 Hello and welcome to Darmsala. My name is Nancy Lindborg. I'm the president of the United States Institute of Peace Which is a national nonpartisan Institute Dedicated to prevention and resolution of violent conflict around the world. We work with partners To apply very practical applications of how to do this and we work especially with young leaders around the world Who are key to a more peaceful future? We're here in Darmsala Having just concluded our second annual youth leader dialogue with his Holiness the Dalai Lama Which is a wonderful partnership that we've had for two years now that creates a dialogue This year between 25 youth leaders from 12 different countries affected by violent conflict As well as a small group of experts who accompanied us and it's an opportunity For the youth leaders to share their stories with his Holiness and to have an exchange about what does it take? To be a peace builder, how do you maintain the inner resilience to stay on this difficult work? And how do you turn difficult experiences into a commitment and a conviction that peace is possible? It was truly a remarkable couple of days I think life changing for many of us and I know that many of the youth leaders are taking home with them renewed conviction that their work is truly making a difference in very very difficult places and that his Holiness Was equally inspired by hearing from them and learning from them. So thank you for joining us for what is a dialogue to reflect on some of what we discussed over the last several days and It is my pleasure to introduce my colleague at the US Institute of Peace Carla Coppel Who is the vice president for applied conflict transformation at USIP? She will moderate the panel beginning by introducing our other speakers. So thank you for joining us and enjoy the conversation Thank you Nancy and Thank you really to everyone who's in the room including our tremendous panel for an inspiring couple of days It's been a wonderful set of conversations Really really important dialogue and we look forward to having a conversation again in this room that captures some of the spirit and the experience of that That discussion and also builds on it with some additional substantive conversations on my far left, I'm honored to be on the stage with Gare Dwani who since 2015 has been a goodwill ambassador with the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees welcome As well to be here with Mahmood Khalil who's a Syrian refugee living in Lebanon He's an activist and advocate for refugee education. I've enjoyed getting to know you Thank you Fatima scary who has founded the Eskira who founded the borough women's development organization Which is actively promoting in northern Nigeria? Efforts to prevent radicalization and counter the impact of Boko Haram in partnership with many women in that region Thank you Fatima. Thank you and last but certainly not least We have dr. Jeremy Richmond who's a neuroscientist and who founded the Aviel Foundation? After his daughter was killed in the Sandy Hill shooting school shooting in 2012 Jeremy, thank you for joining us We're going to start the conversation with a little bit of an introduction of the four people on the panel Then we'll have a bit of a conversation with them Then we really want to make sure that you hear from the full delegation because it is a tremendous group of young leaders who are making a difference for tens of thousands of people all around the world in Active conflict zones and they are incredible. So I want you to have a chance to meet all of them But let's start up here Gare you have quite a personal story and but let's start with really what inspired you to become a goodwill ambassador Because I know that is both a personal and professional choice for you of great importance first, thank you for introducing me and giving me opportunity To share my personal story and also the work that I'm really doing I Decide to join the UNHCR when the civil war broke out in my home country because I live in Bayesian, New York And I wasn't sure how I could really help you know being an activist I felt like I was a one person but working with a big organization like the UNHCR It was pretty much what can really help the refugees that were streaming out of South Sudan So that's reason I joined them and partner up and become a goodwill ambassador to the regions and also I Engaged other people all around the world to advocate for refugees globally So I knew that when the war broke out and it's gonna be a it's gonna be Outcome is gonna be terrible because I was in the previous civil war in the 80s and the 90s So when this kind of war they really happened having experienced So there's no another way that I could really help beside really just joining an organization I didn't have to join any other part because this is a war within one country South Sudan the new nation It will thank you for sharing that and I know we'll hear more of your personal story in the conversation Jeremy Richmond you have come to this conversation with both an incredible education that is Provides you with incredible insight into the effects of conflict and trauma and how you Pivot to really have resilience and become a leader as well as a personal experience that Many would imagine would leave you and we were talking about it yesterday evening curled up in bed And really just mourning the loss of your daughter How have you channeled that to be such an incredible leader and what do you think that's indicative of for how you move? move forward following conflict and trauma Well, you know, I can I can only speak from my personal experience But from what I hear from so many of the young leaders here and in our experiences with with other people responding to tragedies When when you're faced with such heartbreak and this you know in fathomable like depth of loss you need some purpose something to get you out of bed exactly and When we lost our daughter in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting my wife and