together what is the point of being
together it is to try to answer
to this question that tonight I want
to share with you a few
ideas and some experiences that me
seems to show strength and beauty
to be in a group and to be and to be
together
I must also say that I am very
glad to be able to share this
evening with you all together
I would first like to talk to you about my
first loves that are the ants
they are beautiful no so I did
for four years at a thesis of
doctorate at the University of Lausanne
on ants
I would like to explain a little
anecdote how is it
people react when we react to
when I explained that I had
did a doctorate for four years on
the forms then there are three types of
possible reactions
the first reaction is a little
like here tonight it’s laughter
ants hanging during four years
aa but how is it possible to
work on the ants during
four years the second kind of
reaction it’s ants it’s
true I am passionate about ants
since my childhood tells me even more
on the on the fake and the third of
kind of reactions that seems to me more the
more funny
it’s ants it’s true I’ve
full in my cooking how does that
I can exterminate them of course during
my during my doctoral thesis i
not study how to exterminate
ants what I actually studied
it’s the ant of the woods as we see
how can we see it on this on
this photo the ants of the woods actually
it’s these ants that form great
domed dome of conifers in the
mid-altitude forests in switzerland
among other things so these ants harvest
pieces of resin pieces
of spruce it’s a shame we see on the
photo we could see right down there but
it disappeared on display
so basically these ants are harvesting
pieces of spruce resin what
that they integrate into their colonies
and this resin is produced at the base
not connected by spices shares are
conifers
to fight against camps
pathogens so the resin has some
antibacterial properties and
antifungal is so in my thesis of
Ph.D.
we managed to show that this
this resin collection was a
medication behavior it’s up to
say that thanks to the resin the
ants can better fight against
bacterial and fungal infections
so is being being better
health
in a way it’s pretty
original in the sense that we know
medication behaviors
in birds in primates
but if the insects has been rarely
it was rarely documented so this
what I would like to tell you with that is
that in ants first thing
is that unity is strength
to be together we are stronger in fact
on the one hand but also on the other hand
living in a group makes it possible to
new behaviors like
medication to come up in conclusion
that’s the say the characteristics of the
group are more than the sum of
characteristics of each of
people
that’s it for the ants happily
during my ten years at university
I have not only I not only
studied ants I also had the
chance to discover
this then this crate is the world one
Borie Mount boris is a mountain and
tabular located in the north in the
north of mali is so during my thesis
I was approached by friends
botanist who interested
to this at this mountain for a
very special reason is that the
top of the mountain is difficult
accessible to human beings and so he
there is a particular biodiversity on
the on the top of the mountain compare
with the surroundings where there is the
human pressure related to harvesting the
firewood for example or related to
haouch havre who come who come
who come can be so my friends
botanists wanted to study this
biodiversity in the first objective of
to be able to protect her but
also also to create an offer of
eco-tourism in the region
can benefit the
populations to local populations
so it’s nice to want
studying biodiversity on a
tabular mountain in mali but still
should we go to the plateau
so that’s all you do not know everything a
it’s a whole excursion
build a group together with this
group of young students in Switzerland and
also with colleagues from
Malian colleagues so this is
first bomba to fly
until bamako the capital of mali
then to make a bus ride from a
day between bamako and the village
village of ambo laughs so buses to
African conditions
arrived in the village in the village
to hombori prepare the tour so
the idea was to stay a week
at the top to do some to make
samples of insects from plants and
so we prepared we had
plan to stay a week so
it was also about two teeth of the
food to bring water from
prepare the material for
samples etc etc then about
four hours of approaching walk for
to reach the foot of the cliff in
rather difficult conditions especially
especially of heat let’s say in this
region there that is the region
sahelian it is really hot
and then do the climb of the
cliff we had installed some sort of
via ferrata to get to
to the top so it was
conditions that I must say was very
very trying and his grace to the group
we were able to do it at
do it together
but basically that’s what it gives
when we arrive when we arrive at
Mountain peak
as you can see I had
adopted the
local clothing for the project for
protect from the sun
