So I read to my daughter the way I had been read to, eclectically but faithfully. As she got older, we talked about the exploits of Frog and Toad, and Junie B Jones, and the Pevensies almost as often as we talked about her friends from school. As soon as she could write the letters of her name, she got her own library card and started to add her selections to the pile. And last year, when we started to read J R R Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit (1937) together, she listened patiently to the first two chapters. Then she told me, matter-of-factly, that Bilbo Baggins was a girl.
Well, I said. That would be nice. But Bilbo is definitely a boy.
No, she said. Bilbo is a girl.
I hesitated. I wanted to share the story I knew, and I had always known Bilbo as a boy. But it seemed that my daughter knew otherwise. I soon agreed to swap ‘she’ with ‘he’ and ‘her’ with ‘his’, and my daughter and I met Girl Bilbo – who turned out to be a delightful heroine. She was humble and resourceful and witty and brave. She was no tacked-on Strong Female Character with little to do, but a true heroine with her very own quest and skills. For my daughter, Girl Bilbo was thrilling. For me, she was damn refreshing.
When I wrote about this experiment in literary gender-swapping for the Last Word On Nothing website last year, the public response to Girl Bilbo was startling. My daughter had ‘brought the internet’s Tolkien fanboys to their Mithril-padded knees’, in the words of one commenter. Girl Bilbo and her implications, I knew through comments and emails, were discussed at length in science-fiction circles, parenting groups, Head Start classes, and among Swedish devotees of role-playing games.
While many of these readers were enthusiastic about my daughter’s idea, a sizable minority thought I was indulging heresy. Leave the classics alone, they said. If you want stories with more female characters, some suggested, write them yourself. But my daughter didn’t create Girl Bilbo, and neither did I. She has deep roots, and she isn’t going away anytime soon.
Every story – fiction or non-fiction – leaves room for the next writer, the next era, the next leap of imagination or understanding. ‘When we tell a story, we exercise control, but in such a way to leave a gap, an opening,’ wrote the English novelist Jeanette Winterson in her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (2011). ‘It is a version, but never the final one. And perhaps we hope that the silences will be heard by someone else, and the story can continue, can be retold.’
In modern fan fiction (or fanfic), familiar characters are set loose in different time periods, different stories, different relationships, different genders, and even different species. Fancy Harry Potter as a werewolf? Sherlock Holmes in the TARDIS? Then there’s a fanfic for you – in fact, likely thousands of them. And while fanfic writers do re-imagine TV shows, movies, comics, and even celebrities’ private lives, books remain among their most popular and enduring inspirations. Perhaps it’s because books leave the visuals to the imaginations of their readers: without canonical images, reinvention is even more tempting, and more satisfying.
Fanfic might sound like an adolescent distraction – and it surely is at times – but for its creators, it’s far more than entertainment. In October 2013, the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), a US advocacy group with a large online archive of fanfiction, submitted a lengthy defence of non-commercial use of copyrighted works to the US Patent Office. Amid its legal arguments are some notably moving testimonies from fanfic writers, for example: ‘Fanfiction is the supportive, creative space for blacks who after seeing a movie in which all the main characters are white, think, “I would do it differently, and here’s how.” Fanfiction is for the girls who read a comic book in which the heroes are all men, and imagines herself as Captain America.’
Fan fiction gained notoriety after the publication of Fifty Shades of Grey (2011), E L James’s soft-porn bestseller loosely based on characters from Stephanie Meyer’s vampire series Twilight (2005-08), and fanfic might still be best known for its frequent and inventive smuttiness. But the creation and consumption of sexy stories can have its own higher purpose, especially for fans who don’t see their own sexualities represented in mass media. ‘Fanworks were and are vitally important to my acceptance of my queer sexuality,’ one fan testifies in the OTW letter to the US Patent Office. ‘If they were to be made unavailable, queer youth would lose a source of support in an often still shockingly hostile world.’
Fan fiction is also known for, shall we say, its wildly varied quality. But many a writer has learned to write by imitation, and all of us have gotten better only with practice. Fanfic writers are simply brave – or reckless – enough to publish their first drafts, and learn from other fans’ critiques.