I Immediately said we needed to play to our strengths because we were scientists and we said we need to approach This problem of violence that we have from a scientific viewpoint. And so we we created The Aviel Foundation committed to preventing violence and building compassion through neuroscience research To understand what happens in the brain What are the risk factors that lead to violence and what are the protective factors that can lead away from that and towards compassion connection? resilience and That wasn't enough we need we recognize that science in a vacuum is really of no value unless you can give it to the everyday world citizen in a way that's approachable digestible makes sense and could be applied in a time of crisis in A meaningful way. So the other half of our foundation is community engagement and education Fatima you're a brave woman You live in a neighborhood with Boko Haram Which specifically has targeted women and girls and yet you've decided to take on the challenge of women and girls empowerment directly In that part of the world. Could you talk a little bit about that choice and how you came to it and what you're working on? Thank you very much, but I think to me my work is not just a choice, but also a responsibility because I saw What trauma looks like in many women and young girls who could easily be me as I Usually say and tell people but then I also feel this is my community and the only thing I have to give back to the community is my head and My soul to serve the people and particularly women who have always been at the bottom I mean in where I grew up women are always kind of secondary and It's usually dominated by men So I find it particularly interesting to support women considering the fact that Boko Haram had affected many But then 90% of those affected and left behind are women and children So if I don't give in to empower those women and support them psychosocially mentally and Economically then the future of the children they're leaving behind is going to be terrible. I mean more Terror would be faced in future than what we are currently facing because Based on research and other things we found out that we have more than 50,000 Offends already and women are many without empowerment without education So one way I can contribute to the community and get myself involved is by establishing an organization Which will primarily focus on women and the children and I feel this is a responsibility not just a choice Thank you so much There are many issues you could have chosen to focus on and you focus on refugee education. Why is that? First of all, thank you Because I'm a refugee myself. I Decided to focus on education because I lost two two years of my life just looking for an opportunity University scholarship anything that I can continue my life I was traumatized for over a year looking for any opportunity that I can continue my life After getting opportunity working with an organization called Yassour which supports the education of Syria of the Syrian refugees In the neighboring country but in particular in Lebanon I I found myself in a position that I can decide what a program we can I can implement so I decided to focus on the marginalized Syrian Syrian students university age students who are lost so those students Because if they lost hub, they would go if they lose hub They would go to be extremists and you know like in a situation like Syria now like Syria Faced a lot of faces a lot of challenges So we don't want these people to go to be extremes also another reason So these people can help who got scholarship can help in rebuilding Syria now Syria lost a lot of resources So we need people in the future to rebuild it Great. Thank you very much all of you in your comments talked about The road away from trauma and how you recover Could you speak to us a little bit about the science of recovery and how you move through that process and where we are with understanding the path forward from challenging situations well It's a it's not as satisfying an answer as I wish I could give the we talked a little bit today and yesterday with his High Holiness the Dalai Lama about the idea that is far better to work on prevention Then repair that being said we do know that the brain is profoundly affected by traumatic experiences that and the these effects can be long-lasting if If it isn't if it isn't helped if there's no interventions effective interventions are going to Very profoundly based on the individual and you know the culture in which they reside But they certainly involve You know getting outside help in different forms That could be different therapies in many different settings that are effective Also requires internal help, you know self-help looking for forms of Physical healing introspection understanding this the source of the of the of the trauma Recognizing that it's there and and in its nature and that can be very difficult to to face But the hope for everyone is that While these knots can be tied They can be untied and the brain is Another organ like the heart the lung the liver and the kidneys it can be healthy and it can be unhealthy And like those it can it can be treated to become healthy again when it's diseased We call this neuroplasticity the brain is able to change in response to its experiences throughout our lives and so there's there is hope but I think for Most of us in here Who clearly have a high degree of resilience? They they still are gonna face You know some ghosts some trauma in there that they're gonna need other people to rely on to help them out and and focus on on helping themselves Yeah, I wonder in listening to Jeremy He's a scientist, I mean anything that he said Had to comply to you No, it's true, you know Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious issue even something that always concerned me because I remember when I first went to the United States I Can't experience that to a lot more and then if I didn't really play basketball physical activities like Intense