happily arrived at the top
what we discover is a view of the
summary just after right after the
rain with we see some goodies
like that and we see different
different other mountains your bubble
tabular yesterday off so for me
it was a youth adventure and
in the sense that it was in a group
that we managed to succeed in
make this trip and me it was me
showed a little that together we come to
to go further we come to go more
high somehow
so that’s when I finished my
doctorate my paper in pocket
what did I decide to do
I decided to change completely
professional management
in fact I wanted to move I had
want to find a job or where
I had a stronger impact on the on
people’s lives and so I got
directed to the area of
the humanitarian I postulated with the cicr
I applied for the cicr so I
spent six years on the field with with
the cicr
I imagine you know the cicr
it is a humanitarian organization
which aims to protect and
assist victims of armed conflict
so first I’d like to talk about
you talk about my experience with
doves so in certain situations
the cicr facilitates the release of
people retained by groups
armed in fact as an intermediary
neutral intermediate and so me
I was in an office in Medina so
in Colombia and we had been approached
by the family of a young engineer who
had been abducted by a group
armed in a northern mining region
beyond northern columbia
we were pretty old were ten years old we
was pretty close with this this
family we had tried a moment
given to do one of these to make a
release operation on mule back
in a very mountainous area of
Columbia so we were gone during
a week really in conditions
quite difficult enough actually we were
arrived in a finca lost in the
in the Colombian mountains where the
contact we had to meet was
not there in fact is so the only one at the
first mission had resulted in
a failure
which is always very difficult in
is to announce to the family that they
thought to find their beings
dear say after eighteen months of
separation
so that was quite difficult to
to share with them it turns out that
a few months later the group we
contact for
proceed with the release this time
here the information was really
credible and the release was not going
to be done put down other mules like
like the first as the first
test but by helicopter and so
happens the day of release this
that you have to know is that for
organize a liberation it’s all a
logistic operation but also not bad
pressure around this kind
of operation there is of course the family
but there is also the presidency of a
Colombia there are the police there are the
media that are there and so it’s
there is a lot of pressure building
little by little in the morning in the morning
the operation the first thing to do
it’s sticking dudu stickers from
the red cross on the helicopter
the idea is how will fly over
areas that are that are potentially
accounts linked by groups
armed the idea is that we recognize
helicopter that we do not take for
a helicopter from the police or
army
and of course to avoid making
to be ducked so we stick them
stickers and then we wait for the
formation on the part of the group
must send us the
radio GPS coordinates to find out
where should we go to 9
hours like that we get the years
receives the coordinates finally on
gets to make the contact we receive
the coordinates we fly with
the helicopter everybody lies in
the comments I send the
coordinates to the pilots and we fly
we arrive in 1 after 20 minutes of
flight about
we arrive in the appointment area this
that you have to know is that for a
helicopter land in the jungle there
need an area of 30 meters in diameter
and that is relatively flat for that
helicopters can land
no problem
so the group the armed group has to
signaled this area there with a
column of smoke or with or with
white sheets in fact so we can
see it from the sky so we
look we get to identify an area
we approach we see the net
smoke
we are trying to land alas the area has
not been very well chosen and so
the helicopter can not land
first and it’s a second try
in the end the pilot said good luck I have
said m I’ll leave the helicopter
almost lying on the ground
let the blades turn and you go
go down and you go down to
meet the person who is waiting for us
so I go down I approach and a
who is waiting for me with the face the
masked face
and who tells me this is not here the place of
meet you I have news
coordinates I have to climb into
the helicopter with you to go to
new place
I check that he is not armed
because they would not have the right to
being armed to ride in a
helicopter of the red cross and
so that’s not the case and so we go up
at the helicopter I transmit the
coordinates to the pilot – one but that
it’s not normal that I do not know
why does it go on alone so I
transmit the coordinates or to
pilots and we’re going to go to the
new to the new place there
it’s a lot easier the way
very short it is easy to find
the place we land I go down
the helicopter and I see a person
in front of me shaggy with a long
