Start with Your Heart | Cyrielle Hariel | TEDxIHEParis
The speaker, who suffered a congenital heart defect, argues that personal experiences of profound need and connection, like those in a Bangladeshi refugee camp, reveal that humanity's fragility and environmental crises require action inspired by the heart. She uses the example of Jadav Payeng planting seeds to restore his island and Father Pedro's work in Madagascar to demonstrate that small, hands-on efforts can achieve massive, positive global change. The central call to action is to listen to one's heart and commit to being a change-maker for a cause that deeply touches the individual. ## Theses & Positions - Human existence and the planet are both beautiful and fragile. - Individual suffering, such as heart disease, can reveal deeper systemic vulnerabilities, particularly for women. - Unexpected, emotionally resonant encounters (like meeting a girl in a refugee camp) can fundamentally redirect a person's life purpose toward making a difference. - The greatest threats—climate change, poverty, and illness—are interconnected, requiring systemic solutions rooted in human empathy. - Change-making is a universal human calling, achievable through both grand international projects and small, immediate personal initiatives. - Recognizing shared humanity and interdependence is the prerequisite for collective action; *"we are all part of the same humanity which makes us in turn dependent."* ## Concepts & Definitions - **Congenital heart defect:** A birth defect in the heart that the speaker was diagnosed with. - **Stateless:** Lacking any country's protection or citizenship rights, as experienced by the Rohingya community. - **Alternative green and positive journalist:** A journalist who actively seeks out and shares stories and projects focused on creating a more sustainable and equitable future. - **The Heart-Pick Movement:** A movement initiated by the speaker to connect people with causes they feel deeply passionate about, linking personal vulnerability to global action. - **Humanitarian rehabilitation and social reintegration:** The process supported by Father Pedro's efforts in Madagascar to restore lives and jobs. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Personal Discovery Mechanism:** Experiencing a profound personal crisis (e.g., heart defect discovery) triggers a search for a larger purpose or "calling." - **Inspiration from Art/Media:** Watching shows like *Moonwalk* led the speaker's father to become her first teacher, illustrating early exposure to impactful storytelling. - **Journalistic Investigation:** The speaker actively seeks out and documents change-makers (activists, NGOs) to report on solutions to inequality and climate change. - **Ecological Restoration (Jadav Payeng's model):** Starting by planting seeds in salt-affected land to build soil strength, allowing the ecosystem to regenerate naturally over decades. - **Community Empowerment (Father Pedro's model):** Initiating local infrastructure (schools, hospitals) and creating economic opportunities to facilitate human social reintegration. - **The 'Heart-Pick' Connection:** Mapping an individual's deeply felt emotional connection or "hurt" to a necessary global or local action. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Before 2014:** Speaker suffered from an undiagnosed congenital heart defect; left alone often after parental divorce. - **2014:** Humanitarian mission to a refugee camp in Bangladesh; meeting the girl from the Rohingya community; realization of her own heart condition. - **Post-2014 (Short Term):** Emergency surgery and receiving a prosthetic heart valve. - **Ongoing:** Development of career as a journalist; documentation of various global change-makers' efforts. - **In Progress:** Building the "Heart-Pick" movement to connect personal passion to actionable global change. ## Named Entities - **Rohingya community:** Ethnic group of stateless people in Bangladesh/Burma who lack rights, education, and healthcare. - **Bangladesh:** Location of the initial humanitarian mission and refugee camps. - **Madagascar:** Country where Father Pedro is working on rehabilitation. - **Jadav Payeng:** Individual who revitalized Missoula Island. - **Missoula Island:** Location saved by Jadav Payeng, suffering from erosion from the Brahmaputra River. - **Akima Su:** Association facilitating Father Pedro's work in Madagascar. - **King of Pop:** Reference used by the speaker to describe a source of early inspiration (Michael Jackson). ## Numbers & Data - Year of speaker's double anniversary: **three years ago** (implying 27 years old). - Frequency of heart disease deaths: **more than 17 million people every year**. - Dutch population reference: **a country like the Netherlands** (used to illustrate the scale of deaths). - Age of the girl met in Bangladesh: **around eight**. - Population