Dear Noam,

I remember being at the World Social Forum in 2002 and sitting in on a meeting that you were having with the delegation from East Timor. Many people in the room were clearly in awe of you and in any case felt enormous appreciation because you had been someone who brought attention to their cause when it was being mostly ignored. At this point, East Timor was on the verge of independence after a long struggle against a brutal U.S.-suppored dictorship. The East Timorese in the room asked you for advice on the new challenges they were facing. You responded by pointing out that they were in the best position to know what they should do. After all, they were the ones who had fought so diligently and courageously for so many years and had finally won. They were the ones who knew the history and the current situation better than anyone.

I like how you turned the focus back on them and what *they* knew. You weren't trying to offer praise or be "empowering." You were just saying what you knew to be true. And they preceived that as well, and it brought about a change in the room. There was less awe in your direction and more a sense of the room being full of heroes who had struggled against enormous odds and who would continue to do so.

Thank you for essentially holding up a mirror for people to see themselves more clearly and bring their own best minds and abilities to the conditions they face.

I wish you a very happy birthday.

Cynthia