The scholars Sauerberg and Pettitt suggest that the digital age has closed a ‘Gutenberg Parenthesis’ – an idea that is itself a remix of the concepts in Marshall McLuhan’s book The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962). In the digital age, they say, the authoritative power of books is diluted, and our writing has acquired some of the ‘fluidity of orality’ that existed before the printing press.
So since Gutenberg, at least, our stories have had a dual nature. We’ve known them both as continuous waves of tellings and retellings, and as the far more manageable particles between the covers of books and magazines. The boundaries between those two states are troubled and getting more so, and they’re raising increasingly complex legal questions. But we need both kinds of stories, perhaps now more than ever.
When I first wrote about my daughter’s Hobbit genderswap, many people said that fanfiction writers were way ahead of us, and so they were: Female Bilbo is a familiar fanfic character. My daughter isn’t the first reader who’s wondered what would happen if a girl stepped into Tolkien’s wonderful, timeless story, and I hope she’s far from the last.
My daughter can and does relate to characters – and real people – of different genders, different races, and different cultures. Stories will help her continue to do so. One of the wonderful things about fiction, after all, is that it allows us to use our imaginations to inhabit very different lives, and develop empathy for those who live them.
But children at my daughter’s developmental stage identify most strongly with their own gender, and reading about girls who have epic adventures has helped my daughter expand her own possible futures.
I know this: I can see it in the games she plays, and the stories she tells. As with the fanfic writers who find personal validation in their creations, Girl Bilbo has helped my daughter imagine the person she will become.
As a parent, literary genderswapping – and other kinds of narrative reinvention – have made it possible to share some of my very favourite stories with my daughter. Sure, I could try my hand at writing new books with female characters, as some of my critics have suggested, but my efforts could never replace those of Lloyd Alexander, or Mark Twain, or any of the other geniuses that wrote so well for children of other generations. Though they wrote in times when it was difficult to imagine central roles for girls, their stories still deserve telling, and genderswapping allows us to do so with all the joy and none of the old-fashioned stereotypes. Since my daughter and I read The Hobbit, we’ve swapped many characters in many classic children’s books. My daughter knows the originals are different – I’m a firm believer in full-disclosure remixing – and some day, I hope, she’ll read and treasure those books herself. But when she does, she’ll know an alternative version is possible, too.
For me, the most fascinating part of literary genderswapping is its illumination of my own assumptions. Not long ago, my daughter and I read an Ursula K Le Guin novel with a young male hero. When we switched the pronouns, I found myself pleasantly but repeatedly surprised by our heroine’s independence. She journeyed alone, building her own boats, casting her own spells, and passing tests of strength and wits as she confronted dragons and shadows.
Of course she can do that, I thought. Of course she should be able to. But I was raised on Boy Bilbo, and on a million other stories where boys – usually white, usually English-speaking, usually straight – assume the lead. If I wrote a girl-centric adventure story for my daughter, I might reflexively throw in a male companion, or put our heroine on an easier path. By switching pronouns, though, my daughter and I met a heroine who pushed the boundaries of both our imaginations and took us on a truly unexpected journey.
Michelle Nijhuis, Aeon
Georgie by Amanda Davidson
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Adults will join young people across the planet as millions of people disrupt business as usual by joining the global climate strikes on the 20th September and 27th September and for the ‘Week for Future and Climate Justice’ in between.
The climate strikes movement inspired by teenager Greta Thunberg has spread rapidly across the world in the last 12 months. The weeklong movement will surround the UN Climate Summit being held on the 23rd of September. In Europe, some of these actions will build pressure on European finance ministers who have the opportunity to prevent the world’s largest public lender financing dangerous new fossil fuel projects around the world.
The Week for Future and Climate Justice will be marked with direct actions and activities highlighting the devastating impacts of climate and ecological breakdown that are being felt the world over. From record-breaking heatwaves in Europe, the Arctic and India, to wildfires, floods, famine and drought, massive inequality and continued repression of community voices, there is no denying we are in a state of global climate emergency – people are rising up to make polluters pay and hold elected officials accountable at this time of crisis.