basketball. I don't think I would really make it in America because It kind of affected me But I didn't know until I really went to university and then I was studying psychology One of my professors told me What kind of life did you have in the past and one day I was just sharing with him and then he asked me What kind of experience that I'd be having or dreams and I explained it to him And he's like yeah, man, this is this these are the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder You know, you should you should start to share with people But not only that, you know because the civil war in Sudan Previous civil war and then there's many cases in our community that people are really dealing with it in United States, you know And then now that's the reason, you know, I took interest in majoring in human services and in psychology child psychology It's because of that. So if the next word like German can really tell us about it It is real and those cases really happen even in developing country, you know in a developed countries So yeah, it's true How long did it take you to feel like you would move to a next stage personally? Oh, the thing is yes It's a good question because I've been in America for 24 years, you know, and it's not like it's completely will leave you I don't think so, you know He doesn't leave anybody But you can really notice it and try to track few things here and there down so that You're aware about it. So I'm pretty aware about it, but it's not fully Gone, but it used to be more But now a day, I don't even dream anymore. So that's another thing So I think I'm rested in a mine I'm glad Mahmood Fatima you deal with large populations of people who are coping with difficult situations Stories or observations from the people that you're working with Actually just to echo what Gears said in our schools like we have so many students who are just came from Syria came from war a war to be settled inside a Settlements like tent. There's no construction on them. So at first like we we noticed that the The students the the students inside the classrooms, they are not doing that good So here we we thought that our curriculum is not good enough for them We thought that our teachers are not trained well to teach these students after a Psychosocial expert came to the school and did an experiment over life for more than three months over all our Children so we found out that most of our students are traumatized, but we can't see that they don't show it But they are traumatized because they live in a situation in there in the tent where they can't they can't play They they left their most of them left their families in their family in Syria some of them So bodies like dead bodies in Syria. So these children are the most affected The most affected people in Syria, so that's why Getting healing from trauma is really important. So now we have a psychosocial support Counselor at each of our school Just to overcome this So the this obstacle and have you seen a difference Like to see a difference needs time like not in not in six months or a year so far We found in some cases because in these cases you have to work individual with each Students not all of them. Also, we have to work with their families because their families are also traumatized So so far we we have seen improvement but not not that much I mean for me dependent on you know the context where I come from I can say Not just the people I walk with directly, but even the people I see indirectly are also Traumatized myself I can say I'm in the category, but also understanding that you are Stressed out or you have the trauma is also another angle because not everybody understand when he's traumatized or even to get help So but basically when it's a conflict certain we do understand that the pressure and the horror people sees Subjects them automatically on that a trauma But also for us in the host communities for instance in major guru We also are traumatized because our streets. We have bomb blasts. We feel gunshots and a lot of things and then we receive Millions of people coming in running away from terror and then this also is another form of stress I've worked directly with women who were under captivity of Boko Haram for years And I've seen the change and the reactions and how they really act out of fear and even not willing to interact with Ordinary people like myself when I first went to meet with couple of them It was very difficult for them to open up and even start a conversation It took a while to win back their trust and understand that the community Feels exactly how they feel and then this is a process They need time to heal and get over their issues So for example a story I heard when I went to one of the camps to interact with a young woman She told me I love I I live with Boko Haram for three years before I escaped And then the living condition was terrible for me I had to marry one of them to make myself comfortable with and they come because if I refused to get married to them Then I would be turned into a slave and this processor I did not because I wanted to stay with Boko Haram I think of course about my family, but with time I thought I should just be comfortable because there is no hope out there And I feel people are not going to accept me back into the community So I made peace and stayed with them, but now that I am out I feel the world is not even a good place anymore because people wouldn't want us to stay back in our Communities with them. Our children have been looked at like Boko Haram also and this is a pain to me. So all these thoughts have continuously been coming out from different Women and I met an 11-year-old girl who was also abducted and raped on several cases and She said to me I would want to go back to Where I came from because I feel I'm Restricted here in a camp or in a room where I don't have freedom and there I live like a queen Because I have a husband and then I have my own slaves who works with me So such stories and interestingly I