Dr. Tom named Maria Shriver’s Architect of Change

"...the source of most of our conflicts is the idea that one person’s life is more valuable than someone else’s.”

Dr. Tom was chosen by Maria Shriver as this week’s Architect of Change, which profiles leaders who inspire others to make a difference.

In the interview, Dr. Tom speaks about the experience of living through constant bombings. “Our lives were unimportant and the government was telling us in a very visceral way that our lives didn’t matter. This brought home the point that the source of most of our conflicts is the idea that one person’s life is more valuable than someone else’s.”

Yet in the midst of all of this, the Nuba people still manage to persevere. “We have tens of thousands of internally displaced people from the conflict here and most of them are living in makeshift shelters and under trees. They’ll walk for six hours to reach us for their treatment. Many are pregnant women who make the long trek here, wait all day to be seen and get an ultrasound of their baby. They come into my office quietly and just want to know if the baby is okay and whether it’s a boy or girl. They never ask for anything or complain about their situation. They’re just happy they had a chance to see their baby. Then they turn around and start the six-hour walk back to their temporary shelters.”

Read the full interview on her website.