Age Is Just A Number

Hey Yo!
Today, I bring you quite a speech. Delivered by a 13 year girl, you would think it was scam but as I watched her, I had to admit; I was getting too old. Time isn’t on my side anymore if I’m to make an impact on the world. If a 13 year old child could make the world leaders in her time pause to think, you are not too young to effect a change in any sector of life you deem fit.

So below this is her speech, I hope it inspires you as it did me. But most of all, I hope you get motivated to start on the road to making a change.
Bless you.
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UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
Rio de Janerio 3-14, June 1992

 

Hello, I’m Sverri Suzuki speaking for ECO, the environmental children’s organization.
We are a group of 12 and 13 year olds trying to make a difference; Vanessa Suthe, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We’ve raised all the money to come here ourselves, from 5000miles to tell you adults you must change your ways.

Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda; I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have no where left to go.

I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in our ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don’t know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver, my home with my dad until just a few years ago; we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear of animals and plants going extinct every day, vanishing forever. In my life, I have dreamt of seeing great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests full of birds and butterflies but now I wonder if they would even exist for my children to see.

Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I’m only a child and I don’t have all the solutions but I know I want you to realize; neither do you. You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer, you don’t know how to bring the salmon back up in a dead stream, you don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct and you can’t bring back the forest that once grew where there is now a desert.

If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it. Here, you may be delegates of your government, business people, organizers, reporters or politicians but really, you’re mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of you are someone’s child. I’m only a child and yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong, in fact 30 million species strong and borders and governments would never change that. I’m a child and yet I know we are in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal.

In my anger, I am not blind and in my fear, I am not afraid of telling the world; this is how I feel.
In my country, there is so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and throw away,… buy and throw away and northern countries would not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share, we are afraid to let go of some of our wealth.

In Canada, we live the privileged life with plenty of food, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets. The list can go on for two days. Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent time with some children living on the street. This is what one child told us; I wish I was rich and if I were, I would give all these street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter and love and affection.
If a child on the street who has nothing is willing to share, why are we who have everything still so greedy? I can’t stop thinking that this are children my own age that it makes a tremendous difference where we were born. That I could be one of those children living in the favela of Rio, I could be a child starving in Somalia or a victim of war in the Middle East, or a beggar in India.

I am only a child, yet I know if all the money spent on war is spent on finding environmental answers, ending poverty and finding treaties, what a wonderful place this earth would be!
At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us to not fight with others, to work things out, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share and not to be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?
Do not forget why you’re attending these conferences, who you’re doing this for, we are your own children. You are deciding what kind of the world we’re growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying; “Everything is going to be all right…” It’s not the end of the world and we are doing the best we can” But I don’t think you can say that to us anymore, are we even on your list of priorities?

My dad always says; “You are what you do not what you say”. Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grownups say you love us but I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words.

Thank You.

 

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Wow right?! 13 years old…?
Exactly what I thought but then every bit of it is true. A young girl made the world (Leaders) stop to think. You can do the same. You are not too young, never forget that. Still on the young people being badass, I read something a pretty young lady wrote some days back and I was deeply impressed. Hey *****, I hope you’re reading this now you don’t be like me… never stop writing.
Thanks for viewing and reading the post. If you do have anything to share; an Idea, an article, a message of hope, anything, do send them in. I would be happy to put them up.
Wait!
I bring you something new on Monday. I was bored and I decided to bring a nursery rhyme character into life. I hope you like what I came up with. You’ll get to see it on Monday.
Till then, Good day and God bless.

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Thank you for Reading.

Mike Dammy