The first ever widespread global blackout will also be taking place with many organisations and businesses planning to stop business as usual by shutting down their websites and redirecting them to the global climate strikes website.
A representative for Fridays for the Future said: “The Global Climate Strikes are fast approaching. Time is running out to implement the changes we need to tackle the climate crisis and create a better world. Youth strikers have called for adults to stand with them and support their demands for climate justice. Now is that moment.”
In Turkey, strikes will take place in major cities including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir – people will congregate in traditional spaces of resistance and outside government buildings to demand an end to coal use and climate justice.
Some 32,000 students from 40 schools of the Turkish Education Association will support the movement between Sept. 20-27.
Join the Strikes:
Find an event near you on the global map, and sign up to make sure you get updated details.
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Farming octopuses is not only unethical but deeply damaging to the environment, scientists say.
From the Mediterranean to the Sea of Japan, octopuses are considered a culinary delicacy, and demand is growing. Of the estimated 350,000 tonne annual catch, two-thirds goes to Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea (a whole third of the global catch ends up in China) but European countries such as Spain and Italy are also big octopus importers.
To meet growing demand, many countries are experimenting with raising octopuses in artificial conditions. One Japanese company reported hatching octopus eggs in captivity in 2017 and wants to open its first farm in 2020. In Spain, experiments with net pens, in tanks on land and in large sea ‘ranches’ are ongoing.
But, as a team of scientists from New York University argue, for environmental and ethical reasons, we should avoid farming octopuses.
There is already a wealth of research that suggests octopuses are one of the most complex and intelligent animals in the ocean. They can recognise individual human faces, solve problems (and remember the answers for months) and there is some evidence they experience pain and suffering. Numerous videos on the internet of octopuses escaping from their tanks or stealing fishermen's catches have fuelled a human fascination with the only invertebrate that the 2012 Cambridge Declaration on Cosnciousness considers sentient alongside mammals and birds.
Keeping intelligent animals like octopuses in large, industrial farms poses numerous ethical issues and a lot of it is down to how aquaculture has evolved over the past decades.
Existing aquaculture, the scientists say, depends on "tightly controlled and monotonous environments...with constant ambient conditions, simplified and sterile enclosures, and rigid feeding schedules, aimed at supporting high stocking densities."
This is anathema to a curious and active octopus which is more likely to catch infections, become more aggressive and have a high mortality rate when reared in farming conditions.
Aside from the ethical qualms, the environmental impact of octopus farming also worries the scientists.
The amount of feed needed to sustain and grow an octpus is three times the weight of the animal itself and, given that octopuses are carnivorous and live on fish oils and protein, rearing them risks putting further pressure on an already over-exploited marine ecoystem.
Even as demand grows, octopus farming is still in its infancy. Researchers and breeders have yet to figure out reliable ways to keep octopuses alive during their infancy and the farms that do exist can find it difficult to manage such an intelligent animal.
Octopuses are just one of the vast number of marine animals humans use for food, and the idea of farming them poses profound questions about our relationship with a fracturing natural world.
Keeping intelligent animals like octopuses in large, industrial farms poses numerous ethical issues and a lot of it is down to how aquaculture has evolved over the past decades.
Existing aquaculture, the scientists say, depends on "tightly controlled and monotonous environments...with constant ambient conditions, simplified and sterile enclosures, and rigid feeding schedules, aimed at supporting high stocking densities."
This is anathema to a curious and active octopus which is more likely to catch infections, become more aggressive and have a high mortality rate when reared in farming conditions.
Aside from the ethical qualms, the environmental impact of octopus farming also worries the scientists.
The amount of feed needed to sustain and grow an octpus is three times the weight of the animal itself and, given that octopuses are carnivorous and live on fish oils and protein, rearing them risks putting further pressure on an already over-exploited marine ecoystem.
Even as demand grows, octopus farming is still in its infancy. Researchers and breeders have yet to figure out reliable ways to keep octopuses alive during their infancy and the farms that do exist can find it difficult to manage such an intelligent animal.
Octopuses are just one of the vast number of marine animals humans use for food, and the idea of farming them poses profound questions about our relationship with a fracturing natural world.
This article written by David Knowles is taken form WeForum.
