SARAH BROWN Success is More than Material Acquisition
Sarah Brown, wife of the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, is a woman on a mission. Together with her husband and networking with other partners around the world, she has been in the forefront of campaigns to see that children are given opportunities to release their potential through quality education. She is the coordinator of Their world, a charity which began as a research fund to tackle complications in pregnancy but later broadened into a range of projects around disadvantaged children, with a particular focus on education through the A World at School platform. Sarah Brown is also the founding chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, with objective to work with business leaders and CEOs to support and galvanise international action to achieve quality education for all the world’s children. In a chat with Ayo Arowolo in New York, Sarah shared insights on her world, saying, amongst other things, that every human being should strive to live a life of significance. Excerpts:
You have been involved in campaigns revolving around children and education. What was your motivation? All my life, I have always looked for opportunities to live a life of meaning, to see how I can give back to society. I believe every person wants to see how he or she can live a life of significance. I believe that at the end of the day, what matters is not the material possessions you have accumulated or how much you have in the bank. I believe what matters are the lives you have touched while you are around. I have always been conscious of that.
And that essentially is the driving force behind the campaigns I have initiated in conjunction with others. I believe that each of us must think of how he or she would leave the world a better place.
I believe every child has potential inside him or her that they can unleash if given the opportunity. So that is my motivation; to see how we can give as many children as possible the opportunity to unlock their potential. And I want to do whatever I can do to give children that opportunity to live a life of meaning.
My background in campaigns has also equipped me well. When my husband was in government, I was one of the leaders championing the maternal mortality campaign. I was also involved in a variety of campaigns from a young age -anti poverty , anti racism campaigns among others. Those engagements really shaped what I am now doing.
Children’s education is also one of the millennium development goals which my husband has championed . What I have tried to do is to ensure that we take the campaigns to the international arena and to push them into the front burner in discussions at an international level and I hope we make some progress.
My mother was a teacher and I have always been interested in education through her work.
You are running the campaign a long with your husband. What role is he playing? Is it a joint initiative?
I have been married to my husband for 15 years and I have known him for 20 years. Even before we were married, we had both been involved in series of campaigns. So I can say that we have common interests. My husband has a lifetime commitment to pushing for social justice in all areas . He had some fellow travellers in Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala your former minister of finance and your former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. They all worked together to push for social justice in different areas.
Gordon now has a role as a UN Special Envoy for Global Education. He has also just been appointed the chairman of a special committee that will be looking at financing strategies and sponsorship for global education. It is good to have grand aims about putting every child into school, but it cannot be done without the funds . So that is why his role is critical. He has the background for it . He was a formal finance minister; he was a former prime minister. So he is well suited for the role.
He has built a network of friends from all over the world - presidents, former presidents, ministers and so on. So that provides quite a lot of platforms to perform the role that has been assigned to hm.
My role is different. I am involved in charities and my job is to figure out what I can do working with other people to give children opportunities to realise their potential.
For example we have been working with the Nigerian business community to create safe schools in the country in the wake of the Chibok kidnapping and in the Middle East, we are implementing a double shift school system to educate Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Have you been to Nigeria before?
Of course! I have been to Nigeria several times. I have been to Lagos and Abuja several times. I have also been to the Eastern part of Nigeria. I have been to Cross River State when I was visiting with the team for the set of the film Half of a Yellow Sun . Most of the time with my husband and a few times alone.
Who are your friends and what do you like about Nigeria?
I have many friends - not necessarily the big people in government. I have friends from different areas - actors, writers and those who are involved in One campaigns
One thing I like about Nigerians is their entrepreneurial mindset. It is only in Nigeria you would meet someone introducing herself saying ‘ I am an actress, writer and business woman! And the next person you meet would say ‘ I am a teacher and business woman’ All in one!
Nigeria is a beautiful country especially when you go outside the cities. I love Nigerian music. Again, when I was a child, I went to school in Tanzania; so I am not a stranger to the African culture.
If you were to meet the president of Nigeria, what advice would you give him?
I won’t be able to advise him on how to run the country but what I see is that a lot of people are coming together in Nigeria with common voices and asking for change in different areas. This is healthy and would ensure that the government of the day always pay attention to what matter to the people. Nigerians have so much energy and dynamism . Many of them are part of the 10 million people who have signed our petition for change in education. Every parent in Nigeria wants their children- boys and girls -to go to school.
I think the greatest challenge for Nigeria is how to tackle the Boko Haram issue and also to ensure that the schools are safe for children.
Some people say that you gave stability to your husband and his office when he was the prime minister. Is that an appropriate statement?
Well, what I can say is that my husband and I are friends first of all.
More than that, we share the same values. We raise our children together. So to me, it is just a continuation of what we have always done together. He has been my greatest fan just as I have been his.
My husband was prime minister at the peak of the global financial crisis and it fell on him to hold the G20 Summit. That meant that he was very busy and worked long hours. I did not know when he found the time to sleep! It was hectic but I supported him from the background in his official duties. I was not a political adviser to him; I was just doing what a reasonable person would do. I would just say we support each other.
How would you describe your husband?
He is very intelligent and he puts a lot of his energy in the service of people. He is dedicated to fighting injustice in all its ramifications. He also has a great sense of humour. He is a great lover of sports. He would like to watch British soccer every hour of the day! He is also a loyal , committed, good friend and husband more than anyone I know.