found out that most of these young girls do not know how the atrocities are being Committed they don't they have no idea how bomb blasts since looks like so they are automatically sympathetic to a Boko Haram's activity because when we play a video of how people Turn when there is a bomb blast some of them actually cried because they were human. I mean they felt This is not what we were told. We were told when you press a button you disappear I mean who thinks that you understand they go through a process of a brainwashing Violent means nothing to them because they kind of felt comfortable in that environment and what they were told is Nigeria doesn't exist anymore Because this is it we're finished with everyone and you have to stay here So trauma is real and there are people out there who needs to understand they even under trauma and needs healing And this is internal healing they need Tell me any observations. I mean we've heard a rich. Yeah, I'm curious, you know You know all of these cultures and I know the answer in the United States, but I'm curious when we all know that trauma has these effects on our brains and it and it can profoundly affect the way that we see in function in the world What is the perception in your culture of? What it means to try to get help and how do they perceive like you know brain illness We call them mental illnesses. How do they perceive this post traumatic stress disorder, etc? So and in their Fuji context like for example in Lebanon, which I know There's no people they don't give like that Interest in healing Trauma because they consider the situation its emergency So they need to provide food to provide other thing even education. It's not a priority for them So how about trauma and psychosocial support? So now we are trying to advocate more to provide psychosocial support Especially at the Syrian schools in all Lebanon like in Lebanon. There are more than 400,000 Syrian students. None of them is getting Psychosocial support so you can imagine here the the volume of this Problem Yeah consequence you know I Really think like the trauma that really affected a lot of people from diaspora, you know the thing is It kind of affected them because when you come to like develop countries, you know And then your way of life is not longer the same, you know because our way of life over there You know, you share your life with a lot of siblings auntie uncles, you know, you do things together You know and the war kind of left the taste in everybody mouth where everybody's always talking about war and And who we lost and sometimes we are laughing our way out of the trouble And then over there people were not really affected that much, you know, because they had they still share their lives So but when you are being resetted to America, it kind of fact it a lot Especially the laws were Sudan are being affected more even the community too as well Because everybody's isolated you live by yourself It's either you go to work 95 you come back and there's no another connection. So I think that's that's when all We need like a mechanism. So how to really treat people who used to live by nature and now they live in a in a society where So gated it where you are alone. That's when I think that's when it really affected you if I didn't really have interaction through sports I would I would I don't think I would be here sitting with you guys as well. So I would be I would be sharing the difference Yeah, that's exactly what happened with my relatives who who took refuge in Germany or Sweden. They are living in first words Atmosphere, but again, I feel traumatized because there's no one to interact with they are living in a new New community they don't speak their language. So how they can Co-op with this and you change in their life. So this also Affect a lot on them That's another example too. I wanted to share with you guys one of my friends. He lives in DC. We went to our village a couple years ago before before we raised the flags of our new nation and Then when we went to our village and then we took some of the guys that we knew and then to just take A long walk in a forest So that the memory will start to come to them and then they start to tell you, you know The things that they used to do even they are elder people now at this point And then I kind of seen you know the way to treat these people, you know Take them back to the nature how they they will show you the places that they used to be where they used to hunt Where they used to go and dance and you know, they will share their life story But to just sit around and ask a person like I tell me about your life No, it's not very easy for anyone. It's just hey, this is what happened man at night. I don't sleep Yeah, to me I think on the local context It's also yes a change in environment still within the same locality But just a different certain for instance. We have people who left their communities I see within us not international communities but then they're settled within IDP camps and some are settled within host communities cotton with their relatives and friends and This are people who had millions of jobs and have been engaged in their own territory and homes But then now wakes up that he has no money to feed his family only rely on International support or support from family and friends so this process is very difficult for people to adjust and I think if I can see one thing that people would need as Care and Mahmood say people needs an environment like that is embraced in yes, but also their homes people need homes So emphasis on resettlement in the right way is also kind of one way to understand that people Comes back to their home and this is their community and then start life over again Of course, it's very difficult, you know, but you can see it vividly a man with 12 children cartoon in just a tent Which is not sufficient for even him and his wife, but with his 12 children and other people So live-in condition is also something that actually subjects people to a lot of