If Paris, France could talk I’d imagine  it would have plenty to say.  I would expect nothing less than countless stories corraborating its history, its glamour and its prestige. As one of the most famous cities on earth I truly expected to see the “green” revolution in full effect amongst the community. Although it didn’t seem to be as openly embraced as in Barcelona or Lisboa, beneath the surface the Parisians were indeed making things happen.

The first thing that caught my attention happened right down the street from where I was staying. The neighborhood homeless had already become familiar to me as I passed them each day giving them some of whatever I had to eat at the time. But one day, they were already eating. As I watched from the other side of the street, two young women wearing what seemed like traffic control uniforms, pulled hot meals from their car and provided them with food, drink and company. I snuck over to the car and snapped a photo of their signage. It felt really good to see familiar smiles being shared with others and sharing the opportunity to help, feed and care for the community felt even better.

The next surprise blew my social entrepreneurial mind. Since I learned that behind the scenes of Paris was where all the do gooders were hiding, I decided to do a little online research and discover what other good things were happening amongst the mopeds, fashion and cafes. Even though I cannot necessarily read French, I did recognize the word Ashoka. As the universe would have it, I was one day away from Paris’ first gathering held and run by Ashoka called “Parlons Solutions“ ( “Let’s talk Solutions” ). It  would be the first of monthly meetings, each month targeting a different issue prominent in the area and including organizations and fellowships dedicated to providing a solution. This meeting that I had the honor of attending was to help the large community of deaf citizensto live and excel in the tough city of Paris.

With an open door policy, Ashoka: Paris invites anyone who wants to learn, contribute or embark on the path towards social innovation. As I sat in the chic setting of antique clocks and furniture, I relished in the experience of global social entrepreneurship happening right in front of me. Even though, I couldn’t understand a word of what these people were saying, I could hear the familar tones of ambition, determination and compassion. My host and good friend joined me as my translator. He was always so enthralled in the conversation that I had to continually remind him to loop me in on what was going on. By providing a round table setting and allowing 2 of their fellowed members to share their project’s goals, the community of listeners were able to ask questions, learn about the cause and contribute in any way they could.

At the end of an amazing discussion, presentation and Q&A, I circled the room with my translator for interviews. One of the fellowed members and presenters of the evening, Founder of  Signs of Meaning Houriez Simon, was more than willing to share his story with me. Having never known anyone who was hearing impaired, this social entrepreneur was inspired to create change when he attended a theatrical performance one evening and the main performer was deaf. In that moment he felt the overwhelming need to help those who shared her handicap to have the same opportunities and abilities to express themselves. I was able to get Houriez, one-on-one on camera, where he delves into how he wants to move forward with his organization, his project and his mission. Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/acenethtv#p/f/4/6iOECxL55Pc .

My second interview was with the evening’s host and Ashoka: Paris representative, Arnoud Mourot. It was in our conversation that I understood why “solutions for the hearing impaired” was chosen for the first of these meetings. He educated me on how approximately 2 million people in France were deaf and amongst those 2 million, 20% were completely illiterate. Arnoud was excited to have seen the turnout for this first event as well as inspired by the connections and change occuring all around him. He made sure I knew about the next session, which would revolve around bringing heatlhy foods to underprivileged households, and that the solutions would continue to happen every month moving forward. The individuals in the very room I was in would be bringing video guides for the deaf  to museums all over Paris and possibly all over the world one day. The next group of individuals could be bringing organics meals to working class families all over Paris and so on and so forth. Just imagine the potential.

After all of my burning questions were answered, the questions were turned onto me. The local paper interviewed yours truly for a report on the types of individuals that attended these meetings. That was easy to answer: changemakers, problem solvers, social entrepreneurs, people who talk solutions and people who are destined to make good things happen. It seemed that Paris was full of them all of along.

To see clips of “Parlons Solutions/Let’s Talk Solutions” visit:

http://www.youtube.com/acenethtv#p/a/u/2/R1JaWDEyY74

For more on any of the above, check out the below sites:

www.ashoka.org

http://www.ashoka.asso.fr/

http://www.signesdesens.org/-English-version-.html

www.youtube.com/acenethtv