Who are your role models and why? My mother is my greatest role model. I admire her sense of independence and entrepreneurship. I admire the way she raised me and my two brothers. My mother is 77 now and she is still a great adventurer. She ran her first marathon when she was 60. She is always on the move. Right now she is moving all over the world collecting stories from people who sew needlework. I admire her ability to embrace new challenges all the time.
Graca Machel is also a great model of mine. I was delighted to see her in New York where we exchanged a lot of ideas. I admire the fact that she never give up on her resolve to see that children have better education and better life.
In our charities, I also have a lot of young people all over the world, mostly from Nigeria , who have stood up to support the cause of better education.
You recently gave an award to Aliko Dangote for his support for education in the world which his daughter received on his behalf.
Yes, Aliko Dangote has been a very dedicated supporter of having every child getting quality education and he also supports creating opportunities for Nigerians and other Africans to go into employment. He does not seek praise for anything he has done or he is doing. He prefers to be discreet and anonymous about most of his support. . Halima Dangote , his daughter, came to New York to receive the award which was given to
Children’s education is also one of the millennium development goals which my husband has championed . What I have tried to do is to ensure that we take the campaigns to the international arena and to push them into the front burner in discussions at an international level and I hope we make some progress
him on Tuesday September 28. It took a lot of persuasion to tell him we wanted to give him an award. I was delighted that Halima came to accept the award. But he has attended many of our meetings because he is a founding member of the Coalition for Education.
What would you isolate as the values that have been driving you on your path to success?
I believe our core value has been to be fair to all people and to do whatever one can do to create equal opportunities for people to excel. For me it means looking for every opportunity to help people in whatever way I can.
Again, I also believe in working with other people to achieve my objectives because I believe no single person can succeed alone. This has helped me in getting as many partners as possible to support our campaign. I am quite noisy when it comes to getting people to support whatever I believe in. I want to ensure that I get the right people behind any initiatives I am involved in.
How did you develop your public speaking skills?
The interesting thing is that I wasn’t a very great public speaker. When my husband was the Prime Minister, I was always called upon to give speeches at different occasions. The first public speech I gave , I fainted at the end of it! I was very nervous and I fainted! But I did not give up. In spite of that incident, I kept accepting invitations to speak and this has helped me a great deal in honing my public speaking skills and I have built confidence on stage doing this.
What would bey our advice to other women who wouldl ike to find their voices?
What I would say is that if you have a message that you consider important for people to hear, you have to do whatever it takes to learn how to speak. That was what also helped me. I had a message that I needed to share with a lot of people and I was not ready to allow anything to stop me , not even the incident I mentioned earlier. So that is my advice to anyone who has a message to share and he or she is afraid to speak.
In my case , I figured it out when my husband was the Prime Minister. I gave a lot of very bad speeches but along the line I started to get confident. The fact that I had a message to share also helped me.
Did you ever worry about failing in what you are doing? And how did you overcome the fear?
You can always worry about failing but that won’t solve the problem. Failure is part of the process and your job is to get creative and find a way of solving every challenge you encounter on the way. What I have found is that every challenge you face provides an opportunity to bring the best out of yourself and the more problems you solve the more skilful you become. If you don’t try, then you cannot succeed.
What would you do differently, if you were to start your career allover again?
I would start very early to allow myself to avoid making my mistakes in public – including the fainting I mentioned earlier.
Also, I would push myself a little more . I have discovered that the world gives you space if you ask for it. If I were to start again, I would be more assertive in expressing myself and pushing out my message to the world.
What would be your advice to women who also would like to find their voices ,those who want to get to the top of their careers?
The first suggestion I would give is that they should first identify specific areas in which they wish to be heard and put everything into expressing themselves. I know this is tough because a lot of women in many societies don’t have the opportunities to express themselves.
I would also advise such women to start by seeking out women who have found their voice and to look for a mentor in this space.
I realise that many women around the world have found themselves in difficult situations; girls who are trafficked; girls who are sexually abused. They all need the support of those of us that are not silenced.
What types of books do your ead?
I read a lot around what I am doing , a lot of technical stuff that will help me to improve my work. And when I am off duty, I also read novels.
You want to mention one that you particularly liked?
I like Chimamanda Adichie’s books, particularly Half of the Yellow Sun
I also like her new book, AMERICANA. It is the story of two young people – one who travels to America, one who travels to the United Kingdom. I love her fertile and creative mind.
What do you do outside official engagements. Relaxing, for instance?
Essentially, I focus on my family. My sons are 11 and 9 years old. So I try as much as possible to be involved in the day to day aspects of their lives. I take them to sports matches and other activities.
I also enjoy meeting friends . I enjoy company of good people.
What would you like to be remembered for?
There is a Tanzanian proverbs that says : ‘ lift as you climb’. I would like to be remembered as someone who tried to help those who are struggling.
What are the lessons you have learnt about life?
I have put some of my reflections in a memoir which has been published but If I could summarise them, I would say, one, it is not too early or too late to start anything you believe in. Start, you will discover that help will come along the way. If I were to start all over again, I would start early to push whatever I believe in.
Again, it is never too late or early to learn. You should be committed to lifelong learning.
Anything you want to add?
Yes, I would really like to thank THISDAY and the Chairman, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena. THISDAY has from the beginning always supported every initiative on our campaign for education. I would also like to thank Nigerians who joined others around the world to sign our UpForSchool petition.
A parting greeting to our President Mr. President, I would like you to work with us to ensure that every child in Nigeria has the opportunity to go to school.
I realise that many women around the world have found themselves in difficult situations; girls who are trafficked; girls who are sexually abused. They all need the support of those of us that are not
silenced