{"id":36935,"date":"2025-05-30T16:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/?p=36935"},"modified":"2025-08-21T16:32:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T07:32:28","slug":"%e5%8f%82%e5%8a%a0%e8%80%85%e3%83%ac%e3%83%9d%e3%83%bc%e3%83%88-17-2-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/news-en\/2025\/05\/30\/36935\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow Down: Paul Salopek\u2019s Message to a Fast World Out of Eden Walk ICC Talk Session Participant Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
Martin MARDJUKI<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n
MBA, Graduate School of Business and Finance<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n

Paul Salopek arrived in Japan and greeted us at Waseda University with stories from his ten-year journey after traveling on foot from Ethiopia. Why, one may wonder, did Paul Salopek decide to take the slowest way to travel\u2014on foot? His answer was simple yet profound: \u201cTo slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Paul Salopek\u2019s route from Ethiopia to Japan and the upcoming walks Retrieved from: https:\/\/outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.org<\/p><\/div>\n

After spending nine years in fast journalism, Paul realised the true meaning of \u201cbad news is good news.\u201d Disasters most often herald the front page of newspapers, training our minds to expect the worst every time we read the news. \u201cImagine a village of 100 houses,\u201d he said. \u201cIf one house is on fire, guess what makes the headline? The fire.\u201d But what about the other 99 good stories that might have happened in the remaining houses? To show the world those other 99 stories, he launched a storytelling project named Out of Eden Walk<\/em>, in which he uncovers silent stories rarely covered in global headlines\u2014hoping to connect more deeply with the world\u2019s overlooked voices, one step at a time.<\/p>\n

\"Paul

Photo by John Stanmeyer\/National Geographic<\/p><\/div>\n

Through this method of \u201cslow journalism,\u201d Salopek has uncovered profound, human-centered stories. While global headlines in April 2025 were dominated by Trump\u2019s new tariffs or the death of Pope Francis, Paul brought quieter but equally vital stories to the Waseda audience. One such story began in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. A photo he shared showed African children guiding him through the desert, smiling while holding machine guns. These weapons, remnants of Cold War-era conflicts, are carried not for violence but for protection\u2014against rival herders competing for scarce water sources. Instead of highlighting poverty or violence, Paul shared what the children taught him: how to survive in a harsh, changing climate\u2014\u201ctravel light.\u201d It was a powerful lesson in distinguishing between needs and wants in the age of consumerism.<\/p>\n

Have you seen this kind of news in the global headlines? This kind of story can only be obtained by slowing down and actually spending time to sincerely get to know another person\u2019s point of view. \u201cWhen was the last time you spent hours or days really getting to know someone?\u201d Paul challenged us. Technology has made communication instant but shallow. We swipe, scroll, and skim\u2014often relying on stereotypes rather than genuine curiosity. Paul urged us to take the time to connect, to truly talk and listen. In an era where older generations still gather to talk, many young people don\u2019t even know how to start a conversation. But Paul offered a simple remedy: start with these three universal questions\u2014\u201cWho are you?\u201d \u201cWhere are you from?\u201d \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d Then, keep going. Keep asking. Keep listening.<\/p>\n

Through his walk and words, Paul Salopek reminded us of something we\u2019re quick to forget: the world is full of quiet stories waiting to be heard. But to truly hear them, slow down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin MARDJUKI\u00a0 MBA, Graduate School of Business and Finance Paul Salopek arrived in Japan and greeted us at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,97],"tags":[116],"class_list":["post-36935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-other-en","tag-event-report-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38069,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36935\/revisions\/38069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}