Iman Usman delivered this speech before receiving The Youth Assembly Recognition for Excellence Award at the United Nations, August 5th 2011

1. Dream: a pathway to change
Delivered by Iman Usman (19) from Indonesia at the 9th UN Youth Assembly in New York
Good afternoon everyone, it is indeed an honor for me to be here with you all
today. Thank you for the UN Youth Assembly for inviting me. I feel the excitement
of passionate young leaders in this room, and it makes me more than excited.
I’d like to begin with a story of a kid, a 10 year-old boy, living in a small town in
Indonesia. He was a normal kid, not a child prodigy, who found himself powerless
and talentless. But the one thing he had – he had a dream.
Since he was child, he was the one who believed in dreams. For him, a life
without dreams was just like driving without a destination. Dreams became the
stepping stones and foundation of enjoying his life – making it valuable to the
world. His dream was simple, but most people thought that it was too big, or even
too idealistic. But he believed that there is no dream too big, because it is not a
dream if it is not big.
He just wanted a better world, a better place for every single child in the world to
live, to survive, and to develop. When he was a child, he was treated unjustly. His
opinion was dismissed. His voice was deemed meaningless by society. He had
nowhere to speak his ideas, and bring them to action.
He also saw that many kids felt the same as he did. He did not come from a
wealthy or well-educated family. But, he believed these challenges should not be
justifications to undermine or discriminate against him. That 10-year-old kid
insisted, and reminds me every day: that no matter what your background is, no
matter how old you are, you are a human being with rights and liberty.
The painful realities he endured led him to embark the journey in improving his
own quality of life, and step-by-step, try to improve the quality of human beings
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2. around him. He believed that he couldn’t wait for someone to come and fix his life
– he was the one to fix it. He was very passionate about the struggle to empower
children, the future generation.
His story of movement began with a blackboard. When he was 10 he found that
many kids in the neighborhood couldn’t access books and other sources of
information. So, he established a free course for underprivileged children. Later
on, he established a small library in front of his house. It’s His hope that this
small action would lead him to a larger action with a bigger impact. He became
involved in various communities, journalism, entrepreneurship programs, and
active in advocating for child rights issues when he was elected as Secretary
General for a children’s forum in his province. He conducted various campaigns,
initiated and coached various brands on social activism, particularly on the
promotion of the achievement of the MDGs. Until he moved to the capital town for
study, and the study could not stop his momentum of change as he thought that
he need to do a bigger action.
Then, he founded a youth-led NGO concerning youth empowerment for social
change. With his team, he went from school to school, campus to campus, to
deliver capacity building and inspire youths to believe and achieve their dreams.
He conducted various community development projects to achieve the MDGs, as
well as advocacy on youth-related issues by mobilizing thousands members and
more than 500 volunteers who impacted thousands lives.
The story of this kid is really meaningful and has a lot of correlation to myself.
That kid is in front of you all right now, that’s the story of me.
I share this story not for the sake of mentioning my achievement. It is because I
just want to tell you that when I started to “do something”, I was nothing
compared to you all today but I know I holding the part of the bright future of my
country.
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3. I couldn’t speak any language beside my mother tongue but I know I can speak
the word of change.
I couldn’t play any musical instrument, sing, dance, or anything else that I can be
proud of but I listened to the tune in my heart.
I knew my dream and my past experiences that lead me to make a difference. I
had the courage. Even today, I am still that 10 year-old boy, with a bigger vision,
with a bigger dream to achieve, with more friends at my back for support.
People have told to me that “serving humanity is like giving life to the lifeless”,
but for me, it is not only for the lifeless, but also for ourselves. We can make our
life bigger than we can think.
People often say that volunteering and activism only waste time, energy, and
even money. But what I learned is this: you will not lose anything by being a
giver; instead you will received many things that you never expected.
It is in my wildest dream to be invited to various international forums and have
the opportunity to speak on behalf young people. I never expected to earn trust
as a consultant for various government projects and United Nation agencies at
the age of 19. I never expected have a privilege of invitations by vice presidents,
ministers, parliaments in my country due to what my team and I have done. And
the most important thing, I never expected to see people smiling because of what
I do. It is a blessing to make people feel blessed and happy as they are with you.
And finally, I could do something.
Each one of us can do something.
In last 3 years, I had the opportunity to travel to dozens of countries, speak,
share, and learn from one person to thousands. I am inspired by thousands of
children’s dreams around the world and help them to realize their potential, to
make the impossible possible, and the unexpected happen.
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4. And one of them is We Are Family Foundation’s Three Dot Dash – Just Peace
Summit. I have a priceless honor as one of 31 Global Teen Leader representing 12
different countries and five continents this past March. I meet bright minds with
other 30 teen leaders at the Summit in New York. It was great to meet and be
connected with these amazing youth, where we collaborate together to amplify
our work and encourage millions of people to replicate our positive messages
and get involved.
We share best practices, and support each other, even after the Summit has
passed. With this global network, all Global Teen Leader alumni have already
made a direct impact to more than 4 million people globally, and the numbers
keep growing. It is interesting and enlightening to see the power of youths, and
how their passion can impact mother earth. We connected because of our same
hopes, compassion, courage, and passion.
We are so blessed to be part of Generation21, to be the generation who lives in
21st century, with all technology supports around us, that make it easier for us to
do something collectively and globally.
A borderless world
But it also provides various challenges that we have to overcome. We can
convert challenges into opportunities.
Being part of these movement brought me many surprises in life. I do believe that
there are still more surprises ahead, but that’s not the point. The point is, the
more people appreciate youth involvement, the better a sign it is for youth to be
heard and get the opportunity to be a part of the solution. What I believe is that
opportunity itself is not ascribed, it is not something that we have to wait for – we
can create our own opportunities. Just keep your eyes open.
Once more, I would like to say, that this moment is very meaningful for me. Thank
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5. you to everyone who has supported me since the beginning. Thanks to my mom,
my dad, my family, my coaches, and my friends who always believe in me. I
would like to thank and receive this recognition on behalf of other undiscovered
young people around the world who did something to change their life. You all
are my greatest inspiration.
I enjoy my pathway to making a difference and this is the way I want to be
remembered. You may also have your own pathway, because there is no rigid
template in change. Let’s start by dreaming, exploring our talents, doing
something small, then trying to reach further, reach more people, and eventually
it will be not only your movement, but also a social movement, a global
movement. I do believe that any exploration of talent and passion can contribute
to social changes. A small action that is conducted by a single individual will
consistently make other people follow it, and then it has real impact. Never limit
yourself. Never underestimate yourself because we are young. We can change
the world.
If a 10 year-old boy with nothing attached to him could ignite something, why
can’t you. He had a dream, and you have a dream. Think Big, Make it Happen! I
will wait for another story from YOU! Thank you.
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