Zainab Salbi took the stage at Chelsea Piers in New York City with such poise and grace. With light streaming in the large windows, I sat with the rest of the 2014-2015 class of Global Health Corps fellows in awe – drawn to her experience as she spoke with honesty and humility. Her words had a lasting impact on me and my work, and they continue to challenge me to consider the impact of my work now and in the future.
“You have to show respect by sharing your own story.”
Zainab founded Women for Women International, an organization that serves women survivors of war, at the age of 23. When she first started talking with war survivors about the sexual assault and rape they had suffered one responded saying that if you listen to these stories and don’t do anything about it, it’s like you are committing the violent act yourself.
When someone shares their story, they are giving a part of themselves to you. It is your responsibility to disseminate those words in the most responsible and respectful way possible. As Zainab explained, it’s important to share your own story out of respect for the community that you are trying to serve. It is only fair that you give up a piece of yourself when you are asking to them to do the same.
Zainab’s words still echo in my head ten months later as I contemplate my role in global health and the fight for global health equity. I’ve seen writers, artists and communications professionals share fascinating stories that leave their subjects vulnerable. Most recently, a Humans of New York (HONY) posting (no longer available) featured a young girl making questionable decisions for her well-being. Brandon Stanton, the HONY creator, asked those posting comments to be kind as she shared her story, but many still left messages scolding and shaming her.
In global health, we share stories of survivors. We take the lives of those that have lived through war, disease, HIV, Ebola and environmental devastation, and put them on display for the world on social media, in blogs and in print. Although most of us are respectful and try our best to give voice to those who have been silenced, I can’t help but be conscious that as a story-teller, I am taking their story, their image, and their devastation and sharing it with the world. I am making them even more vulnerable to the world, and I am responsible for making sure it is received and shared in a respectful and supportive way. This is a responsibility that I cannot and do not take lightly.
“Whatever the injustice, when you don’t say anything, you legitimize the injustice.”
Contemplating this responsibility brings me back to Zainab’s talk. It is easy to be intimidated by this responsibility and choose to censor some stories, but we can’t be silent in the face of injustice. Therefore, we have to speak up and respect those that we are trying to serve, by sharing our own personal narrative. We need to stand next to those we are serving and be willing to make ourselves vulnerable too.