The Hummingbird's Call: Bringing Our Own Drops to the Fires of the World

A season finale about three things any of us can do today to be the change we want to see in the world.

There is a legend about a hummingbird. The forest is on fire. The large animals stand at the edge, watching, paralysed by the scale of what they see. The tiny hummingbird flies back and forth to the stream, carrying one drop of water at a time. When the other animals tell her it's pointless — that she can't possibly make a difference — she says: I'm doing the best I can.

Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told that story as a call to action. Not a call to solve everything. A call to start. To carry your drop. To refuse the paralysis that comes from believing the fire is too big and you are too small.

That legend is the heart of this podcast. And this finale is its first season's answer.

Over the course of Season 1 — Stories in Motion — five guests shared their drops of water across conflict, displacement, and circumstances that should have stopped them. Each episode ended with the same question: what is one thing any of us can do today? This finale sits with what all of those answers had in common. What they gave us — collectively, across five very different lives — are three practices. Not theories. Not aspirations. Things you can start today, in your family, your workplace, your community, wherever the fire is closest to you. The hummingbird doesn't put out the fire alone. But the hummingbird starts. And that single drop is what makes it possible for others to start too.

💧 The three Be The Change actions

Listen to understand. Not to respond. Not to fix. Not to offer. Listen to why people say what they say.

Look for what we share. We live in a world that is very good at showing us what divides us. Looking for what unites us instead is a choice. A daily practice. And it is possible.

Just start. Start talking about something when no one else is. That is all. Make it acceptable for others to do the same. You do not need permission. You do not need certainty. You just need your drop.

🔗 Links & resources

• The Hummingbird Collective:thehummingbirdcollective.org

• Season 1 episodes: thehummingbirdcollective.org/episodes

• Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation:caux.ch

👤 About the host

Sarah Noble is Head of Global Engagement, Creative Peacebuilding and Inner Development at the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation. The Hummingbird Collective is her answer to the voice that says: what could I possibly do?

📋 Share your reflection

Five questions. Your responses help us understand what's shifting — and make the case for more stories like this one. 👉https://forms.gle/mf8MVX3cUsqYECrL9

💧 Join the conversation

Which drop did you carry this season? Share it: #HummingbirdCollective

The Hummingbird Collective is co-produced by the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, supported through Sarah Noble's participation in the Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme (2025–2026). Guests speak from their own experience and perspective, which may not reflect the views of the show or its partners.

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