Stories from life
Hodday
For seven years Syria has been burdened by a conflict which has seen over 500,000 Syrians lose their lives.
Amongst them was a young change-maker who planned on attending a gathering of young change-makers with his friend Hodday, before he was killed.
In honour of his friend, Hodday has attended this event in New York with the aim of bringing peace to his home country, and correct many misconceptions about Syria as a profound supporter of Sustainable Development Goal 16, Peace and Justice.
He said: "I am here to honour my friend and I want to show people that Syria is still alive and that Syrian people can still do something with their lives. We care about our country, that’s why there are more than 3 million volunteers in Syria who are putting their lives at risk to help people and stop the conflict."
Hodday is not angry about the conflict as he believes anger blinds people from achieving peace.
He said: "Life can get much worse and situations can get harder. It’s not about focusing on your loss - it’s about how much you have to keep holding on through your thoughts, your mind, your beliefs, your faith and your vision. It is not about talking but more about taking action"
Instead of focusing on fear he believes in the power of altering people's behaviours, claiming in doing so you can change people's attitudes and eventually the context of the situation.
As a facilitator for the British Council, Hodday's vision is to locally engage active citizens and to highlight how Syria is locally engaged and active, but not globally connected.
Although a beacon of hope it's clear Hodday has carried the burden of conflict on his shoulders. When asked what he does for fun he disregards sports and other recreational hobbies, instead he restlessly replies: "I think. I just think a lot, it’s a habit for me. I over think."
Yet his thoughts are that of optimism and progress: "because we cannot change the context directly I don’t think I will see peace, it takes time. I think it will be the next generation of peacemakers who will see change."
“You should shine so bright that your light becomes someone else’s spotlight.”
Most people don't know what their calling is in life and so they set professional goals and boundaries to work towards. But Deepak Ramola isn't one of those people.
It's clear from the start Deepak's special as he believes his calling in life is to genuinely listen and retell a story in the most authentic, dignified and most personal way possible.
He's been doing this since he was 17 when he founded the Project Fuel Foundation which aims to Forward the Understanding of Every Life lesson through teaching globally.
He told us: "what I really want to do is meet my highest potential and the best part about that is you don’t know what your highest potential is."
In the past his teaching workshops and 90 day Masterpiece tours have taken him back to his home country of India to teach children with drug addiction, and Nepal to help people move on in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake. He also tackled the stigma around refugees and visited places where he felt people misunderstood refugees and saw them as alien.
His inspirational speech during the summit earned him a standing ovation as his life lessons captivated the audience. His main message was to be open to new beginnings, to recognise we don't break ties with people we break ties with the thoughts they produce, and to own our story.
Despite being a beacon of positivity most of the time, Deepak's work can be straining. He said: "it can be demanding sometimes. You can never get sick or fall short so it's a difficult job to always give 100 percent of yourself all the time."
When he's not speaking all over the world Deepak is making his mark on Bollywood with his love of music as India's youngest ever lyricist.
He said: "I think I am musically challenged. But I couldn’t take that and told myself, if I cannot sing I have to be associated with music in some way. So I taught myself to write songs."
It's difficult to know where he finds the energy to accomplish so much, but he credits his mother and her work ethic as his inspiration.
"She is for me all that is possible." One thing's certain, his optimism is infectious.
They say life is art and it's clear from the get go that Rose Mmbaga lives hers in colour. However, it's not just her beautiful bright clothing that makes her so vibrant.
When World Merit set a competition asking the attendees hopefuls to distribute 200 surveys regarding how the UN is perceived, Rose went one step further and reached over 1,000 people in her home country of Tanzania, Africa.
This achievement won her the opportunity to deliver a speech at the United Nations, an opportunity she used to raise awareness around SDG 13, Climate Action, and to encourage further representation for Tanzanian women within the UN.
Climate Action is a topic very close to Rose's heart as 75% of Tanzania's economy is dependent on agriculture which can easily be destroyed with extreme heat.
Rose said: "when our agriculture is affected women in the community are normally affected most. While doing my surveys I realised now is the time to advocate for climate action."
It doesn't come as a shock to learn Rose is not nervous to deliver her speech, on the contrary she's eager to bring her charisma to the UN stage.
After studying sociology at St Augustine University of Tanzania, she is now a senior marketing and communications officer for Raleigh International, an organisation which aims to connect communities with passionate changemakers.
Her main aim in life is to give women a voice within the UN, she said: "I'd like to be an ambassador for Tanzanian women, and an example to them that anything is possible if you try."
In her spare time Rose endorses tourism in Tanzania by attracting people to visit Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as supporting her single mother with her clothing line by buying her creations, modelling them and selling them to other fashion enthusiasts.
The first thing you may notice about Sao Sochen is that he's a monk, but you soon realise there's much more to him.
At 22 years old Sao is studying for two degrees, International Relations and English Literature, at Pannasastra University in his hometown of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sao is all about Quality Education and much like his idol, Martin Luther King, Sao hopes to be an ambassador and implement free education in Cambodia through this event and his own organisation, the Social Monk Assembly.
The Social Monk Assembly consists of three main sectors. The first focuses on donating charitable donations to the elderly, the second centers around the environment, and the third follows what Sao is most passionate about, education.
He said: "I believe education is the route to end poverty. It is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."
Sao is thankful to Soriyany Sam, an American Khmer refugee from Oregon who encouraged him to pursue higher education.
Like her he hopes to direct people to education through support, motivation and hope. There's a tranquility and certainty to Sao that makes you believe in his goals no matter how ambitious they seem.
When he tells you he wants to expand his network at the event and open his own school in the future to provide free education, you know somehow he'll get there.
It's not often that ambition and compassion come together harmoniously yet Tatiana Sharpe has successfully managed to balance both since childhood.
Being born and raised in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, Tatiana has always been exposed to injustice and vast differences in society that have fueled her passion to help others; making advocating for SDG 16 - Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions an easy decision.
At just eight years old she decided to help underprivileged children by writing and illustrating her own non profit book called The Lonely Tiger, which follows a tiger's journey to find friendship.
As well as its proceeds going towards providing children with textbooks and food, the book taught them to always be a friend to those in need.
She said: "I remember at five years old going with my mum and giving out clothes and food in orphanages. At the time I was an only child and they were the closest thing to brothers and sisters I had."
Proving good things come in small packages Tatiana continued her charity work by creating a partnership with the youth parliament of Zimbabwe at the age of 14.
This marked the beginning of her own trust called Tariro Nevana (Hope for the children) which aims to give a hand up, rather than a handout, to children who were living on the streets.
Putting her trust on hold to finish her degree in International Relations at King's College London, Tatiana hopes to continue her work in the future by setting up a sanitary system for the children and providing them with camping sets.
At just 20 years old Tatiana exudes self assurance and dreams of establishing her own advisory law firm which works with states to create change through a better understanding of diplomacy.
Above all Tatiana believes everything happens for a reason as she was originally on a path to becoming a professional ballroom dancer before her partner, Junior Gwap, tragically died in a car accident.
She said: "it was very difficult for me to even think about dancing for a long time, I couldn’t picture dancing with anyone else, but I soon realized my education in International Relations was very important to me and now I'm here today at Merit360."
"I know he wouldn’t have wanted me to stop dancing and so I've started dancing againin London, I hope to dance in his name for as long as I physically can."
