government) are posted to districts without consideration of whether they speak the local language or not. While Uganda’s official language is English, many people in rural areas do not speak English because of low literacy levels and/or their use one of over 43 local languages instead. This frequently creates a language barrier between healthcare providers and patients which results in delayed care as people wait for translators that speak both English and the local language.

Saying goodbye to London: My J&J buddy team [From Left to Right], Ciara McManus, Me, Sibongile Zwane, Jerico Jay Bueno, Adele Covino and Anna Tacconi at the Park Plaza Bridge Hotel, Westminster

Post OYW Summit, I have translated my hope into action. My J&J buddy team and I have designed a communication toolkit, a blueprint to guide dialogue during a hospital encounter.It will help health workers in assessment, history taking, and giving instructions for tests and treatment in the local language. We have completed phase I with the help of Ms. Emily Manzi, the English - Rukiga official translator. We are left with two phases: The advanced phase – where the guides will be tailored to each department: eg. Maternity, surgical or medical wards. The last phase includes the formulation of an online platform for the guide to be easily accessible to anyone in the world. Once the blue print is complete, anyone in the world will be able to download it and adapt it to their local language.

And if you thought action is so out of your future, take heart from these young OYW Ambassadors that have already been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; because you are made of that same stuff.Go out if you have to, or look within, if you like, because therein lies a Nobel Laureate Winner and I want to be in the same room with you one day. In the famous words of singer Jay Sean who performed at the Summit: “Baby, Are you down, down, down, down, down?”  

Jay Sean performs at the Opening Ceremony, Royal Albert Hall, London