journal 28

As I have been here at the United Nations, I have had the guiding influences of Prof. Baktybek Abdrisaev and Ambassador Kydyrov. They have constantly instilled into me a motto that has become very significant to myself and the subsequent subject of this journal entry; always take the initiative. While it goes without saying that inaction leads nowhere, it is easy to get caught up in the everyday routine. So eventually, just doing the same thing over and over becomes inaction, even if you are actually doing something productive. What can be done about this is simple, take the initiative.

Basically, and what I guess I am really getting at is, it is up to the mountain communities to make a change and it is up to the low-land areas to recognize that change. It would be easy to place all of the responsibility on to the mountain populations. The problem lies in getting the low-land masses to recognize the need for change. While the mountain populations continue to suffer and implement localized remedies for sustainable development, it is not wise to forget the needs of low-land populations to recognize their higher altitude neighbors’ need for assistance. This can be done by taking the initiative and making low-land populations realize that they are as responsible for and impacted by sustainable mountain development as their high altitude counterparts.