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PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL NICHOLS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
But thanks to man-made issues such as deforestation, industrial agriculture, hunting, and population growth, these animals are under threat. Through the education of its school children, the Government wants to help shape a future for Uganda where wildlife is protected against these issues.
At the conservation center in Entebbe, guides teach visitors of all ages about wildlife, but the tours are specifically designed to be interesting to school children. In both their local language and in English, guides teach younger generations about animal habitats and their conservation status, as well as their cultural value. They also help visitors to identify what can be done to help ensure the future of each species.
For one seventh-grade student at least, the trips to the center are working. Moses Okello explained to conservation news non-profit Mongabay that he had visited the center in Entebbe several times and learned about chimpanzees, who share 99 percent of their DNA with humans. It was this fact that inspired him to shoot for a career in wildlife conservation.
“This makes them our closest living relatives. This makes me see them as people, and I plan to study environmental science so that I can protect them in [the] future,” he said.
For those who are unable to travel the center – for example, children who live in less privileged areas or attend less privileged schools– talks and exhibitions are arranged, as well as camps, overnight stays to the center, and educational trips. According to Sunday Ojok, a tour guide at the center, it’s vital that everyone in the country gets behind wildlife conservation.
He told Mongabay, “The major problem we have now is habitat destruction. We are engaging frontier communities and everyone in the country to ensure that they see conservation as something [that’s] part of them.”
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Ever wondered why boys and girls choose particular toys, particular colors and particular stories? Why is it that girls want to dress in pink and to be princesses, or boys want to be Darth Vader, warriors and space adventurers?
Stories told to children can make a difference.
Scholars have found that stories have a strong influence on children’s understanding of cultural and gender roles. Stories do not just develop children’s literacy; they convey values, beliefs, attitudes and social norms which, in turn, shape children’s perceptions of reality.
I found through my research that children learn how to behave, think, and act through the characters that they meet through stories.
So, how do stories shape children’s perspectives?
Stories – whether told through picture books, dance, images, math equations, songs or oral retellings – are one of the most fundamental ways in which we communicate.
Nearly 80 years ago, Louise Rosenblatt, a widely known scholar of literature, articulated that we understand ourselves through the lives of characters in stories. She argued that stories help readers understand how authors and their characters think and why they act in the way they do.
Similarly, research conducted by Kathy Short, a scholar of children’s literature, also shows that children learn to develop through stories a critical perspective about how to engage in social action.
Stories help children develop empathy and cultivate imaginative and divergent thinking – that is, thinking that generates a range of possible ideas and/or solutions around story events, rather than looking for single or literal responses.
So, when and where do children develop perspectives about their world, and how do stories shape that?
Studies have shown that children develop their perspectives on aspects of identity such as gender and race before the age of five.
A key work by novelist John Berger suggests that very young children begin to recognize patterns and visually read their worlds before they learn to speak, write or read printed language. The stories that they read or see can have a strong influence on how they think and behave.
Scholars have also shown how stories can be used to change children’s perspectives about their views on people in different parts of the world. And not just that; stories can also influence how children choose to act in the world.
For example, Hilary Janks works with children and teachers on how images in stories on refugees influence how refugees are perceived.
Kathy Short studied children’s engagement with literature around human rights. In their work in a diverse K-5 school with 200 children, they found stories moved even such such young children to consider how they could bring change in their own local community and school.
These children were influenced by stories of child activists such as Iqbal, a real-life story of Iqbal Masih, a child activist who campaigned for laws against child labor. (He was murdered at age 12 for his activism.) Children read these stories along with learning about human rights violations and lack of food for many around the world. In this school, children were motivated to create a community garden to support a local food bank.
When children read stories about other children from around the world, such as “Iqbal,” they learn new perspectives that both extend beyond beyond and also connect with their local contexts.
At a time when children are being exposed to negative narratives about an entire religious group from US presidential candidates and others, the need for children to read, see, and hear global stories that counter and challenge such narratives is, I would argue, even greater.
