This & That

Things that I find interesting, have published or that showcase work that I do or am passionate about. Enjoy!

On "The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems" by Courtney Martin

I very much enjoyed this article by @courtwrites, especially this part about the reasons behind doing impact work abroad: 

"But don’t go because you’ve fallen in love with solvability. Go because you’ve fallen in love with complexity.
Don’t go because you want to do something virtuous. Go because you want to do something difficult.
Don’t go because you want to talk. Go because you want to listen."

This reminded me of the importance of looking at social and environmental problems with creativity+empathy+humility. The past few years I've experienced, first-hand, the importance of committing to that problem and a cause and sticking with it because we are plagued with complex problems that require complex solutions, passion, perseverance and a lot of hard work and teamwork. So we need to have first hand experience and/or be willing to learn and put in the hours, listen and learn. It also made me think of Peter Singer's "Effective Altruism" premises on how if we want to make a difference in the world, we need to not only make a personal commitment, but also remain engaged in the long-term. 

To read the full article, head over to Medium.

Oh! And if you want to practice and strenghten your empathy skills, check out this great project: 12 kinds of kindness.

2015 is coming to an end... so just Breathe.

Source: http://gph.is/1lzTYUz

It has been quite a year of growth and change. A year filled with passion and learnings, surrounded by love and strength. It has been a great year but I am also glad it's ending!

“Write a short letter to yourself that you would receive exactly one year ago. What advice would you give yourself?”
— Holstee's Reflection Worksheet 2015

I bumped into Holstee's Reflection Worksheet (in case you're interested, click here) and decided to focus on this question. Here goes...

Dear Leticia,
 
Please remember to breathe. Through the good times, the bad times, the great times, all the times: breathe. Oh! And while you're at it, enjoy every moment and learn at each step. That is what makes it worthwhile. 
 
Be kind(er) to yourself and continue to be kind(er) to others,
 
You


 

What letter would you write to yourself?

Hurricane Patricia: "The most dangerous storm in history"

Hopefully predictions will not match reality and the effects of this Category 5 hurricane. Temporary shelters and collection centers have been set up but what keeps lingering in my head is this article by the Economist: Counting catastrophe's costs that demonstrates that a hurricane of this magnitude has equally negative impact on income as a financial meltdown: "reduces income per person by about 7.5%."

The Economist: Girl Power

There's widespread evidence that gender equality is good for economic growth.

"SEXISM is not just wrong. It is also expensive. Latin America has made progress in bringing women into the workforce (see article). But their participation rate still lags far behind that of men. If the gap were closed, the region’s GDP per person would be 16% higher, estimate David Cuberes of Clark University in Massachusetts and Marc Teignier of the University of Barcelona."

Don't miss this article: http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21661804-gender-equality-good-economic-growth-girl-power?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/girlpower.