Grateful for all the Human Connections in the era of AI that helped me to make an impact in Brazil,France, Dominican Republic, and Portugal in a month

In my last newsletter, I shared about my temporary move to Paris. As a consequence, I was overwhelmed by many people connecting with me, introducing themselves to me, and inviting me to meet in person.

Many people are battling to find their way, their tribe, trying to fit into a community, find sense in their daily routine, to get to the ultimate sense of belonging. Et, voilà! I'm not the only one.

The last few weeks were busy, full of achievements, recognitions, work, and publications.

In #Brazil, G1, one of the biggest news portals in the country, featured my story on “International Women's Day”, it was lovely to see how my work is recognized!

In #France, connecting with new and old friends became part of the weekly routine, by visiting new cafés, restaurants, and museums. With the weather getting warmer, the city of light is shifting my perceptions and it is allowing me to start to feel cozy.

On the other side of the world, in the Dominican Republic, I collaborated with my 2 incredible writing partners Isabela Sena and Luisa M. to publish one article in the newly released book "Miradas Desencadenantes". All done in partnership with the #UNHCR and the Center for Gender Studies of #INTEC - Santo Domingo Institute of Technology. If you are interested in a digital copy of the book, Just let me know and I can share it with you, it is in Spanish.

Getting back to #Europe, I had intense 13 days in #Portugal - a full agenda!

Starting with my participation as a #keynote #speaker at the XII Association of the Portuguese Judges Congress that was held in Funchal, on the charming island of Madeira. What an amazing island that took my breath away! As they call it, the “European Hawaii”. I and my team were so busy with the event; we couldn’t visit the entire island, swim in the blue ocean, and get the magic of it. But from the little we saw and what the thoughtful organizers gave us the privilege to visit, we now know enough to surely plan to come back!

We were warmly welcomed by the Portuguese Association of Judges and I am personally grateful for the invitation to be part of the #speakers. The #event was so premium and professionally organized. Many high-profile people were present, including the president of Portugal to whom I had the honor to give my book.

One of the secrets of a successful speaker and #activist is to give back. One of the main focuses we have in my company is to give back to universities, communities, and even governments whenever possible.

I contacted UNHCR Portugal, learned about the situation of statelessness in the country, and figured out that even though they have very generous legislation and naturalization laws, they are still missing the statelessness determination procedure. This means that in their laws there's no definition for the word “Stateless”, neither a mechanism to recognize #stateless people nor facilitate their #naturalization.

The first giveaway was to the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law. Dr. Ana Rita Gil, PhD kindly prepared a space to introduce #Statelessness from different perspectives and allowed me to share my story as a human rights activist with a very educational focus.

The second giveaway was organized with the support of the UNHCR – Portugal. They facilitated my presentation at the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal in Lisbon where I shared my #testimony and all the good practices to #influence their public policies and ultimately change people’s lives. I was positively surprised by the results as they came quicker than expected! This happened within 24 hours:

“Following the hearing of Maha Mamo, on statelessness, held at the Commission, and whose transmitted life experience constituted an important contribution to the awareness and discussion on this topic [...] an Opinion must be requested from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, namely on possible legislative solutions that have been adopted in other countries.”

The original statement: Click here to read it.

Can you imagine how fulfilled and delighted I was reading those words? Thank you, Assembly of Portugal, and I confirm that you can count on me in this honorable mission of projecting Portugal as one of the main allies in the fight for the defense of #HumanRights and the end of statelessness.

And of course, being in Portugal without seeing Mom and sister, feeling their love, and spending a few days with them was not an option. I needed to re-energize and relax!

I went with my Mom to her Portuguese classes and met her colleagues and teacher. As soon as the director of the school knew about my presence, he invited me to speak with the Student Committee of Human Rights and invited me to an interview on the local radio which, of course, I participated. Who said I would stop working and just relax?

On the weekend the 3 of us explored our beloved Portugal. We visited "the middle of Portugal", the festival of Chocolate in Obidos, Fatima, Cintra, and Lisbon!

Now, back to Paris! Preparing the next #projects, #speeches, and studies. Trying to figure out how #ArtificialIntelligence can help me improve my business, mission, and message while always keeping the essence of human touch and connection.

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In your opinion, if there is any tip or free AI software that could help me to improve my business? Please reach out and let me know.

Final thought and reflection

Gratitude is the feeling of accomplishment and the thirst for the next mission.