a shaggy young man with a long
beard waiting for me and who smiles and
salt and we are training the young engineer who
spent 18 months 18 months in the jungle
so it’s a first meeting
magical then we sit down with with the
armed group he is surrounded by a
dozen young men face
masked with their with their with their
kalachnikov and just the commander who
him is a face is a face
discovered so we made some
greetings from used cetera a check
health of leon tenderness for
make sure they can travel well
who can travel well with us and that’s
the departure we ride in the helicopter
we fly and there the pressure falls
first first moments of happiness
it’s the end of the ordeal 18 months of
Calvary for for the andrés
it is to live the freedom and the already
wow it’s a moment of intensity
unbelievable
we go to the aerodrome where
are waiting for the parents the helicopter has
landed leone andres goes down on the
tarmac
he sees his parents a little more
far he starts he walks then runs in
direction of his parents and and he falls
in the arms in the arms one of
the other and the wka second instants
of an intensity really really
incredibly well then everyone
cry me I’m crying
pilot pilots
helicopter crying the police
crying it’s really a moment
one of an intensity of an intensity
rare I would like to share with you these
pics
who are who are not very good
qualities because they have been
taken over the phone but who for me
really shows the beauty of this
this moment we see the names addresses of
face and both his parents back and for
me the first image is really the
pain of separation and
reunion the second picture is
the relief of being finally finally
together and finally happiness the
happiness to be with his family so me
I really felt let’s say
privileged to be able to participate from
power of being able to do
something for this race is for
this incredible event
now I would quickly like you
say two words about the work of the cicr in
prison so the cicr visit of the detainees
in prisons to monitor their
conditions of detention and their
condition of their conditions of
treatment actually I worked
a lot in there in afghanistan this
that cicr a condition sine qua none
for the cicr to make visits
it’s called in jargon
interviews and interviews without witnesses
that is, the cicr must be able to
to talk without the presence of
authorities and guards with the
prisoners so that they can
speak without fear of the problems that
can who can have and whatever
thing that really marked me is that
often in the work in lé
detention is a job that has
is difficult where there is a lot
of efforts not necessarily a lot
of impact there are a lot of needs but
the loner can not always do
big thing and but for cons for the
for the prisoners we meet on
just sit with them from
to share to listen to them is already
a huge added value even though
materially we can not do big
thing for them this this moment of
shares and already something that is
really who is really strong for me
I’m not going to tell you either that it’s
all the time and she had it that one
receives that flowers me I myself
recalls a detainee in Afghanistan
a former commander of a group
international jihadist I was visiting
in a regular way and so him
for half an hour his lands there
criticized your job
nothing to help you
distribute distribute it’s from the
bad quality
you even your work you do not know the
do etc etc etc and so during a
half an hour he criticized enormously
but after half an hour they
went away relaxed smile
lips and so that’s actually that’s what
I could wear him during
for seven during this interview
700 witnesses so here’s a conclusion
when what all these experiences
have led me to think is that being
human is a sociable being by nature
I really think it’s thanks to
group that the human being can can
actually rise
and when I say got up I do not think so
necessarily quite high in
helicopter or to climb on a
mountain to mali but I think rather
to really realize his potential is
in any case me in my experience I
know that it’s often thanks to the
strength of the group that I managed to
make sometimes decisions
difficult decisions I had to
take or find also the
motivation to try to change me
to become someone someone better
and it’s true that in today’s world
where there is a lot of fear where there is
a lot of people or finally we are often
a little in loss in loss of bearings where
we were going
populism who who goes up in
arrow
we tend to push back
refugees where migrants in the sea
rather than welcoming them to arms
open I think it’s our
responsibility to all to seek the
contact to create link and share
and it’s really at the same time
a happiness to trust the group
to receive the trust of the group
so at the same time we do good
to oneself and so in my opinion it is
one of the ways to build a world
better where everyone can
find his place and therefore my conclusion
it is
treat yourself and share thank you
a lot
[Applause]
[Music]
”
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