Celebrating 10 years: PALs welcomes Laura, Barbara Bush

As the Heidelberg University Patricia Adams Lecture Series reaches the 10-year mark — campus celebrated by welcoming a former first lady and former first daughter. Laura Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush spent the day talking with students and faculty and each delivered a keynote address. Laura presented "Life in the White House and the Importance of Education," where she spent time talking about her family and living with and being married to the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush. Laura reflected on her father and mother passing and her father-in-law and mother-in-law, George H. Bush (the 41st president of the United States) and former first lady herself Barbara Bush, who died last year. "George's parents showed us how to grow and age with grace," Laura said. "I learned from them that all we have is now." During her time in the White House, Laura said she had to discover what identity she would have as a first lady. When asked what first lady she would like to emulate, she simply said — "I would just be Laura Bush. She was who I knew since I grew up being her." One thing she did believe and work hard to achieve as First Lady was that every child deserves to have a quality education, safety and a healthy childhood. "Literacy is an essential foundation of our democracy," Laura continued. "Reading was not just a cause I selected as a First lady, but is a guiding passion of my life. If every child is educated, we would have a more stable and prosperous country." As a teacher in an inner city school, Laura said she was not prepared for the poverty she witnessed. For instance, Laura reflected on a time she took a group of students to Six Flags AstroWorld. One young boy came to the door in just his underwear and his mother did not come to the door to give him permission to go with his classmates. "Not all stories end in triumph," Laura said. "I have the haunting memory of that young boy who did not get to go to AstroWorld. I‚Äôve wondered what happened to him." Laura challenged the audience to never forget that boy. "Young children need us in their lives," Laura said. "They need to know they are valued. The choices we make now are the ones that shape our world for the next generation." Today, as the Chair of the Women's Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute, Laura continues her work on global healthcare innovations, empowering women in emerging democracies, education reform, and supporting the men and women who have served in America‚Äôs military. Barbara is Co-Founder and Board Chair of Global Health Corps, which mobilizes a global community of young leaders to build the movement for health equity. Barbara presented "One Person Can Make a Difference: Confronting Today's Global Health" discussing her work with Global Health Corps. During a break from college, Barbara talked about being able to travel overseas with her parents. While at the age of 21, Barbara said it was harrowing to see people waiting in the streets for medicine that is readily available in the U.S. Seeing a sick child, Barbara said she felt luck she was born in a family where she was able to earn an education and was born healthy. "This child was just born at the wrong place, at the wrong time," Barbara said. "Where people are born should not dictate their care." Coming back home, Barbara then knew she wanted to pursue an education and career involved with global health issues. GHC was founded in 2009 by six twenty-somethings who were challenged by Peter Piot at the aids2031 Young Leaders Summit to engage their generation in solving the world‚Äôs biggest health challenges. Since that time, GHC has placed nearly 1,000 young leaders on the front lines of health equity in Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and the United States, developing a cadre of creative, effective and compassionate change makers. While in Malawi, Barbara said a program was developed to assist in helping pregnant women who were positive for HIV, have babies born with an HIV negative status. That program resulted in 7,000 babies born with a negative HIV result. "That is 7,000 mothers, babies and families whose lives are different today," Barbara said. With that program, Malawi is on the track of becoming AIDS free by 2020. "The biggest obstacle today is that fighting these types of social issues require different ways of thinking," Barbara said. "Within 20 years there will be different dramatically important social issues that will need radical new leaders that are in universities like Heidelberg now. Leaders who look like many of you."