Translator: Kayoko Shiomi Reviewer: Denise RQ
Hello, hola, konnichiwa.
We may speak different languages, but we’re all one - one human race,
no matter what color,
gender, denomination, social class, or culture we are.
We're all connected by an invisible thread of peace and love.
This unseen link unites us when a natural disaster strikes.
We go beyond our borders, heart to heart,
to help the victims and those in need.
How do we know this thread actually exists?
Because knowing comes from living,
and realizing comes from experiences.
These two elements combined together
can help you cultivate a global citizen mindset.
I was born in Bogota, Colombia.
I attended a private British International School,
so, at a very early age, I was exposed to students
from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Knowing them ignited my curiosity
about other countries in the world.
My parents actually insisted in me traveling with them
to many countries as a way to bolster my education.
I learned about multicultural awareness,
observing commonalities and accepting differences.
This was the foundation for my global citizen mindset.
Traveling is a splendid way and a complement to education.
In the 90s,
Colombia was actually considered
one of the top violent countries in the world.
Many Colombians were kidnapped and fell victims of a civil war
between the government, the paramilitaries,
the guerrillas, and the drug lords.
I've never spoken about this before, in public,
until today, for the first time:
my family and I were held hostage; I was one of those kidnapped victims.
We were held hostage at gunpoint, for ransom,
for 24 hours, with no food or water.
After this, we endured many years of blackmailing and extortion,
living every day in fear,
having many bodyguards to protect our lives.
So, why talk about this today?
Because by getting it out into the open
and transforming it into a positive experience,
I can inspire others who have been in similar situations.
Life is giving us second chances,
and every country has a second chance as well.
Plus, I have the wonderful support of my Japanese husband,
my Colombian and Japanese families, and my Colombian friends.
As you can see, we had a Japanese wedding ceremony
with kimonos, here in Japan.
After this treachery was resolved, for safety and security,
my parents sent me to the United States of America.
Alone in the plane, crying my eyes out,
I realized I may never see my family again,
and I may never return to my home country.
But I didn’t wallow in the victim’s self-pity mentality.
Instead, I didn’t let those experiences blind my eyes and harden my heart
and not see the inner beauty that every human being has.
When you build and cultivate a global citizen mindset,
you break down stereotypes.
So, I used these experiences to my advantage,
and I established myself
as a news, fashion, art, and music Latino television host.
I also won a Miss Hispania beauty contest
in the Deep South of America.
When you cultivate a global citizen mindset,
you realize that it is very important
to actually teach people
to break down all these stereotypes because we don’t need them;
we are all one, connected, in a shared world.
No matter how much you think that you’re accepting
of other people’s stereotypes and cultures,
you will always have to deal with your own stereotypes
and another people’s perceptions about your own culture.
But when you’re open to the world,
you see this as an opportunity
to actually change people’s perceptions about your own culture.
It’s a wonderful way to actually inspire others around the world to be one.
So, now I live in LA,
one of the most diverse cities in the entire world
with people from 150 countries who speak 86 different languages.
In my work there, as a television host, I get to meet a lot of people.
I produce comic books, TV shows, video games, animations, and manga.
But when I meet them and work with them,
I try not to judge them
by their origin, or culture, or language, or status.
I strive to treat everybody the same and as an equal
because we all deserve an opportunity.
In life, many challenges will come,
and when they do, we have to have a positive outlook.
So, in 2008, my husband and I founded a non-profit organization,
called KIF, Koyamada International Foundation.
We did it to empower children, the youth, and women around the world
and to give back to the world's communities
that shaped me into the woman of the world I am today.
In 2011, when the tsunami hit the Tohoku region,
we actually contacted all our friends in Hollywood,
and we asked them to support us in a series of fundraisers
to help the victims in Japan.
As you can see,
we were able to send a 20-foot container with essential needs
such as food, water,
disposable diapers for babies, blankets,
and emotional letters written by Los Angeles children
who wrote them to give hope to the Japanese victims.