trauma Well, I think it's common that we're hearing in all these cases. You have to process Your trauma in a way with others that have The capacity to understand through either common experience Or or common context and and and I can imagine, you know leaving your your home Going to somewhere that's Completely foreign potentially Yeah, be a even if it's a refugee camp at least You know, you might have people with common experience there but it still might be further traumatizing because it's it's not a home and the other concept of taking, you know, third world Problems to a first world setting where there is no common experience that would also probably be quite difficult to find resolution and and and to be able to work through the problems Actually, you know, it's a lot of Sudanese who are South Sudanese who came to the States That got themselves in a lot of trouble and then they commit crimes and then they end up being in Spending years in prisons and then when our country become a new nation, they deported everybody Everybody they deported them back even some of them they died from currency war Because they didn't get really the help that they needed it and also they didn't have any education opportunities So you can imagine how many of us who came here and then if I'm the only guy that is still talking about this You know something is not done, right? You know when it comes to like resettling someone from a new from the refugee camp to To a city such as those city in Midwest or wherever, you know, so this need to be looking to I Personally, I think that we need to recognize and you kind of touched on this a little bit My move is that the idea that you know if somebody had a bone sticking out and they're bleeding They would get triaged right away But we need to recognize that they that that somebody that's undergone these experiences has trauma Identical trauma to physical trauma. It is physical trauma. It's just to a different organ that you can't see as readily and you need to fix it Otherwise, it's gonna lead to problems no matter where they are. So it seems to me to sort of Fundamental conclusions from this. I mean one is that you need to treat The head as much as you're treating any other part of the body, of course Thinking about traumatic experiences and then the other that the nature of that treatment Matters a lot. I mean in terms of finding a path forward But I don't want to leave us just talking about the issues related to trauma and victimization because of course We're in a room with incredible leaders and leadership that has emerged from those situations And I'd be remiss if we were just talking about the costs and not And not the opportunities for leadership that have been taken advantage of so Let me start a little bit with you Mahmoud because Because you really moved from from Syria as you were saying into Lebanon and then have really tried to move forward As a leader within the refugee community. Can you talk a little bit about that and that experience and The lessons that you draw from that for others Actually when I moved from Syria, I was already admitted to study in Aleppo University But unfortunately the war the Aleppo was burning at that time So here I had to move to a new community which is Lebanon alone without my family Without any resources to support myself at least in the first period the first let's say six months to a year Like I couldn't find any future I went to a community that there's a huge tension between Syrians and Lebanese because because Syrians can't work legally in Lebanon So you can't imagine that like I can't work legally So I had to work illegally and many things in labor work. So like I don't need a work permit and that That this after that these events I looked to myself like I can't do this for my life I was one of the best students in my class So now I no longer have a future when I talk with my friends back in Syria or many of them they took refuge in Germany or Sweden many of them I start they start university. They are doing what they want to do And I'm still in the same place here I I found by a pure chance and opportunity to volunteer to help the Syrian refugees in education in particular. I Won't there without any knowledge that here might be my future I won't there and I got job for opportunity. I got a scholarship at one of the most Like prominent universities in Lebanon here. I like I was thinking between myself like am I lucky to get this opportunity? No, I'm not lucky because there are more than a million refugees and Lebanon looking for scholarships So because I wanted to continue. So this is what I want other people to think to continue to keep moving despite all the Events that happening with them like I met hundreds of students like now I I've I've Like did assessment for more than three thousand scholarship Scholarship application for people applying for our scholarships. I found that must have must have most of the people They are disparate like they are just applying because they saw an opportunity Not because they want to study not because they want to apply so here's the You can see this that the essential thing. So people should think how to continue their life Great. Thank you care. You've traveled a long road from child soldier and lost boy to actor Writer professional in the fashion industry and now spokesperson for refugees worldwide How does that transformation take place? I don't know how the hell did I collect all these titles? What is everything, you know, you change your way of life And of course if you're a huge part of me, you know, and then It's about survival for me So pick enough of my own home and leave my own family behind for over 18 years I lost so much, you know But because I know that I don't live For myself and it's not really about what I have done Or where I have been and the places that I'm really going, you know, what really remained with me is the fact that you know You know, I'm sitting on top of other people's shoulders who are not alive today So like