UN Practicum Blog - Jamie Bussey

 
I often feel that I am running a race. It’s a race, against myself: a yearning for a mad dash to get to where I think I ought to be; some great notion of making a difference that I fear I will never realize. Some nights I go to sleep tossing and turning thinking of not just what I have to do the next day, but how all of it will lead to this great something. I have long realized that in this perpetual motion of reaching to do more, I miss out on all that is right in front of me.
 
This week has been like a yo-yo of these extremes. At moments I want to sprint ahead to the finish line, I want to know exactly what’s my role in achieving gender equity. If only I could figure it out, because in my brain, it’s like the quicker I can define my place, the quicker I can make a plan and take action. Then of course the next moment comes as soon as the last, and a new idea pops into my head, and I think, oh I think I’ll go that way; I feel like I am no longer sprinting, but tackling an obstacle course of decisions and problems. In the anxiety of calculating how could I do it all, I frequently, and not always so convincingly, have to remind myself, one step at a time.
 
So today’s step is an example of learning from women and men that come from diverse backgrounds, but are all putting forward their ideas, their efforts, and in some cases their very hearts and souls to fight for justice and to end not just violence against women, but systematic violations of human rights occurring around the globe.
 
For instance, today two women from Mali moved me, as they spoke of the atrocities resulting in fundamental extremists moving into their country and overtaking their government; an image of women having babies in the streets, or being stoned because they are not married, but have children. While I had read the media recounts of what was happening in Mali, such words could not replace the soul in the voices of the Malian women.
 
Then, a young Indian girl recounted how at the age of 11, after growing up in a house of violence, she made the decision to take herself and her brothers and sisters away from their abusive father.
 
At another session, a high school teacher and three students spoke eloquently on the roots and societal implications of sexual harassment in schools, and how through a gender studies course they were addressing the issue.
 
In each of these instances, I was moved to action, and I immediately conjured up ideas on what I could do help. But really the truly beautiful thing about these sessions is the realization that there is no right way and no wrong way to bring about change, and that every moment can be a great something. Because there are so many viable options, what in fact becomes more relevant is that you just be a part.
 
Jamie Bussey