By Peggy Albers, The Conversation
]]>On the “new generation” one, five, ten, and 20 shillings, images of giraffes, lions, rhinos and elephants will now be featured, replacing images of Kenya’s previous presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi. This is in line with the constitution Kenya adopted in 2010, explains Quartz which noted that currency should “bear images that depict or symbolize Kenya or an aspect of Kenya but shall not bear the portrait of any individual.”
The new coins were unveiled by the country’s current president Uhuru Kenyatta, who confirmed that the designs reflect Kenya's best aspects: its natural environment and diverse culture.
He said in a statement, “A nation’s currency is not merely an instrument for exchange of value. The motifs and design elements on currencies present a unique way of recording history, celebrating a country’s diverse culture and natural environment. The new coins have aspects that best describe our country.”
The nation’s wildlife and national parks are not only a source of great pride for Kenyans, they’re also a vital part of the country’s economy, bringing in crowds of tourists every year. In 2017, more than 2.3 million people visited Kenyan national parks and game reserves.
But its animal populations are struggling, largely due to poaching. In 2017, 69 elephants were killed as well as nine rhinos from a population that is lower than 1,000. For the latter, this rate of poaching cancels out the rate at which the population is growing.
Many Kenyans care deeply about the country’s wildlife. In May, a controversial new measure to punish poachers was proposed, in the form of capital punishment.
According to Najib Balala, the Kenyan tourism and wildlife minister, not enough was being done to protect the country’s precious wild animals.
“We have in place the Wildlife Conservation Act that was enacted in 2013 and which fetches offenders a life sentence or a fine of US$200,00. However this has not been deterrence enough to curb poaching, hence the proposed stiffer sentence,” he explained.
The country’s new wildlife coins entered circulation on December 12.
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As of the study’s publication date (May 21, 2018), the 7.6 billion humans on Earth equated to just 0.01 percent of all the world’s inhabitants, however, the species maintains a significant impact on other life forms. Since civilization was established, the human race has caused the loss of 83 percent of all wild animals and 50 percent of all plants. Simultaneously, livestock farmed for human consumption represents a large portion of animals on Earth, meaning the natural harmonious balance between species is decreasing while farming animals for food is increasing.
The study also revealed that 70 percent of all birds on Earth are farmed poultry, leaving a mere 30 percent to be wild. However, the percentage of wild mammals was far and few between; 60 percent of the mammals on Earth are livestock (predominantly cattle and pigs), 36 percent are humans, and just four percent of the living mammals on the planet are wild animals.
Additionally, the whaling industry, that has operated for 300 years, is responsible for the 80 percent decline in marine life.
Overall, 82 percent of life on Earth is made up of plants, 13 percent is bacteria, and just five percent of life on Earth is animals.
Another report, released last year, said that within the past 50 years alone, an estimated half of animals on Earth were lost to industrialization. However, the large proportion of livestock being farmed for food is an unsustainable method of feeding the world, according to a report released earlier this month. It said the food industry could feed a vastly greater amount of people by cultivating plant crops rather than raising livestock.
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PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER STANLEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC YOUR SHOT
Unfortunately, the human activity in the natural habitats of animals usually does more harm than good. The newest consequence of these actions led to the addition of two subspecies of giraffes to a list of endangered animals, meaning they are under threat of extinction.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported that their number has dropped by 40% over the last three decades, which made them enter the “vulnerable” category of the Red List of Threatened Species.
According to The Irish Post:
“Two specific subspecies – the Kordofan and Nubian – were reclassified as ‘Critically Endangered’, with populations dwindling quickest in wild areas of Eritrea, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritania, and Senegal.”
All nine giraffe species struggle to increase their numbers and have suffered a lot due to mining, poaching, agriculture, and construction across Africa.
Dr. Julian Fennessy, a co-chair of the IUCN Special Survival Commission, says:
“Whilst giraffes are commonly seen on safari, in the media, and in zoos, people, including conservationists, are unaware that these majestic animals are undergoing a silent extinction. While giraffe populations in southern Africa are doing just fine, the world’s tallest animal is under severe pressure in some of its core ranges across East, Central and West Africa. It may come as a shock that three of the currently recognized nine subspecies are now considered ‘Critically Endangered’ or ‘Endangered’, but we have been sounding the alarm for a few years now.”