for team it was saying early, you know, this is this is my obligation. It's my responsibility to actually Educate myself enough and really remain close to the problems that is consume my people on the ground So of course, I'm thankful that there's a lot of opportunity that came my way by living in America And that made me appreciate America where he become my home too so he gave me a new way to Have a different perspective about where I came from and also a good understanding about the people that really welcome me in a society of America So I think I've been very lucky and I should do more Yeah, I think I always go with the fact that for every situation it comes with a positive and negative opportunities and consequences and For young people, I think we should be ready to look at this opportunities and then grab them as fast as we can I am saying this because I feel it was an opportunity I Utilized to support other people and also become who I am today As a young woman from my community where is very competitive and very dominated by male Which I always face a threat of saying oh, she travels a lot and she's not even married and why is she even doing that, you know, it's very common in the Muslim world and Through this I feel I have empowered Many women and many children who I'm very proud of today and I can stand up to say even if I leave every service today I have accomplished a mission which I feel was an obligation on me and it still is so for violence which We usually say at search for common ground because I work with them at as a youth coordinator working with Many young people on preventing and countering violent extremism and also peace-building components in about five African countries Across the Lake Chad region. I think young people have made a lot of contributions in their had Had situations which we have to acknowledge the fact that violence was destructive But also kind of uprooted a lot of great potentials from young people in those areas because I have seen a lot of community Interventions that had touched many lives without even recognition and many young people like myself Are back there at home doing one thing or the other to support transform their communities Which I usually appreciate and acknowledge the fact that US IP have seen The humanity and me I can see by inviting me to this great exchange to meet different World young leaders who have done amazing work in their community and I feel Through violence. This is an opportunity to learn and also go give back to the community and this particular activity is Actually giving me a different sense of direction and dealing with more inner peace as we've always Discussed through this couple of days inner peace. I mean I feel I am more confident right now And I can walk on me being Peaceful with myself and transforming one person from my community to also be at peace with himself And then this way I think I've started a process where people would understand. It's not all about The the violent condition It's not all about the poor living condition or the poor medical condition But also it matters when you're happy with yourself and when you can use the best of the little You have at the moment. So I think opportunity is out there and young people are doing amazing and we can do more Jeremy observations from a personal or professional standpoint on this issue of leadership with that with myself Included in there. I mean we just heard Kind of what I was expressing you need purpose and purpose is probably the One of the critical paths to healing And I think it's the secret to any fulfilling life You need purpose and you need outlets to To express To express yourself So Fatima alluded to this glorious couple of days that we've had together with a larger group of leaders and with his holiness the Dalai Lama and I want to Turn the conversation to that and you gave your observations I'll get quick observations from the three of you But want to then rapidly involve the rest of the group in the conversation because I want Folks who are watching to really have an opportunity to meet as many of the folks. We've been with Over the last few days because they are an incredible collection of leaders So just the top line quickly First from you on Our last few days and his and the experience with his holiness Honestly the last few days for me were life changing not only meeting the Dalai Lama himself, but meeting these people Here I can find other people doing a great job Like I can't see that there's hope and this and this work also meeting the Dalai Lama and the The wisdom he he gave to us It really encouraged me to do more like now I watched Movies and videos for for him But like being with him in the same room gives like totally another experience like you can't feel it like His sense of Hummer his wisdom is amazing. So Thank you. You it's IP for giving us this opportunity and I wish and I hope that More more young leaders can join this program to learn About this work. I promise this was not an attempt at an infomercial Actually, you know meeting the holiness It's a lifetime opportunity for me because it conform a lot of things, you know the guidance and also I felt like it had like an evolution in the journey that I've been having and Just be around him for three days straight. Of course I'm really willing to really make him a proud uncle or auntie To care of the message that he'd been carrying along to change the humanity There's no better human being than that And I appreciate the opportunity Jeremy thoughts before we go to the rest of it. I was just so profoundly thankful for the opportunity and so Impressed with The the idea that you can Really eliminate human suffering through compassion and his conviction which really bolstered mine is Our future really rests in the hands of these brilliant young leaders because they're going to carry the torch and they're going to think outside of the contrived boxes that we sit in and so Loved that he has a profound optimism that our futures are in good hands