Transformational Leadership. Social Entrepreneurship

Every Monday, MightyRasing.com features A Leader’s Life — stories of people who contributed meaningfully to entrepreneurship, business, politics, environment and other spheres of life.

As one of the recipients of the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards, AHM Noman Khan faced several odds and triumphed over them. He has shown the power of collaboration and passion!

Bangladesh has around 13 million people with disabilities. Although they are a significant component of the society, they tend to have very little access to basic services such as education, medical services, livelihood and even opportunities for a more productive life. They constitute around 10% of the population of developing countries and they are one of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in the society.

How do you actually help people with disabilities cope with their situation and lead productive lives?

A.H.M. Noman Khan started his work of empowering people with disabilities in Bangladesh. Instead of just advocating for their concerns and their welfare. Instead, he aimed for overall development of people with disabilities. Noman Khan started out in government service. Instead of continuing in such a career path, however, he chose to do something for the poor. In 1995, he attended a community-based rehabilitation training in Indonesia. His eyes were proverbially opened and he focused on the issues of disability and understood the need to serve this marginalized sector of Bangladeshi population.

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A Filipino couple made it to the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards!

Most Filipinos claim that we are good and that we can thrive in probably all kinds of environment and social situations. But if you take a look at the educational system of the Philippines, particularly, in science and technology, the realities are alarming! Science education in the Philippines suffers from unqualified teachers, poor facilities and equipment (imagine not being able to operate a real microscope in high school?), as well as unproductive methods of teaching. The number of scientists in the Philippines is so low that it is a source of shame in Asia! This is also why the number of scientific research, the quality of its universities as well as the performance of students are way below the average for Asian countries.

This issue is further confounded by the migration of Filipino scientists to countries that offer more opportunities for them. But Christopher Bernido and his wife, Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido showed the world what passion and good science teaching could do! They both came from privileged families. As such, they both earned doctorate degrees in Physics from the State University of New York. When they returned to the Philippines, they served as leaders of the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City in the 1980s. They displayed excellent research and teaching skills, together. Because of their excellence, they earned the respect of other scientists from all over the world.

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This week, we are featuring the recipients of the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards in our “A Leader’s Life” segment.

China is perhaps the fastest growing economy in the world right now. But progress has its price. The bodies of water in China are being polluted. In fact, 70% of China’s rivers are already gravely contaminated. That’s bad for the health and for the livelihood of millions of China’s citizens!

Huai River, China’s third largest river, is among the most heavily polluted bodies of water in China. The river runs for more than 1,000 kilometers and it traverses 4 provinces. The Huai River provides an agricultural basin to more than 150 million people. But the problem is, irresponsible factories and industries are dumping millions of tons of waste and sewage into Huai River! No wonder, people consider it as the most polluted river in China.

To make things worse, there are now “cancer villages” near the Huai River. Lots of people are being afflicted by tumors and cancers because of the contaminated water.

Yes, the Huai River is dying. Fishes are dying. People are dying!

The Chinese government tried to implement a pollution control project amounting to billions in 1994. However, the impact could hardly be felt.

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In the next few days, we are featuring the lives of the leaders who have become the recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards for 2010.

Back in 1945, Hiroshima City was reduced to ashes as the United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb. Thousands of people died in that incident. Thankfully, the world did not forget Japan after World War II and as it rebuilt its economy, the Japanese people struggled to become a great nation again.

Because of the Hiroshima incident, the United Nations, with the support of a lot of nations around the world, adopted the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which was implemented in 1970. Nuclear disarmament then became the cry of number of people to prevent another Hiroshima tragedy from occurring again in the world.

One of the people who really became really active in campaigning for nuclear disarmament is Tadatoshi Akiba. He served for three terms as the mayor of Hiroshima. When he was still studying Mathematics at the University of Tokyo in the 1960s, he became really active in advocating for nuclear disarmament.

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Stories of world changers also inspire us to help change the world. Some of these world-changers are recognized officially by governments and by award-giving bodies. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most prestigious awards given to someone who has changed the world. It has been given to Pres. Barack Obama and to Muhammad Yunus among so many others.

In Asia, however, there is a less popular Awards recognizing exemplary individuals who made significant difference for people and for the world–the Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award was founded in 1957 and it is now widely recognized as Asia’s Nobel Prize. It was named after the third President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay, who helped bring the government closer to the people he served. The Award is given to individuals who manage to live a life of service for others. According to the President of RMAF, Carmencita T. Abella: “The Magsaysay awardees of 2010 are seven remarkable individuals deeply engaged in reinventing the future for a better Asia, tapping into and strengthening the power of community. Working on critical issues that impact not only their respective countries, but indeed, all of Asia, they are showing how commitment, competence, and collaborative leadership can truly transform individual lives and galvanize community action.”

In the next few days (and weeks), then, MightyRasing.com will feature these Ramon Magsaysay Awardees and what they did to make our world a better place.

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