Interculture - Immigrants/Emmigrants - Integration - Religion - Political systems - Welfare systems - Resources - European Union - Globalization.
These are all words I think of when I reflect on going to school this semester. Each word or subject kickstarts a flow of thoughts about my place in the world and how I want the world to evolve.
All one have to do is to turn on the tv and watch the news to see how poor a state the international community is in, when it comes to understanding, tolerance and readiness to help people in need. A long story short; there are very many problems which seems to hard to comprehend and further more to solve. But that doesn't mean that one should not try. The question is then, how and where to start. First off, I have the utmost respect for people trying to make the world a better place, even when it comes to just being nice to people (and animals). And I am very much aware of the many different approaches to the subject one can have. The important thing here, is to just be aware of the fact that every action has a reaction. Cliché - I know, but nevertheless true.
My personal approach:
When I was 6 years old I vividly remember talking to my grandfather - who was already an old man at the time - and I asked him about life and the world, specifically about the meaning/purpose of life. His answer shaped my life up until now. He told me that life had two meanings - The first was to help other people in any way possible and the second was the importance of occupying ones time, so that one would not develop an introspective outlook on life. - Deep thoughts, especially for a boy only 6 years old.Fast forwarding to when I was 19 years old. My father, 2 friends and I was invited by UNICEF, to attend an international youth conference in Bogota, Colombia. Young people from 18 countries around the world attended this 30 day conference. The conferences' objective was to shed some light on the different types of problems young people had in dealing with poverty, crime and education. All of us had to tell about our own country and thereby learn about other countries and cultures. Among a lot of other things we had workshops in which we came up with different solutions to different problems e.g. I learned that crime, is mostly due to a lack of a positive outlook on life (caused by a vast variety of issues). Therefore people has to be able to expect a good life for themselves, with a good education, instead of struggling with survival. I concluded from this, that with a little positivity and maybe even some naivety you will get a long way in the pursuit of helping others.
Later in my life I began working with people at the age of 13-18, who were deeply involved with crime, drug abuse and other psychosocial problems. My strength in working with these kinds of problems, comes from a knowledge about how and why despair arises and evolves in a person. I was able to see these young people for who they were instead of what they did to themselves and to the people around them. That in essence caused them to gain a great deal of respect for me and for what I said. In the end this mutual respect, made it very easy for me to help these youngsters help them selves. It was relatively easy to change their outlook on life and help them pursue what THEY thought was truly important in life. This line of work meant a great deal to me in 2 ways. One, I was able to help some people becoming who they really wanted to be. And two, I spent my time with something useful which in turn sustained my positive outlook on life.
My reflection on the International Course
Studying with people from different cultures gives me the opportunity to work with issues that are intercultural. That means that I get the chance to broaden my perspective on how one can help other people. My intention with these studies is - after graduation - to work with problemsolving in countries that are much different from Denmark. As I see it, young people in Denmark have a good chance of becoming who they want to be. Therefore I wish to help people who are even more troubled than their danish peers. I hope I will be able to make a change for someone out there in the world, who otherwise wouldn't stand a chance. For that vision of mine to come true, I need to learn a lot more about culture and theoretical approaches in helping others. Already I have learned a lot about similarities in the European countries. And I hope that, that will give me the push I need towards the international working space.
I would like to end this -MyFirstBlog - with a quotation from a danish philosopher whom I truly respect. His name is Søren Kierkegaard and he wrote this text (translated from danish) in the year 1859:
If One Is Truly to Succeed in Leading a person to a Specific Place, One must First and Foremost Take Care to Find Him Where He Is and Begin There
This is the secret in the entire art of helping. Anyone who cannot do this is himself under a delusion if he thinks he is able to help someone else. In order truly to help someone else, I must understand more than he—but certainly first and formost understand what he understands. If I do not do that, then my greater understanding does not help him at all. If I nevertheless want to assert my greater understanding, then it is because I am vain or proud, then basically instead of benefiting him I really want to be admired by him. But all true helping begins with a humbling. The helper must first humble himself under the person he wants to help and thereby understand that to to help is not to dominate but to serve, that to help is not to be the most dominating but the most patient, that to help is a willingness for the time being to put up with being in the wrong and not understanding what the other understands.
