by Darman | Jul 29, 2020 | Blogs
Darman Foundation’s Uyghur Spirit Youth Conference was successful in hosting different speakers who focused on their journey towards achieving success in various areas of their lives. Last week, our first article in the Uyghur Spirit Youth Conference Series, looked at Success in Activism.
Today, we’ll be sharing the advice given on the importance of relationship building in professional success as shared by Rayhan Asat during her talk.
Rayhan Asat is an international specialist Attorney in Hughes Hubbard’s Washington, D.C. and a Graduate of Harvard University. Rayhan has extensive experience in Central Asian, Canadian, Turkish, and Chinese law. In 2019, she was announced the president of the American Turkic International Lawyers Association and since then has been a mentor for Laws without Walls.
Asat’s talk emphasized the importance of accepting and respecting the diversity of the world we live in today. When asked what she means by that, she explains that to live a life of professional success, you will encounter wide diversity, and it is when you truly become open minded about the nature of society that you will be able to connect with people in a real manner.
To Asat, relationship building is an integral part of being successful. It isn’t just about “tolerance”, it is much more. It is about respecting other people’s beliefs and values. Being open minded and respectful to other people’s cultures, beliefs, practices, and mindsets helps you understand and appreciate how diverse the world is, and how flexible we need to be when meeting people of diverse backgrounds. It can be the smallest of gestures that make a difference to others.
Success can have different meanings at different stages in your life. It may mean publishing an article, or getting a promotion but as you progress through your life, you realize the holistic experience of success. Success is to be shared. Shared with people, with your communities, with relationships you make throughout your life. Cultivating a career is also about cultivating personal relationships.
Asat emphasized the importance of paying it forward,
“It’s a full circle. It’s about community. I’m a big believer in paying it forward. I love mentoring students or people just stepping into their new profession. It is those meaningful relationships that are my source of energy and inspiration. Success to me is complex, it is not neither nor. It is career, it is family, it is friends, it is those personal relationships…it’s care for the world. Being an informed citizen. Not just a domestic citizen. It means caring about what’s happening in Syria, or to the Uyghur region or in Darfur”.
While success has many aspects to it, and balance is crucial, neglecting our connections to people would be doing us a disservice in the long run. Asat urges youth to focus on their internal traits, as it is very easy to be tempted into this world and the material benefits that will never truly bring a person the same assurance that caring does.
Success as Asat puts it, comes with truly trying to be a better person, an informed citizen and painting the seeds of friendship along every step of your career.
Link to Rayhan Asat’s full talk here
by Darman | Jul 22, 2020 | Blogs
July 22 2020
Earlier this month, Darman Foundation hosted its first ever Uyghur Spirit Youth Conference.The conference hosted different speakers who focused on their journey towards achieving success. Attendees got the chance to listen to success stories and advice from Uyghurs around the world.
The conference looked at different types of success, one of which was successful activism. One of the speakers was Rushan Abbas is an Uyghur American activist who provided Uyghur youth with her insight into activism, advocacy and the foundational skills to successful lobbying.
Rushan Abbas is an Uyghur American activist and advocate from the region of Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan. She is the founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit, Campaign for Uyghurs. In 1993, Rushan Abbas both co-founded and ran the Uyghur Overseas Student and Scholars Association as the first Vice-President. Moreover, she was elected as the Vice President of the Uyghur American Association for two terms. By 1998, Radio Free Asia had launched a Uyghur Service where Ms. Abbas became the first Uyghur reporter broadcasting in East Turkistan. Since then, Ms. Abbas has been a campaigner for the human rights of Uyghur people and worked with members of the U.S. Congress. She went on to organize the ‘One Voice, One Step’ march, which was done in protest of China’s persecution and imprisonment of 3 million Uyghurs. The march was global and took place in 14 countries and 18 cities.
Rushan Abbas talks about the silence witnessed by vocal activists, politicians, professionals, and celebrities that have yet to speak about the genocide leading to the Uyghurs being collateral damage. It is for this reason that she emphasizes the importance of being committed to educating ourselves and ensuring that we are sharing it with others at every step of the journey.
Abbas encourages youth to find causes they are passionate about, and to fight for them. Based off her own experiences, she gives the following 10 tips to successful advocacy
- Learn all that you can and from reputable sources, and always be conscious of the agenda and rhetoric. Understanding the arguments is essential
- Network with organizations and do not be afraid to reach out and ask for help. People who are advocating for human rights and ask for what you can do, and ask for whatever you need and ask them to help you
- Use social media and use it effectively, tag influential people
- Ask local news stations to cover the causes you think are important
- Know the goals of your activism, but having your own strategy is very important. Perhaps your goal is to see grassroots organizations, or petitions, or legislations pass. You need to define your goals
- Have a view of the type of world you want to create and live in as a picture
- Know how the actions you’re going to work towards that picture
- Be willing to educate with the belief that people can change, do not try to alienate by using certain language
- Be bold.
- Effective activism requires fortitude, persistence and longevity, do not give up.
Abbas ends off her talk by reminding youth that advocacy isn’t always about the popular cause, but it’s taking the case that is right. You won’t always be admired for your efforts and thus it is essential in having character and confidence in what you are doing.
by Darman | Jun 16, 2020 | Geography
Study of the physical features of East Turkistan
Map of East Turkistan, and it’s 10 neighbouring countries
East Turkistan is the land of Uyghurs and other minorities such as Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Uzbeks, Tatars and Tajiks. Many might think this region is located in the East because of its name. However, East Turkistan is in the northwest of China and it lies in the heart of Central Asia. The territory area is 1.82 million square kilometers, which is twice as large as the Republic of Turkey and four times as large as the state of California. It is enormous!
East Turkestan has a diverse geography. More than 43% of the region is covered with deserts and another 40% is covered by mountain ranges. East Turkestan is overlaid by beautiful rivers, lakes, grasslands and forests. One of its mountains is called Tengritagh Mountain, also known as Heavenly Mountains. Ten countries surround East Turkistan: China and Mongolia to the East, Russia to the North, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to the West and Tibet to the South.
East Turkistan was an independent country, the motherland of Uyghurs, before 1949, when China officially took possession of this territory and documented it as Xinjiang, which means “new territory” or “new border”.
Uyghur Culture, little boy waring Uyghur traditional Doppa
The land is mainly the home to the Turkic Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities. Uyghurs were a majority in East Turkistan, until the Chinese government decided to colonize it. The ancient Silk Road, the old trade route linking Asia to the Middle East, passes through East Turkistan, a legacy that can be seen in the traditional open-air bazaars of Oasis cities, Hotan and Kashgar. East Turkistan has 14 provinces, 32 major cities and 87 small cities and towns.
Urumqi is the capital of East Turkistan. Some of the land’s famous and historic cities are Kashgar, Ghulja, Turpan, Hotan and Oasis.
Old-City of Kashgar, Mud houses
by darman-admin | Jun 15, 2020 | Geography
@Darmanfoundation
East Turkestan had been founded in Middle Asia. It’s current territorial size is 1.82 million square kilometres which is twice as large as the Republic of Turkey!🤯 ⠀
East Turkestan has a diverse geography with grand deserts, impressive mountains, large forests and beautiful lakes. More than 43% of East Turkestan is covered by deserts and another 40% are covered by mountains. ⠀
East Turkestan borders China and Mongolia to the east, Russia to the north, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to the west and Tibet to the south. ⠀
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