affected by the Rohingya situation: **more than a million** in Burma; **more than 30 thousand** in the Bangladeshi camp. - Age of the speaker when the defect was found: **before the mission** (during routine checkup). - Number of people Father Pedro is empowering: **thousands**. - Duration of Father Pedro's work in Madagascar: **almost 30 years**. - Percentage of population in Madagascar with poverty: **more than 92 percent** living with less than $2 a day. - Historical rate of river erosion: **eaten 60% of the land** from Missoula Island. ## Examples & Cases - **The prosthetic umbrella:** A physical "jewel" representing the fixed heart, symbolizing life's necessary repair and continuation. - **The meeting in the Bangladeshi camp:** Encounter with the girl in the dirty orange dress, who embodied the despair of the Rohingya community despite a smiling interaction. - **Lukes's life trajectory:** Moving from an undiagnosed congenital heart defect to receiving a prosthetic heart valve following a life-altering experience. - **Jadav Payeng’s restoration of Missoula Island:** Using only seeds, roots, and hands to combat erosion from the Brahmaputra River, turning the area into an entire forest larger than Central Park and supporting diverse species (Asian elephant, rhinoceros, Bengal tigers). - **Father Pedro's work in Madagascar:** Establishing sustainable living, education, and jobs for thousands in a region struggling with malnutrition and poverty, leading to the growth of the community into a "real city" of over 25,000 people. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Prosthetic umbrella/jewel:** A physical artifact symbolizing the repair of the speaker's heart. - **Blog:** Used by the speaker to share the stories and projects of change-makers. ## References Cited - **Eaton's eyes:** Reference to the despair and suffering seen in the girl's eyes. - **The Moonwalk:** Reference to Michael Jackson's performance, cited as a formative childhood inspiration. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Technological vs. Natural Solutions:** Contrast between relying on complex technological fixes versus building solutions from "two hands." - **Individual Focus vs. Systemic Focus:** Transitioning from the micro-level, personal tragedy (heart defect) to the macro-level, systemic crises (climate change, poverty). - **Stateless vs. Belonging:** The lack of rights for the Rohingya community versus the shared humanity that requires mutual support. ## Methodology - **Storytelling as a vehicle for advocacy:** Using highly personal narrative (heart condition, refugee camp) to build emotional resonance and legitimacy for global calls to action. - **Active Investigation:** Fieldwork collecting case studies from successful, resilient local changemakers. - **Emotional Mapping:** Connecting the subjective feeling of loss or trauma to a specific, tangible, solvable cause. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The core requirement for solving global crises—from environmental collapse to poverty—is a fundamental shift in personal commitment and attention, moving from self-absorption to shared humanity. - The call is threefold: to *listen to your heart*, *inform yourself*, and *make a decision to take action* in *any way you possibly can*. - The final act of commitment is a personal pledge: "I will." ## Implications & Consequences - If humanity fails to address interconnected vulnerabilities (health, environment, poverty), the resulting consequences mirror the fragility of a delicate heart or an eroding coastline. - The speaker's personal survival (heart repair) became the catalyst for understanding broader human survival needs. - A global commitment requires acknowledging interdependence, making individual action a necessary component of large-scale solutions. ## Verbatim Moments - *"The prosthetic umbrella that fixed my heart for you."* - *"women are especially vulnerable to the threat."* - *"what are so in her Eaton's eyes was despair and suffering."* - *"she belongs to the Rohingya community... stateless just like ten million people all around the world."* - *"I have had a hole in my heart since my birth... that fixed the hole between the right and left side of my heart."* - *"my favorite lullaby was men in the mirror."* - *"what does it mean I actively seek out an interview change makers people who fight for better a more sustainable and more possible future."* - *"trader starting planting seeds in the salt of his land to make it stronger."* - *"politics is your two hands in a heart sensitive to social injustice."* - *"the hurts connects us."* - *"we often forget that we are all part of the same humanity which makes us in turn dependent."* - *"It is all mobile responsibility to be changemakers each and every one of us and on a dividual level it starts with you with you with you."* - *"I will."*