According to the Smithsonian magazine:
“The giraffes face two main threats, encroachment from cities and towns into their habitat and poaching. Poaching has become increasingly problematic. Some food insecure villagers kill the animals for their meat, but Jani Actman at National Geographic reports many giraffes are slaughtered just for their tails, which are considered a status symbol and have been used as a dowry when asking a bride’s father for his daughter’s hand in marriage in some cultures.”
Dr.Fennessy adds:
“The biggest problem for giraffes, though, maybe the lack of attention over the years. “I am absolutely amazed that no one has a clue. This silent extinction. Some populations less than 400. That is more endangered than any gorilla, or almost any large mammal in the world.”
The African elephant and rhino are not the only targets of poachers, as they are also attracted by giraffes, whose heads and bones can be sold for up to $140 each. Yet, we need to raise the awareness of this serious issue before it is too late, for our children might only be able to see giraffes in the zoos soon.
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PHOTOGRAPH BY BRUNO MORANDI, CORBIS
In just the past decade, the world has lost more than seven percent of its intact forests; also known as large connected areas free from disturbances caused by humanity. This figure shows to be only accelerating. A new study says maintaining these remaining intact forests is of utmost importance.
The study, published in the journal Nature, discusses how it is critically important to keep control of these forests and protect further damage. This is to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change, maintain water supplies, safeguard biodiversity, and protect the health of humanity.
The scientists found that although Earth’s forests are dwindling, they currently absorb about a quarter of the human-produced carbon emissions within the atmosphere. Hence, ensuring these remain intact plays a highly important role in offsetting climate change. Furthermore, it was found that intact forests withdraw more carbon emissions than planted forests and those which have been felled or degraded.
Intact forests also provide a home to more wildlife in comparison to degraded forests, the latter of which has decreased biodiversity and negatively impacted function of ecosystems.
Also, the report warns global policies intended to reduce deforestation do not place adequate emphasis on preserving the decreasing world’s forests that remain intact. Currently, these policies go by a one-size-fits-all strategy, considering every forest is different, this approach could well be detrimental rather than restorative.
Natural landscapes have been shown to provide the highest quality habitats and ecosystems. Without these, populations and ecosystems quickly dwindle, and disappear. Whether for logging, land clearing for agriculture, building roads and industrialization, or sourcing palm oil– natural intact forests are ever-so-often being culled.
The area of forest between South America’s Amazon rainforest to the taiga that circles the Arctic is expected to be among, or the largest intact forest that remains on earth. Expanses such as these are a sanctuary to many species of flora and fauna.
In addition to removing trees, human hunters removing animals from the ecosystem within intact forests was found as harmful to the environment. The amount of carbon that forests store is dependent on the frequency of trees. Some trees rely on certain animals to distribute their seeds into other areas of the land. When these animals are killed for ‘sport’, this creates a ripple effect – the trees aren’t able to reproduce; store less carbon; produce less oxygen.
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BY PAUL MULONDO/WCS
One third of the world's protected lands are being degraded by human activities and are not fit for purpose, according to a new study.
Six million sq km of forests, parks and conservation areas are under "intense human pressure" from mining, logging and farming.Countries rich and poor, are quick to designate protected areas but fail to follow up with funding and enforcement. This is why biodiversity is still in catastrophic decline, the authors say.
Global efforts to care for our natural heritage by creating protected zones have, in general, been a huge conservation success story.
Since the Convention on Biological Diversity was ratified in 1992, the areas under protection have doubled in size and now amount to almost 15% of the lands and 8% of the oceans. But researchers now say that many of these protected areas are in reality "paper parks", where activities, such as building roads, installing power lines, even building cities, continue without restrictions.
"What we have shown is that six million sq km have this level of human influence that is harmful to the species they are trying to protect," the study's senior author, Prof James Watson from the University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society, told the BBC's Science in Action Programme.
Human Pressure Map
"What was scary was that the patterns were consistent everywhere. No nation was behaving very well. All nations were allowing heavy industry inside their protected areas, including very rich nations. "That's probably the saddest part of our study - that nations like Australia and the US, which have the resources and have this incredible biodiversity to protect, are not safeguarding those protected areas.
