Barbara Dietrich: “We Will Heal the World in Unity”

Barbara Dietrich is an amazing person who is in constant movement and always charges people around with her energy and love for people. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Diplomatic World Magazine and co-founder of Peace 50 community. Ms. Dietrich can be rightly called a person of the world, because she spends all her time travelling, communicating with people from worldwide. Despite Barbara Dietrich has to change her way of life due to the current situation of global isolation and pandemic, she still continues to transmit such values as creativity, unity, and harmony to the world. Ms. Dietrich shared her view of the impact of the new virus on humanity with journalists of our news agency.

Barbara Dietrich Editor-in-Chief of Diplomatic World Magazine, co-founder of Peace 50 community

Diplomatic World Magazine is not only a media but also a peculiar tool of preservation of peace. The magazine publishes articles about latest world and European diplomatic trends. It pays special attention to cultural diplomacy, diplomatic economy, business, art, and healthcare. 

Barbara Dietrich, Editor-in-Chief of Diplomatic World, personally knows many top officials from Europe and all over the world. Within interviews for her magazine, she speaks with them about human values, global communication, and development of the world. These issues occupy an important place in her own life and professional position. 

– Barbara, how has your life changed in the context of the pandemic? 

– Before the pandemic, as a rule, I travelled a lot. I usually stayed at home for only a couple of days, and then I was on the road again. 

I was expected to fly to Maldives to the meeting with their President, the Minister of Culture, and the Minister of Economy in late March. My goal was to show the world another Maldives, not the one perceived under the influence of stereotypes. 

For instance, Maldives are perceived as an expensive and exclusive resort. As a rule, none of the country’s tourists pay attention to the actual agricultural, environmental, and economical challenges of the place. My idea was to demonstrate the solution oriented thinking of the Maldivians to the world. 

I believe that my global mission is to disrupt the conservative and inflexible stereotypes towards many countries. I want to show the world both the unique opportunities and the natural beauty of these wonderful places. 

Regrettably, the pandemic made me to make an unwanted break on my mission. I have stayed at home for two weeks now. But this is definitely not stopping me. I have discovered a number of new opportunities, started using digital and technological tools more in order to communicate remotely with interesting people from different countries. 

– Did the articles of your magazine change somehow? What information, in your opinion, is it necessary to transmit in the media space? 

– There is an increasing amount of negative and frightening information in the media today. Our magazine is different from other media in this respect. Articles in Diplomatic World are informative and relevant. They not only reflect the reality but also look for the solutions of the existing problems. 

Now, during the times of the pandemic, I am more aware of our responsibility. That is why I started the Message of Hope and Solidarity series. 

The first message of hope and solidarity was from the Titular Grand Duke of Tuscany. There was a very unfavorable situation in Italy and I felt we had to do something for this country: to give a positive message to the Italian people and then to the whole world. 

Then our Queen Mathilde of Belgium appealed to the residents of our country with her words of support. She paid special attention to young people. 

Within her message, Swati Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, expressed a very strong statement about refocusing on people’s roots and recognizing their strength and unity. 

I believe, we have to free people from their loneliness and despair. We need to be with them, we need to be really interested in their worries and needs, and we need to find proper words for them. 

– Today, in the context of self-isolation, many people try to analyze the situation in the world. What do you think about the pandemic? How it influences people and the world? 

– From one moment to the next, the world changed completely. What used to be unimportant is now next to our heart. 

We used to be annoyed about the truck drivers on the highway. Many people used to ignore service personnel and neglect what and who had filled our daily lives. 

Now we recognize the importance of those people thanks to whom life-supporting organisations and structures work. Those people work to ensure that the life around us continues and is comfortable. 

The main heroes of today are doctors. Their wages are, as a rule, small. However, the nurses and doctors are sacrificing their health and even lives for us today. They could have chosen a different craft, but they chose to help us and be there for us. 

The time has come to express our great respect and gratitude to medical workers and those who work in the context of the pandemic both now and after the end of the current challenges. 

I believe, we need to rethink our life values. We need to focus on what is really important. We need to push the reset button, look back at the world where we live now, and compare it to the world where we really want to live in. 

– Many people now live with fear and anxiety. You are a wise woman with highly developed spiritual culture. What advice would you share with society? How to preserve calmness and harmony in the soul in this difficult time? 

– We don't need to be afraid. Fear paralyzes us and only obscures our eyes. 

Today, it is much more important to pay attention to relations among people and nations and recognize how much we need one another. We will heal the world in unity. 

People have different level of spiritual development. That is why we perceive these challenging times differently. We are different and there is nothing bad in that. People who are morally stronger are always ready to help and assist those who are weaker. 

Today, everybody irrespective of his or her spiritual development level, wisdom, and field of activity can help those who tend to fear more than he or she does. It is enough to be with them and share your sincere love to the world and people around. This calms people down. 

Yes, we have to face the pandemic and crisis. But humanity has survived events of totally different range. We can get out of this crisis stronger than when we entered it. 

– How to avoid the feeling of loneliness when being isolated from society? 

– I felt lost the first days of self-isolation. But then I followed the example of my friends who shared the way they spent their time in publications on social networks. 

The first I did was arranging my home office, which I never had before. It turned out very useful for proper concentration of my attention. 

I started doing things I had had no time for before. Many simple things make us happier but we often forget about that when being immersed in daily routine. I enjoyed getting back to cooking long forgotten dishes. 

My friends and I regularly exchange the stories about our lives on self-isolation. It is wonderful: I am alone, and at the same time I am not alone. I am connected to the whole world. 

It is of the utmost importance to be with each other and just simply to communicate with each other, get interested in the problems and issues of others. 

It is very much up to us if we want to feel lonely or not. Call to the people you feel that you have to speak with. 

– They say that women are the ‘health of the world’. In your opinion, what is the role of women in addressing today’s global problems? 

– As mothers and keepers of the family hearth, women take care not only of themselves but also of their close people. Some successful women including Peace 50 participants focus their efforts on taking care of a wider circle of people. They fulfil social and charity projects helping the needy. 

Peace 50 community participants are women contributing to the creation of peaceful environment, establishment of intercultural bridges, and horizontal communication. 

The story of Peace 50 started with the meeting of two women, one from Russia and one from Belgium. They were Marina Volynkina, Head of the Global Women Media news agency, and me, Barbara Dietrich. We spoke different languages but felt at first sight that we were spiritually close to each other and wanted the same: peace. 

Today, all countries faced a serious problem. Peace 50 community on its own example demonstrates one simple truth: East or West, North or South – it does not matter, because we all live on the same planet and our main goal is to save the world and maintain peace. 

The world needs compassion, solidarity, responsibility, and hope. Those are key qualities uniting P50 participants. Those values are important for everybody today. We all live under one sky and the world is in our hands. 

Viktoria Yezhova,
Global Women Media news agency

Translated by Nikolay Gavrilov

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