Coming from a small town like Kilkeel it is sometimes easy to forget the outside world in which we are all but a speck. But once again this program has provided a unique opportunity to mix with people I may not normally come across.
Upon arrival those from the South African Washington Internship Program brought a whole new dynamic to the group. I believe that I have already developed a good relationship with some and look forward to doing so with the rest. Not unlike ourselves, they come from a broken society which their generation is in the process of mending.
What I have learned is that it's not the fact that a country has problems that is important, but how it deals with them.
Through sport, culture and economics they have all found a common ground on which to base their framework for a new and better society.
Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. made a lasting impact in their respective countries not because they wanted to be leaders and politicians - but because they were ordinary people who wanted to make a difference.
I leave you with a quote attributed (correctly/incorrectly) to Nelson Mandela:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
