When my daughter’s fifth birthday party was over,
my 12-year-old son, Theo, asked her,
“Gaia, who among your friends didn’t show up at your birthday party?”
She thought, and answered, “Oh, Nelson Mandela.”
(Laughter)
Since she and her brothers were born,
I think and worry about the world they are going to be living in
when I’m no longer here.
And this worry and this thought found an echo within my soul’s calling
that I’m now going to tell you about.
I come from a family that has always struggled a lot.
I have two brothers.
My mother was a teacher at a juvenile detention center.
I was in daily contact with 150 orphan boys.
She is retired now.
From her, I inherited the capacity to love,
to care and to share.
My father has always been a salesman, today he is a businessman.
He sells garbage bags and disposable party supplies.
He sells door-to-door
and in front of supermarkets in Ribeirão, the city where I was born.
This city has also a very large bus station,
a place where my father slept many times.
From him, I inherited the ability to believe that everything is fine,
that life is worth living,
and the ability to have hope.
From them both, I learned to fight and to never give up.
Then I moved to São Paulo.
Here in São Paulo I worked as a nanny,
receptionist, salesperson, monitor at kid’s parties.
I almost became a teacher, almost a biomedical scientist.
I graduated in performing arts and almost became famous.
(Laughter)
I was in a play with some very beloved and famous people.
I acted in two soap-operas that very few people will remember,
only those who were in them.
I was married three times and got divorced three times.
(Laughter)
But I never gave up on loving, I never gave up on love.
And I never gave up the idea of leaving a better world
for Gaia, Levi, and Theo.
And I never gave up becoming a better person each day.
While all of this was happening,
this calling from my soul insisted on saying to me:
“Be yourself, have the courage to tell the world who you are.”
It was then, on June 5th, 2013, the day I convinced ten friends.
Because if you have a dream,
not only you, but someone else has to believe in it.
In my case, ten people believed, after twenty others had said I was crazy.
And we went to the streets that day to register
what I was already doing but not telling anyone: helping people.
On that day, I carried flowers and volunteered myself to strangers:
“Hi, my name is Renata. What can I do for you now?”
On that day, I listened to stories,
I carried heavy shopping bags,
I hugged a lot,
I bought a broomstick,
I swept the floor,
I pulled a 100-kg scrap cart,
and organized a party for a young woman,
who happened to be alone on her birthday,
and who was called Renata.
Renata – my name.
I have spent many birthdays alone.
And being able to offer and share a party with her,
in a square, surrounded by friends, was truly a redemption for me.
On that day I honored the meaning of our name: reborn.
And, on that day, I connected to the universe.
Because everyone here has their own connection to the universe.
And when this connection occurs, you’re at peace.
Your soul shines and the world can see you.
In a journey filled with pain, in a journey filled with lessons learned,
– sometimes scary lessons, with no sponsorship –
the organization “A Nossa Jornada” was created.
And we have now been to 80 Brazilian cities
and to six countries.
We have helped more than 2,000 people
by asking, “What can I do for you now?”
We are people taking care of people.
Adriano was accepted at a Med School in Salvador
by studying from second-hand prep material that we sent him.
We rescued Eugeni from the terrible Congo war
and brought her to Brazil.
We donated 6,000 books to the library of Mariana, in the state of Minas Gerais.
We made Sônia a queen.
Regina just needed a friend to talk to,
so we went out for lunch and I got myself a great friend.
Tiago, a humble boy with Down syndrome,
dreamed of visiting Disney World.
Taylor wanted to see the ocean.
Adriana wanted a dress for her 15th birthday party.
Homeless Jaime wanted a sewing machine, material and thread,
so he could get off the streets and work.
And Ana, her dream was to go for a walk in Ibirapuera Park,
and she needed a new leg.
Kenyan refugees have dreams and we make them come true.
Delsa had been looking for her mother for 20 years,
and we found her in 48 hours.
(Applause)
And it was with these people, and so many others,
that I understood that to leave this world a better place,
we need to leave better people in it.
Starting with myself: I want to be a better person.
It’s with these stories and so many others
that I rescue my stories and fit them inside here.
And how did I accomplish all this?
I am far from being rich
and every month I have to choose which bills to pay
and which ones to delay paying.
I’ve done this by connecting people.
I’ve done this by sharing my stories, by being strong.
And I’ve done this thankfully.
I thank all the people supporting me in this journey,
because I’m just an ordinary person.
I’m exactly like anybody else,
but I have people by my side that help me and stay with me.
So, if you want to be a better person, surround yourself with people
that are better than you and will help you in this journey.
A journey to lighten up your shadow.
Because we’re much more afraid of our light – which we don’t know about –
than we are of our old friend: our shadow.
I’m not an example to anyone, I don’t want to be an example to anyone.
I’d like to be an inspiration.
Because you can also do something for someone.
All you have to do is to look into the eyes of whoever is looking at you,
and ask, “What can I do for you now?”
And when you ask this question and the person answers,
do it for yourself, not for this person.
Because if you do it for this person, you’ll judge them.
But when we do something profoundly for ourselves,
we do it profoundly for someone else
and it opens up the feeling of gratitude in them,
and it rekindles your light,
and then we become one.
By doing this, everything that is yours will find a way to get to you.
Because when we look after each other, the universe finds a way to look after us.
Sometimes I feel helpless towards pain,
towards pain from the people I love, towards my own pain.
Therefore, I say to you: when facing this pain,
love, love, love for as long as you can.
Because love is the only power that changes destiny
and heals all wounds.
And in this destiny, you may become…
someone’s breath of life.
I wish you to connect to the universe.
And when facing doubt, you fight it to find certainty.
And that you never, ever, give up on loving
and believing that everything is fine.
And me?
What can I do for you now?
(Applause)
Thank you.
(Cheering)
”
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