Practicing development as freedom: Shanil Samarakoon at TEDxMacquarieUniversity

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11 жыл бұрын

Shanil Samarakoon is 27 year old social entrepreneur with a rich blend of cross-cultural and social sector experience. He grew up in Botswana, Malawi and then his native Sri Lanka. However, it was in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka that he discovered a calling to live a life of contribution. He has since been involved in a range of relief and development projects in both Sri Lanka and Malawi. After coming to Sydney for his postgraduate education, he founded Empower Inc in 2009 based on observations made across these life affirming experiences. He went on to win "Social Entrepreneur of the Year -- 2010″ (School for Social Entrepreneurs Australia) and continues to serve as Executive Director of Empower Inc.
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Пікірлер: 8

@peeyusraj2450 4 жыл бұрын

I came here by means of video link quoted by my teacher on lessons of development. It is truly informatic. Also, You are a great orator.

@shanilsam 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'm glad you found it useful.

@shanilsam 11 жыл бұрын

Thanks for engaging with my the content of my talk :) Aid is typically associated with relief - immediate assistance in a moment of crisis e.g. natural disasters, war, famine. Development is a broader and often continuous process of individual, community and national improvement which is highly complex and as you'd suspect, very subjective. Your second point speaks to a much deeper conversation. One which is hinted at in my talk in the third principle "Challenge Paradigms".

@atomicoosushi 11 жыл бұрын

Brilliant talk Shanil, I particularly liked the turning point when you were asked to assist with further projects and you questioned what you were doing and whether it was worth it. Development over aid any day! Aid has had 30 years to alleviate global poverty and it still hasn't.

@buddyrichrocks 11 жыл бұрын

great talk Shanil. interesting point - aid vs development - I hadn't thought of it as 2 things. But I have heard the question asked - would the disparity between have's and have nots be even greater if not for Aid? My current thinking and questioning is based around the fact that what if the systems themselves were changed so that Aid or Development wasn't required - i.e. what is the root cause of disparity? There are multiple i'm sure - this is what i'm trying to get a grip on at the moment.

@MerlinSingh 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Great talk. In Village workshops how do you ensure that all voices are heard? Including all groups within workshops doesn’t necessarily mean they will all contribute equally. Thanks.

@shanilsam 11 жыл бұрын

As one of my learned friends put it recently "the poison is the pot" - that is to say...that this system of inequity, one would argue, is entrenched in our current economic models. In brief, it is my view that there needs to be a change in paradigm. This takes time and much collaborative effort. If you look at design philosophies such as "permaculture" you will see in them, a much broader conception of wealth. A deeper focus on local self-reliance. A vast topic to discuss here via comments.

@buddyrichrocks 11 жыл бұрын

thanks for that Shanil - "paradigm shift" - I think we have to meet! (btw - it's Sandeep :) )