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People-to-People Links

By Fan Li

After three years working for a nonprofit organization in Tokyo, I recently started my own organization, Global Links Initiative (GLI), with friends in the U.K., Japan and China. We have 25 members so far. Our aim is to explore new ways of tackling problems of social exclusion in these countries by making practical links among social entrepreneurs around the world. We are planning grassroots exchange programs and joint projects on issues which are overlooked by traditional social welfare structures.

I have talked to many people about our new initiative these days. Some of them doubted how far we could go: so many big structures have been trying to make the world a better place.

Magic Touch

In Chinese, the word "peace" (heping) is always mentioned together with "friendship" (youyi). The value of personal connections has long been considered the "magic touch" in creating a positive and open relationship between countries and regions. Members of GLI, my friends and friends of my friends come from very different perspectives and many speak different languages. So what brings us together?

Through our own experiences we have each found that friendship between people from different backgrounds is one kind of antidote to dislocation and apathy. In every age there have been people with the spirit and faith, emotion and will to do something of an unusual and dramatic kind.

One example within our network is a retired businessman in England who started his second career working with NGOs five years ago. In 2001, Robin met Cucu, a 27-year-old disabled Indonesian woman at a reception at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Cucu was on a one-year leadership course for young disabled people from developing Asian countries. When she met Robin, she asked for help: she wanted to create a new NGO to help mentally and physically disabled people, especially children, in her country. And most importantly, she wants to change the attitude of many of her fellow 200 million Indonesians toward people with disabilities.

Robin was inspired by Cucu's aspirations and openness. They exchanged e-mail addresses. He came back to Japan twice to give seminars on NGO management, and Cucu traveled across Japan in her wheelchair to meet and listen to him. Robin realized that what Cucu most needed was not money, but the ability to share experiences with other people. So he sent messages to members of the Community Action Network in the U.K. and to some of his friends around the world asking if any of them would be interested in exchanging with her and providing friendship.

Immediately three members of the Community Action Network offered to e-mail Cucu. Also, a disabled woman in New Zealand who had won two consecutive gold medals at the Paraplegic Olympic Games said she would like to help. Then Cucu received a surprising e-mail from a 46-year-old Australian called Ron who was the World Blind Golf Champion. After several mail contacts, Ron visited Cucu in Indonesia with an offer of funding. Cucu has now succeeded in setting up her NGO.

Robin always says that he is inspired and encouraged by meeting and becoming friends with people like Cucu. All of our members have a lot to say about what they have learned from personal friendship. Being a Chinese living in Japan, I have enjoyed meeting and becoming friends with Japanese people of different ages. Sometimes I feel depressed by the voices full of "pride and prejudice" from both countries, and how diplomacy always failed to create a genuine atmosphere of reconciliation and friendship.

Avoiding Bias

Children begin to form biases about other people almost as early as they begin to speak. I wonder how many of us are still carrying vestiges of these biases? Friendship, personally and globally, is all about learning and accepting that people are different and respecting that difference. I believe that by creating people-to-people links, we can play an important role in helping individuals of all ages learn about diversity. As Mother Teresa said: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

Fan Li is executive director of Global Links Initiative, a nonprofit organization which aims to support positive and creative action on social inclusion and citizen empowerment worldwide using information technology as an enabler. See: www.glinet.eu/

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