"Many areas in Australia have mining in them; they have significant agriculture like grazing; you see logging in the special sites that are meant to be preserved."
The researchers looked at global "human pressure" maps to analyse activities across almost 50,000 protected area. These one km resolution maps were able to show not just mining, farming and logging but the development of roads, power lines and night-time lights - all elements that put pressure on species.
Almost 33% of the protected areas showed the impact of intense human pressure, especially in heavily populated areas of Asia, Europe and Africa. Only 10% of the areas analysed were completely free of human impacts, and these were lands in the high latitudes of Russia and Canada.
Countries are their own worst enemies, says Prof Watson. Most of the world has signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which commits countries to conservation of species, but also encourages them to report on the quantity and not the quality of their efforts. "When it comes to their natural heritage, we are running out of time; the extinction crisis is on. Thirty percent of species will go extinct in the next 50 years if we don't safeguard nature properly."
The authors say that there are some positive lessons to be learned. Well funded, well-managed protection areas were extremely effective in halting threats to species, they wrote.
By Matt McGrath, BBC
]]>While the surveys show that the great majority would like to see the living planet protected, few are prepared to take action. This reflects a second environmental crisis: the removal of children from the natural world. The young people we might have expected to lead the defence of nature have less and less to do with it.
We don't have to disparage the indoor world, which has its own rich ecosystem, to lament children's disconnection from the outdoor world. But the experiences the two spheres offer are entirely different. There is no substitute for what takes place outdoors; not least because the greatest joys of nature are unscripted. The thought that most of our children will never swim among phosphorescent plankton at night, will never be startled by a salmon leaping, a dolphin breaching, the stoop of a peregrine, or the rustle of a grass snake is almost as sad as the thought that their children might not have the opportunity.
The remarkable collapse of children's engagement with nature – which is even faster than the collapse of the natural world – is recorded in Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods, and in a report published recently by the National Trust. Since the 1970s the area in which children may roam without supervision has decreased by almost 90%. In one generation the proportion of children regularly playing in wild places in the UK has fallen from more than half to fewer than one in 10. In the US, in just six years (1997-2003) children with particular outdoor hobbies fell by half. Eleven- to 15-year-olds in Britain now spend, on average, half their waking day in front of a screen.
There are several reasons for this collapse: parents' irrational fear of strangers and rational fear of traffic, the destruction of the fortifying commons where previous generations played, the quality of indoor entertainment, the structuring of children's time, the criminalisation of natural play. The great indoors, as a result, has become a far more dangerous place than the diminished world beyond.
In her famous essay the Ecology of Imagination in Childhood Edith Cobb proposed that contact with nature stimulates creativity. Reviewing the biographies of 300 "geniuses", she exposed a common theme: intense experiences of the natural world in the middle age of childhood (between five and 12). Animals and plants, she contended, are among "the figures of speech in the rhetoric of play … which the genius in particular of later life seems to recall".
Studies in several nations show that children's games are more creative in green places than in concrete playgrounds. Natural spaces encourage fantasy and roleplay, reasoning and observation. The social standing of children there depends less on physical dominance, more on inventiveness and language skills. Perhaps forcing children to study so much, rather than running wild in the woods and fields, is counter-productive.
While many times getting our hands dirty is frowned upon, the National Wildlife Federation's report—The Dirt on Dirt: How Getting Dirty Outdoors Benefits Kids—has some new facts and figures that may have parents steering their kids toward the nearest mud puddle. Getting a little dirty in the great outdoors—far from being a bad thing—helps children lead happier, healthier lives.
When we let our kids play in dirt, we're not only allowing them to explore the wonders around them, we are also exposing them to healthy bacteria, parasites, and viruses that will inevitably create a much stronger immune system. Many kids who live in an ultra-clean environment have a greater chance of suffering from allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases that we would otherwise be protected from through the simple pleasure of playing with some nice common dirt.
Studies have shown that simply having contact with dirt, whether it's through gardening, digging holes, or making pies out of mud, can significantly improve a child's mood and reduce anxiety and stress. With antidepressant use in kids on the rise, an increasing number of experts are recognizing the role of nature in enhancing kids' mental health. Dirt can even improve classroom performance.
