“A black man becomes the president of the United Change. Ehm. The United States.” It’s a telling slip of the tongue by Princes Mabel van Oranje in her Talk on change.
“What you need is to believe that the impossible is possible,” the Princess said. “In order to ignite change, I know from experience, you often have to take two steps forward, one step back.”
“We can all make a difference but none of us can do it alone. Archbishop Tutu says ‘we are all tiny drips of water, in a huge ocean.’ If you want to create a wave if change, you need many, many drops of water.”
And many people do work in very active waves. The women of Sarajevo, for example, lived through the longest siege in the history. Because bombs were falling constantly, they seemed locked like animals. But every morning the women would put on their best clothes and prettiest makeup, and they would walk the streets not knowing if they were going to survive. They were saying “you can kill us, but you won’t get us”. Every one of them was making a difference. And we can all make a difference.
Leaders
Somebody needs to steer that wave of change in the right direction. It takes a good leader, the Princess said. And there are three kind of leaders: the formal, the former and informal leaders, the Princess said.
- The formal leaders are the sitting politicians. Some of them are great, others are not.
- The former leaders, people like the Elders, have the amazing luxury of having power without needing to be reelected. “So they can tell the truth.”
- The informal leaders: “I got to know a girl that was raped by her father before she knew her own age. She was transferred to an adoption family, and there it happened again. So, she returned to her mother whom had a new boyfriend, and it happened again. Now she is fighting for women rights. And to me she is a real leader.”
You
“We live in a society of instant gratification. We want everything quick, quick, quick. And if it breaks, we throw it away. But changes doesn’t come overnight. Think of all the years that Nelson Mandela had to spend in jail before he could see his country free.”
“You don’t need me to tell you that humanity is facing great challenges. And as we sit here this morning thousand of children have died because they didn’t have the right medication or food.”
“Each and every one of us can do something. You can give money, power, brain power, time and energy. You need a whole lot of pragmatism. A lot of patience and perseverance. But there will be others who will help you in the wave of change. And if you happen to get involved in one of those wave of changes, I would love to work together with you,” the Princess said.
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