“It sparked something within us – when you start serving other people it brings such a deeper sense of fulfilment”
In the fifth episode of her Better Angels podcast series, Sarah Brown looks at the difference people can make in the lives of others.
What do a man growing a moustache during November, a young woman studying to be a doctor in India and the former Prime Minister of Australia have in common?
They’re all change-makers – people willing to go the extra mile to help others. And they all feature in the latest episode of Better Angels, the podcast series presented by Theirworld President Sarah Brown.
Episode 5 sees Sarah examine the subject of people getting involved and making a difference in the lives of others. She says: “There’s a special kind of activism which aims to encourages people not just to donate or support from afar – but to get involved.”
Her guests include Adam Garone, co-founder of the worldwide Movember Foundation; Taha Fathima Khan, a Global Youth Ambassador for Theirworld from India; and Julia Gillard, ex-politician and now head of the Global Partnership for Education.
Adam tells how he co-founded the Movember movement, which began in his native Australia and has spread to other parts of the world. What started in 2003 as a personal challenge among his friends to see if they could grow a “mo” became a bigger challenge of how they could use “the power of the conversation around their moustaches”.
“We were inspired by the women around us and what they were doing with breast cancer,” says Adam. “We thought: there’s nothing for men’s health.”
Movember is now a worldwide campaign every November, with men growing moustaches to raise awareness of men’s physical and mental health issues. The money raised has funded more than 1200 projects in 21 countries
Adam adds: “What made us persist was that it sparked something within us.
“When you start serving other people it brings such a deeper sense of fulfilment.”
In this episode of Better Angels, Sarah also talks to Global Youth Ambassador Taha, who tells how she was moved to action by the plight of a five-year-old girl who went missing on a beach in India.
Taha says: “The police refused to take action, saying the girl would come back.” That shocked her into action and she prompted the media into picking up the story.
The girl was eventually found and Taha set up an organisation called the Child Awareness Project to put the spotlight on child rights issues.
“I realised I could help so many other children,” she says. Taha continues to combine running the project with her medical studies and her work with Theirworld.
Julia Gillard tells Sarah: “After I’d left politics, I spent some time reflecting. When I looked back on my life, it became clear to me that a continuing thread was involvement in education.”
The Global Partnership for Education works in 65 of the world’s countries and Julia admits that “there’s a real sense of delight in it but also the weight of the responsibility”.
Sarah also chats to Theo Sowa, CEO of the African Women’s Development Fund; Rachel Whale, founder of Vanilla Ventures; and author and activist Katherine Schwarzenegger.
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Sarah talks to politicians, entertainers, activists and world leaders about their inspiration, their hopes and their dreams at a time of enormous international upheaval.
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