We’ve also done a series of fundraisers to help the victims of Alabama
who were struck by a series of tornadoes.
Every year, we feed, clothe, and give toys
to the homeless people and the homeless children
in Los Angeles, California.
These are children who are actually living on the streets
with their homeless parents.
They hide, but somehow, they come out when we do this volunteer work.
They have also lost all their toys.
Recently, we were able to send reliefs and funds to Nepal and Ecuador
to help the victims of the earthquakes there.
It was very beautiful, as you can see in the pictures,
when we secured lunches for them,
and the kids who were affected
could eat every single day and had food in their tummies.
When you work together, and you collaborate with them,
- like we did: collaborating with the locals in Nepal -
you are able to reach more people, to help more people by teaming up.
So, we recently opened a KIF Nepal office.
When your intention, in your heart, is to help sincerely people
and to make a positive impact in the world,
you never know what opportunities may arise
and where these opportunities may lead.
In 2012, I was appointed by an NGO, for the United Nations,
as a Goodwill Ambassador for Peace.
Since then, I’ve been traveling around the world talking about peace.
Since I lived the first 19 years of my life
in a country torn by a civil war,
talking about peace became very personal to me.
I’m very passionate about it,
but it also came along
with a sense that something was missing.
And I wanted that; and then, it happened.
Fourteen years after fleeing Colombia, I returned.
I was paralyzed by fear in the airplane.
But as I landed, I gathered my inner strength
to be able to face my fears.
Then I spent quite a lot of time in Colombia,
and I traveled very safely throughout the country.
And I was shocked.
Colombia has changed. I have changed.
All the houses made of garbage were gone in the city,
all the beggar children at each traffic light
were no longer there.
I was so surprised to see so many Japanese and American companies.
And for the first time, I saw my mother walking alone to the supermarket, safely.
I had forgotten how delicious the Colombian coffee was.
I drank it every single day.
To my surprise, I also learned
that the government had started to work on a peace agreement with the rebels
to end a 50-year civil war for all Colombians.
My heart was filled with hope and happiness
for the future of my country.
I also realized that in 2016,
Colombia was named the happiest country in the world
in a survey conducted by the Gallup International Organization.
And President Santos has just won the Nobel Peace Prize.
(Applause)
Thank you.
These inspired me so much
that I started to travel throughout Colombia
lecturing to young students
on the importance of cultivating a global citizen mindset.
A new generation of Colombians will rise,
and they will have an open heart and [express] forgiveness.
They will look at the war as part of their past,
and they will work together to build a peaceful nation.
No matter what other countries have been through,
they have gotten a second chance;
living outside of Colombia
and looking at my country from my US perspective
made me realize how fortunate I was to be born and raised there.
This is my beautiful Colombia. I’m very proud to be Colombian.
So how can you actually start
cultivating a global citizen mindset?
Learn to respect other cultures.
Help your friends and inspire them to cultivate this mindset as well.
You can start by reading books and magazines,
by watching movies and documentaries about other countries.
Travel every time you get the chance.
Learn a foreign language and interact with local people.
Eat their food, understand their traditions,
acknowledge their commonalities, their differences,
and their diverse backgrounds.
When you do this and step out of your comfort zone
to help those who suffer disasters or suffer from poverty,
that global mindset expands.
And only then we realize things, and it’s easier for us
to break down racial, religious, and cultural stereotypes.
It’s also easier to do this
if we not only hang out with people we know but also connect with others
to build together and collaborate with each other
towards a better future for our generations
and the generations to come after that.
It builds within us more empathy,
more compassion for humanity.
By cultivating a global citizen mindset,
you can see the bigger picture
where we are all citizens of a shared world.
We are all one,
and we’re connected by that invisible thread
of peace, love, healing, unity, compassion, and kindness.
And this is an unbroken thread
that binds our souls all together as one.
Thank you, arigato, gracias.
(Applause)