Changing Minds

As a freshman, Leigh Winters ’11 didn’t have many commitments. So, one fall evening, she decided to attend a State of the World lecture. It was a decision that would eventually take her to Ghana where, this past summer, she served as a youth ambassador for Voices of African Mothers (VAM).

On the night of the lecture, though, Leigh Winters knew none of what was to come. She only knew how moved she was by the State of the World visitor.

The speaker was Nana Fosu-Randall, a former United Nations staff member. In her talk, Fosu-Randall recalled meeting a young, Liberian beggar with no hands or feet. Like other Liberians, the girl’s life had been devastated by war. Soldiers had raped her and killed her family. A two-week crawl to safety meant that her limbs had become gangrenous. When she finally reached a hospital, doctors also informed her that she was pregnant.

The plight of the Liberian girl had moved Fosu-Randall to start VAM. The story moved Winters too. After the lecture, she hung around to ask Fosu-Randall for her contact information.

Soon Fosu-Randall was sending regular emails about the United Nations, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Security Council. (VAM’s actual status is a mouthful – it’s a non-governmental organization in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.)

"(Fosu-Randall) would send me the emails to the resolutions they passed," said Winters. "Everything that goes on there is really complicated, especially for someone who’s really young and isn’t in international politics or international relations."

Still, Winters plugged away at the material and became increasingly interested in VAM’s mission to establish a peaceful African continent through mediation and education. Her trip to South Africa with the Humanities II class only cemented her interest. (Her sister, Fallon Winters ’10, had gone on the HUM211 trip to Brazil the year before.)

"Going there and reading about the problems over there are two different things," said the younger Winters. "What they had to say in South Africa about the rest of the country was inspirational."

When Fosu-Randall asked her to attend the Second Civil Society Forum in Ghana, Winters said she jumped at the chance. The July conference focused on the Millennium Development Goals, eight lofty targets from the UN that include: solving the global food crisis, promoting gender equality, reducing HIV and AIDS and ensuring everyone has access to education.

As VAM’s youth ambassador, Winters spent several weeks in Ghana. She visited local villages, served on conference panels and spoke to local school children about women’s rights, education, and culture ("There were a lot of questions about Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus," laughs Winters).

When it came time to give her speech, Winters talked about meeting a boy in South Africa and how that related to child education, one of the UN millennium goals. Winters said the experience was transformative. When one Ghanaian girl confided that she would pursue an art career than become a mother at age 18, Winters told her to follow her dream.

"Being able to have the power to change someone’s mindset like that was something that I had never been able to do," Winters said.

Winters isn’t done yet. She’s started recruiting volunteers for VAM and has been talking with NMH faculty about setting up an outreach program (on top of her commitments to FROMAGE, the Nellies, senior dance company, and varsity lacrosse). Winters is also planning to go to Tanzania next summer to serve as the youth ambassador in the next VAM conference.

As Winters said, "There’s a lot of work to do."