- 13 de mayo de 2021
- Sin categoría
HUMANITY HAS A MISSION; INNOVATION TO SOLVE WORLD PROBLEMS: RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ TÚM
«There is a mission for humanity in general; that everything we build makes innovation, but not innovation for the hoarding of human knowledge; but to solve problems, struggles against discrimination, against racism» – Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
The Maya-Kiché woman, who was born in the Laj Chimel village in Guatemala, arrived punctually to her appointment with the students of the Universidad Tecnológica de Matamoros; she entered the designated area for the conference «Rights and Opportunities for university studies for young people in the 21st century», accompanied by Mónica González García, representative of the Governor of Tamaulipas, Egidio Torre Cantú; the Undersecretary of Higher and Higher Education, Julio Martínez Burnes and the rector of UTM, José Antonio Tovar Lara.
The approximately 1,800 attendees gathered to listen to the great conference given by the defender of the human rights of the indigenous people, gave her a warm welcome and minutes later, from the podium, the Nobel Prize winner thanked them for their affection.
On behalf of the Governor of the State, the Secretary of Economic Development and Tourism of the Government of Tamaulipas, Monica Gonzalez Garcia, welcomed Rigoberta Menchu, who she said is a great ally of the people of Tamaulipas, a woman proud of her roots, a defender of human rights and a true social fighter for the indigenous and peasant peoples of Guatemala.
The rector of the Universidad Tecnológica de Matamoros gave a brief description of Dr. Rigoberta Menchú, noting that from an early age she was involved in social initiatives and in the vindication of women’s rights. She was a protagonist of social struggles in the 80s and 90s, particularly in the defense and denunciation of serious violations of human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights.
She headed the continental campaign of the 500 years of resistance. Among the many awards, he has received are the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992; the decoration «Legion of Honor in the highest rank of Commander» in 1996; the «Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation» in 1998.
The «Aguila Azteca» decoration in 2010; the «Rubén Darío» cultural order in 2010 and more than 30 «Honoris Causa» doctorates awarded by prestigious universities in Latin America, Europe and Asia; in addition to other international recognitions for his contribution to the search and preservation of peace for the peoples.
After the reading of her review, the UTM rector introduced the Nobel Peace Prize winner to the attendees, who in a simple way introduced the young people to the talk of life, of great knowledge acquired over a career of more than 35 years, alluding to the fact that «the Mayan grandparents say that a simple life is a full life».
In the middle of his lecture, he thanked the government of Tamaulipas and Universidad Tecnológica de Matamoros for the invitation to share his ideas with the young people, whom he motivated to excel and to achieve their identity.
Never forget that we are all oxygen; when we say that we must humanize technology a little, it is not just an idea; we are children of the earth, living beings, thanks to water, oxygen and the earth, because if the earth lacks these means, the last alternative is to seek refuge where we can find water, oxygen and our cells can function.
Education today is knowing how to do a little bit of everything; a strategy that allows us to visualize our environment; we can understand the environment of others if we understand our own nature; what I believe the future needs, is an integral leadership, that any decision favors science for life; if there is someone who only wants to look for a figure is because he still lacks maturity, he said in the presence of the attentive attendees.
In his motivational message to the young people present, he called them to apply the codes of respect and responsibility; to provoke happiness in their parents by giving them a professional degree, to be realistic, to respect nature and to venerate their home, because there is no better world than this one, our house, our home.
