GlobeMed’s Values - excerpts from speech delivered at annual Summit

by Victor Roy on April 6, 2008

The following contains excerpts from a speech delivered by GlobeMed's Executive Director, Victor Roy, at the benefit dinner which concluded GlobeMed's second Annual Global Health Summit on April 5th in Evanston, IL.

“Each of the students in this room, and I would suspect, all of us in this room - otherwise we wouldn't be here tonight - share a common belief. That perhaps the deficit we often experience -- the deficit in valuing human life, valuing human relationships, and valuing human health -- no matter your place of birth and residence - might be worth our time to address. If the students in this room and the leaders these students work with in communities across the world are any example, then surely this belief is rooted in some thing more than imagination.”

“I noted before that our belief is rooted in some thing more than imagination. What allows us to do this, besides our hope that is so vital? What is it that “grounds” our activism?”

On “going beyond compassion”

“At the 'root' of what drives us to act is a sense of compassion in response to the pain and suffering that exists in so many communities across the world. Compassion, as defined in the dictionary, means 'sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it'. While we recognize that compassion is a starting point to our collective efforts and it resides permanently within our hearts, simply put, compassion must translate to responsible, effective, and sustainable efforts.

Through a devotion to our first value – ‘going beyond compassion’ - we remind ourselves that the true measure of our work - not just in GlobeMed but throughout our lives - is based less in the anecdotes of suffering and hope that might be delivered – and justifiably so - in conversations and speeches. A true measure is based more so in a serious commitment to rigor - to see 'results' (or lack thereof, as can often be the case) through the eyes of those who face the challenges of poverty and injustice on a daily basis.

One of my favorite professors – Michael Diamond – has always taught us that 'the plural of anecdote is not science', and it’s precisely this belief that has led us, as an organization, to transform ourselves over the past few years.”

“I would think that it’s not too difficult to have a sense of deep compassion when we look out at an unequal and unjust world. What's perhaps more difficult is to demand as much as we can from ourselves to translate our desire to help into some thing that realizes actual solutions. But as much as we ask ourselves individually to go beyond compassion, we can’t affect change unless we have respect and consideration for different resources, different approaches, and ultimately, for each other. So though our belief in our selves to affect change and 'go beyond compassion' is vital, individuals working in isolation can hardly ever take on broader challenges with success.”

"That's why GlobeMed believes deeply in ...

Respecting the dignity and assets of all people in our global community. That’s our second value."

On "dignity and assets of all people in our global community"

“Unfortunately, it’s some thing that’s lacking in the world of activism even, let alone the world more broadly. So often we hear programs and organizations, that yes, undeniably have lots of value, exclaim how they accept only the most elite, high-achieving applicants to be involved in their work. As if others, just as motivated, need to find less worthy ways of getting involved or worse, have little to offer. We forget too, that in ‘vulnerable’ communities of ‘suffering’ and ‘poverty’, as they are often labeled, there are terrific people with undying commitment and intellect to solve problems. If we create and reinforce barriers to participation in problem-solving, rather than seeking to break them down, we are missing out on the endless opportunities that ultimately hold the promise for addressing maternal health, HIV/AIDS, or malnutrition, to name a few.”

“When we respect the dignity and assets of all people in our global community - that people anywhere have the promise of affecting change - then we atleast open ourselves to the possibilities and the potential that otherwise have little chance of being uncovered.”

On “collaboration”

"We believe strongly that this spirit [of respecting the dignity and assets of all people in our global community] can and should - in as many cases as possible - translate to actual working relationships. This respect does not of course, always translate to collective action - some times the fit between different groups or people isn't there. Mutual understanding, built upon respect, would hopefully though - considering the scale of the challenges we face - manifest itself into collective action more often than not. And so we come to our third value: collaboration. The idea of collaboration is oft-used, but we truly believe that our work is made possible and better because of the community leaders and organizations we work with around the world. And the beauty of a collaborative relationship – when done right – is that our partners often feel the same way."

On “pragmatic idealism”

"All of this sounds quite ambitious, right? For students? We hear this some times. Surely we can't be involved in projects like the ones I've briefly described.

I remember only a few months ago, at a presentation by a global health professor from some university in Canada, when asked what he thought students could be doing to affect change, he stared blankly, only to shrug and respond "I don't know"! After all, us young people come and go, and we have those dreaded things called exams.

Often, we are depicted as apathetic, uncaring, or atleast apolitical. And yet, when we are mobilizing, we're over-ambitious, un-focused, and just plain wide-eyed.

As young leaders in GlobeMed, we hear the whispers regarding our activism. In the eyes of some, our efforts are small and thereby rendered unimportant – you, of course, either have to be the lead singer for U2 or have started Microsoft to make a 'real difference' - as if celebrity and budgets are the measure of one's promise and capacity.

How do we respond - with proper candor and reflection - to these critiques? In thinking about these issues (and many others that we can’t discuss now), some of them valid, we value a spirit of pragmatic idealism. This brings us to our fourth and last value.

By valuing pragmatic action, we allow ourselves to listen to criticism, to reflect on our work, to learn, learn, learn but then use this examination not in a way that should dampen our spirits and energies – but rather serve as a catalyst and motivation to do even better, 'idealistic' - one might say - work."

"We understand that we come and go. But what if we created such a demand through our efforts that our universities had to supply the support systems for this type of global civic engagement? What if we made the case, and asked for this? What if our student groups had university staff directly assisting them, what if we had more faculty interested in assisting to create stronger projects based on the rigor they cherish - so that the energies of students had a sustained community and continuity of support? What if our university administrations realized that students want more than just the 'best universities in the world' but the 'best universities FOR the world'? Then we're being pragmatic, no? Figuring out how we as students can address a supposed weakness in the sustainability of our efforts? But then we'd probably also get written off as "idealistic". Atleast in GlobeMed, idealism can be a good thing, and we think our world could use more of it. We just, as I've also discussed, mix in a good bit of strategy and pragmatism to make things work. And when we fail - because some times we do - we keep trying, just differently, so as not to repeat the same mistakes."

“Our values admittedly set a high bar for ourselves, but it’s the only type of bar that makes sense. If you know the statistics, you know the stories, you wonder, can we afford to set a bar any lower? I don't think many of us would say yes, if we truly believe it is worth our time to address these pressing challenges."

"We need your support, your partnership, and your solidarity for this endeavor."

"So as our heart tugs with compassion when we learn of the tremendous hardships so many people face on our planet, let's work together to realize that this emotion is a foundation for much more - that if we truly go beyond compassion, believe in and respect the dignity and assets of all people in our global community, collaborate with people and organizations as much as possible, and have an undying spirit of pragmatic idealism to catalyze our efforts, then we'll be guided in a much better direction than the one our world finds itself on today. And our hearts…will remain in the right place.

Thank you.”