Good evening and welcome to Heal the World concert.

My name is Joanna and I am studying at Limkokwing University.

When I look around this campus I can’t help but think about how lovely the world looks.

There are people here from every corner of the globe, living and learning together.

We are happy here and its all too easy to take for granted that rest of the world feels as peaceful as this.

The last time I spoke at the launch of the Palestinian exhibition I spoke about how disturbed I was about the bombing of Gaza.

Since then the world has erupted into even more violence.

The papers are full of it. The tv stations transmit in real time as the events unfold.

Even as we sip our coffee and eat our breakfast in the peace of our surroundings, we know that somewhere someone is facing a dilemma, a life and death drama.

How can I accept this situation? I have asked myself this question many times.

I surfed the net in search of others who felt like me.

Along the way I found inspiration in the words of people like Mahatma Gandhi.

Allow me to share their words of wisdom with you tonight.

The Mahatma Gandhi said and I quote:

Ladies and Gentlemen

I may not be able to help people directly.

I may not be able to influence the flow of events directly.

But I can be useful to the people around me. These are the people I can influence. I can lend a helping hand to those who need my help.

I can teach those who are younger and who need my help.

I can work to become a better person, a better daughter, a better friend, a better student, a better employee, a better citizen.

I can do this. So can you. And if everyone was to do this it will have a ripple effect that will turn into a big tide – a tsunami that can change the world.

I know because I learnt about the Chaos Theory on the Internet how the flutter of a butterfly in Brazil can create a typhoon in Texas.

I interpreted this to mean that no matter now small our actions are they do have consequences and they can build up to create bigger outcomes.

Tonight we have this concert called Heal the World. It came out of good intentions. We can heal the world by healing those around us.

Thank you. Enjoy the night.