Feature #4: What makes you run?

 

Between 2013 and 2015, the military-political crisis in the Central African Republic #CAR had caused one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the region. I spent part of my time working there, but also supporting from a distance. On my return from yet another trip, I stopped off in Paris. During a friendly get-together with long-standing friends, including my high school classmate and fellow graduate  Dr. Gnanzou DENIS  and  Jean-Marc KADJO-BOGNI  , from du Lycée Scientifique de Yamoussousoukro #AS22, they asked me a question: "What makes you run so much? In other words, what are your leitmotivs for driving your energy in the world's dangerous places?

With Dr. Denis Gnazou and Jean-Marc KADJO in La Defense, Paris (2014)

Fact 1: The struggles of life, properly managed, can be an inexhaustible source of wisdom for making the right decisions.

During my secondary education and at the start of my university studies, I spent part of my school holidays working on my grandfather's plantations with my uncles as a teenager in transition to adulthood. Quite an experience, by the way! Once, after several days of clearing the land before the cocoa harvest, I got very tired and took a break. One of my uncles looked at me and said: "You have the choice of finishing here in the village like a simple farmer or excelling at school to have another life alternative. Go back to work like the others". I opted for the second choice, not because it was easy, but because I wanted to have options, choices and more alternatives.

Fact 2: The desire to be useful to others without expecting anything in return

When I was a teenager, I often gave up my time to help the nuns in Adiaké and Yamoussoukro in the nurseries to bring a little joy to the lives of the orphans. Perhaps that's where my innate desire for humanitarian work comes from. In the course of my career, I've come into close contact with human suffering and misery in Côte d'Ivoire and many other places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Yemen, the countries of the Sahel after the Libyan crisis, the Lake Chad Basin subject to the atrocities of terrorist groups and affected by the Ebola virus in West Africa. I have travelled all over them to help reduce the suffering of people affected by humanitarian crises. When our institutional or personal actions have served to bring a smile and joy back to someone's face, nothing is more gratifying than to see someone in near destitution have the hope of life restored. This feeling of serving people has always been at the north of my personal compass. To quote John C. Maxwell: "Leadership has nothing to do with titles or positions, and even less to do with organisational charts. It's about a person's ability to use his or her life to influence other lives".

A woman who gave birth at a health post in the Lake Region, Chad.

Fact 3: The desire to evolve should not be achieved by crushing others

Clearly, the world is not Alice in Wonderland. It has its realities, both good and bad. I invite you to watch Martin Scorsese's film The Wolf of Wall Street, masterfully played by Leonardo Di Caprio. In this role, he was initially full of hope and ideals. But he ends up becoming unscrupulous, greedy and extravagant, while dragging others down with him at all costs. After viewing masterpieces showing the vileness of unbridled capitalism, you'll understand how some people can play others to their own ends. I don't think you just need to be full of candour, but you also need to learn to assert yourself, and sometimes even fight head-on, because life has many shades of grey. As far as I'm concerned, even if your experiences haven't always been rosy, I encourage you to pull others up while climbing the ladder and moving forward. That's the price you pay for becoming truly great. I leave you with this thought from John C. Maxwell, "Success is knowing your purpose in life, working and growing to reach your full potential and planting seeds that benefit others".

Interactions with young people during a jon fair fora

Lessons to remember

1. Our appreciation of life's trials determines their positive or negative impact on us. So we need to take the time to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. "A precious gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials" - Seneca

2. Finding your career path also requires you to be aligned with your own values. Salary alone is far from being the leitmotiv that will make you happy and get you out of bed every morning. "You have to be enthusiastic about your job to excel at it. - Denis Diderot

In the course of your career, you may come across people who are prepared to do anything, including smear others and strike low blows to get ahead. When faced with such behaviour, your reaction should be to demonstrate the opposite through the quality of your work and your integrity, while maintaining a line of communication that sets you apart from the crowd. In reality, the truth comes out in most cases.