Right now, at this moment, while all of our lives have turned upside down and inside out, it may seem impossible to look at something like the coronavirus pandemic and see anything but catastrophe. Yet, the human capacity to rise above, even in the most difficult of times, always has a way of shining through. We all face difficulties, not to be destroyed by them, but to help rediscover ourselves and extract the inner strength we are often unaware of having. During Wednesday’s virtual Rotary program, fellow Seattle 4 Rotarian, Rais Bhuiyan shares his experiences and inspiration as we navigate through this incredibly uncertain and frightening time together.
Shot by a white supremacist ten days after 9/11, Rais Bhuiyan not only survived this brutal hate crime, he went on to forgive his assailant and worked tirelessly to try and save him from death row. Rais later created the non-profit, World Without Hate (WWH), the manifestation of his death-bed promise, dedicating his life to disrupting hate and violence through storytelling and empathy education. To date, Rais has engaged with more than 250,000 people globally, from classrooms, college campuses, maximum-security prisons, refugee camps, religious forums, to town halls, city councils, and conferences. More information can be found at www.worldwithouthate.org.
