The Girl Who Silenced the U.N. for Five Minutes
July 1, 2008 | 3 Comments
This is an incredible video of a Canadian girl who spoke to the United Nations and left them completely silent and speechless for five minutes. Her name is Severn Suziki, and her speech was given at a U.N. assembly in Brazil when she was twelve years old. She had raised all the money to travel to the delegation, five thousand miles from her home, herself.Speaking about the hole in the ozone layer, pollution, the devastation of the forests and extinction of so many species, Severn charges that we adults have no idea how to fix these things, in fact can’t fix them, and that we must change our ways. “If you don’t know how to fix it, stop breaking it,” she pleads.
Severn continued to say:
“I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I’m only a child and I don’t have the solutions…but neither do you. I am only a child, but I know we are all part of a family five billion strong; in fact, 30 million species strong, and borders and governments will never change that.
Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share. We are afraid to let go of some of our wealth. Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent some time with children living in the streets. This is what one child told us:
‘I wish I was rich. And if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter, love and affection.’
If child on the streets who has nothing is willing to share - why are we, who have everything, still so greedy?
I am only a child, but I know if all the money spent on war was spent on finding environmental answers, ending poverty, and finding treaties - what a wonderful place this world would be.”
And here’s the kicker - this speech was given in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. How much is still relevant today? All of it. And the more important question is: How much has been changed, accomplished, since Severn spoke that day?
Years later, Severn wrote a piece for Time magazine in which she said: “I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur action. Now, a decade from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken…In the 10 years since Rio, I have learned that addressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, ‘We must become the change we want to see.’ I know change is possible.”
At the age of nine, Severn founded the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), a group of children dedicated to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. Today, Severn is an environmental activist, speaker, television host and author. She has spoken around the world about environmental issues, urging listeners to define their values, act with the future in mind, and take individual responsibility.
She co-hosted Suzuki’s Nature Quest, a children’s television series that aired on the Discovery Channel in 2002. In early 2002, she helped launch an Internet-based think tank called The Skyfish Project. As a member of Kofi Annan’s Special Advisory Panel, she and members of the Skyfish Project brought their first project, a pledge called the “Recognition of Responsibility”, to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August 2002.
Click here to watch the video and hear her incredible speech.
June 20, World Refugee Day
June 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
UNHCR celebrates World Refugee Day 2008:
“On June 20, we celebrate World Refugee Day. This year, events around the world will focus on the fundamental need for protection. For some, this means economic security; for others, protection is freedom from violence and persecution. On World Refugee Day, we will turn our attention to the millions of refugees who live without material, social and legal protection.”
To learn more about UNHCR and see what you can do, check out their DONATE page and see how your small change can make a difference.
June 6, 2008 Weekend Challenge… Challenge Yourself
June 6, 2008 | 1 Comment
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I hope it is not stressful. I hope you can take a moment and take a deep breathe outside and stop for one moment and say to yourself, “I am happy to be alive and I am exactly where I am suppose to be.”
I want you to contemplate about the trials and tribulations that God, the Universe, The Greater Power, whatever you believe in, has placed on you, and it is happening right now for a reason. Do not ask, “Why is this happening to me?” but “What can I learn from it?”
I am a believer that things happen for a reason.
People come in and out of our lives to teach us something about ourselves. Problems that occur in our lives are happening to teach or reteach us the things that we have not, or have refused to learn.
That is how life works. If the same hard times keep happening to us, it is because we have not learned the lesson from it yet. Let us take this opportunity to be aware, to learn, to grow and become the people we want to be.
I am done with hoping to do things.
Today, I will step outside. I will take a deep breathe. I will look into the sky and know that I am the one who put limitations on myself. I am my own worst enemy. I will then close my eyes, smile and look up into the bright blue sky and know that my truth is, “the sky is my limit.” I have no boundaries to the things that are possible. I have no limitations. I challenge you to break those limitations. I challenge you to start thinking differently.
My life has just begun. How about yours?
Fresh Bread
May 19, 2008 | 1 Comment
It is interesting to me how the whole “green lifestyle” thing can grab you and take you places you never thought you’d be.
For example. two years ago, after I decided I wanted to consciously do things to help the environment, I did things like change lightbulbs, be even more cautious about saving water and recycle more. I didn’t let myself stop there. I read books and studied newspaper articles and did web research. By last summer, I had started a vegetable garden in the backyard. This year, I am baking my own bread.
I thought that lightbulbs would be enough.
To me, if you’re really researching and thinking about living green and fully trying to understand the impact of how we currently live our lives, you can’t help but want to run into the hills and just start over. Now I’m researching how landfills work and realizing that we are mummifying tons of trash each week on a planet with limited space. And we are feeding ourselves and our children food grown with chemicals and processed with chemicals and packaged with chemicals that are not only bad for the environment, but for our whole bodies - our brains and our reproductive systems. What else is more important to a human than the ability to think and reproduce?
About a month ago I had asked my 5-year old son to tell Daddy that Mommy wanted an ice-cream maker for Mother’s Day. It was an experiment to see if I could channel my desires through my child straight to the other purchasing power in the family in order to get what I wanted instead of the same gift he’s given me every special occasion for many years! It worked - I got the ice-cream maker. I also got a bread machine.
The ice-cream maker is still sitting in it’s box.
I am currently waiting for the 5th loaf since last Sunday to finish baking. We’ve enjoyed French Bread, Potato Bread, Hawaiian Bread, Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread and tomorrow - Maple Buttermilk Bread. It is fresh, chemical and preservative free. It wasn’t packaged in plastic or shipped on a truck. No - I don’t live on a farm and Yes - the ingredients were packaged and shipped, but in much more environmental ways than grocery-store bread. The organic flour
companies tend to use more recycled content packaging than the more commercial brands. And the ingredients use much less packaging than the 2-3 loaves of grocery-store bread I used to purchase each week.
I made a point of not purchasing bread this week - I wanted us (and me) to have no other option but to make bread. And it went well. All week, I approached each day eager to look through the bread machine recipe book and choose something new. It was fun. And bread machines are so easy. You basically load the ingredients into the loaf bucket, put it in the machine, choose your bread cycle and press Start. It really is that easy - and the cleanup is great. Just some measuring cups/spoons and a little spilled flour from the countertop.
The best part is the smell and taste of fresh, warm bread. And this old-fashioned feeling that I am doing something right.
May 9, 2008 Weekend Challenge
May 9, 2008 | 1 Comment
Sunday is Mother’s Day, and my challenge for you is to reach out to the Mom’s you love. Reach out to all the special women in your life that have made an impact on you.
For me, I am going to do something a little different this year.
This year, I am going to be sending a special ecard. Women for Women International is doing something amazing. When you go to their Mother’s Day homepage, you can read about Elizabeth and her story of triumph, and you can also send a special ecard to your favorite Mom that can help change the life of a Mother who is a survivor of war. On the website they explain it best…
“Your Mother’s Day Donation Makes 3 Women Happy.
You get the gratification of knowing you’re helping a woman survivor of war, the woman you honor feels the special joy of being loved and a woman who lives half a world away gets the tools she needs to build a better life.”
I’m not sure if it can get better than that. So grab your credit card, head on over to Women For Women International’s Mother’s Day page and make three women happy with a click of a button. This challenge, you can’t pass up!
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
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