By George Monbiot, The Guardian
The Dirt on Dirt Report
National Wildlife Federation
A damning report by WWF puts the worsening condition of Planet Earth into perspective
Humans have been around for more than 2 million years. But in the last 44 years, we have achieved what we haven’t in all this while: a mass annihilation of our fellow earthlings. Between 1970 and 2014, Earth lost nearly 60% decline of its mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, almost all of it due to human activity. The rate at which Earth is losing its biodiversity is comparable only to the mass extinctions. This and other findings have been published by the World Wildlife Fund in its Living Planet Report 2018, a stinging reminder of the declining health of the planet.
Published by WWF every two years, the report documents the state of the planet in terms of biodiversity, ecosystems, the demand on natural resources and its impact on nature and wildlife. This year, its results are even more devastating than ever:
The report states that as our reliance on natural reserves continues to grow, it’s clear that nature is not just a ‘nice thing to have’. It’s imperative for our survival.
A global deal for nature and people
WWF along with conservation and science colleagues around the world are calling for a new global deal between nature and people, involving decision makers at every level to make the right political, financial and consumer choices. WWF is collaborating with a consortium of almost 40 universities and organisations to launch a research initiative that will explore the critical work of putting together the best ways to save the planet.
The report says that the biggest challenge—and biggest opportunity—lies in changing our approach to development and remember that protecting nature also helps protect people.
In the words of Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, “Today, we still have a choice. We can be the founders of a global movement that changed our relationship with the planet. Or we can be the generation that had its chance and failed to act. The choice is ours.”
Read the full report here.
By Andrea Pinto
]]>We are more connected today than at any time in our species’ history, yet isolated pockets of people still manage to live apart from globalized society.
It’s impossible to know exactly how many such tribes exist. Organisations like Survival International, however, estimate that more than 100 are sprinkled around the globe.
To call these people “uncontacted”, as they often are, is imprecise. It’s nearly impossible to completely avoid contact with outsiders, and even harder to avoid objects like factory-made knives or bowls that make their way deep into remote areas through trade.
Despite these connections, dozens of groups manage to preserve their isolation and ways of life.
Unfortunately, environmental destruction and exploitation – such as clearing forests for timber and farms – put many of these cultures at great risk. Survival International, the Brazilian government’s FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), and other advocacy groups seek to protect vulnerable tribes without interfering with them.
What does it mean to be uncontacted? The name’s a bit misleading – these are groups of people that have avoided, or even violently rejected, contact with the outside world. It’s possible they’ve made contact with outsiders at some point, but violence from settlers may have pushed them to return to isolation. Others may have never had an interest in the first place, championing their independence.
These tribes can avoid the outside world largely because of their geographic isolation in some of the most remote corners of the planet. Some live in the dense jungle highlands of New Guinea in Southeast Asia. The West Papua region in Indonesia is estimated to host more than 40 uncontacted groups. Verifying that number is difficult, however, because of the mountainous terrain and because journalists and human-rights organisations are banned from the region by the Indonesian government.
Others live in the Andaman Islands archipelago, between India and the Malay Peninsula. Until recently, the Jarawa of the Andaman Islands avoided contact with outsiders, although the Great Andaman Trunk Road has brought both tourists and poachers, leading to disease outbreaks and exploitation of the tribe. And just off the coast of the Andaman Islands is North Sentinel Island, home to the Sentinelese, a group that attacks just about anyone who comes ashore.
But most of the known uncontacted tribes live in South America, deep in the Amazon rainforest. Brazil claims to have most of the world’s uncontacted people, estimating as many as 77 tribes – though National Geographic estimates as many as 84. Many of them live in the western states of Mato Grosso, Rondonia, and Acre.
Illegal logging in the Amazon poses a huge risk for the indigenous people living in the region, and some uncontacted tribes have even come out of their isolation in protest of encroaching devastation.
The Brazilian government used to conduct “first contact” expeditions to find these tribes, believing that this was the best way to protect them. But they’ve since discontinued these expeditions in favour of the occasional status flyover. FUNAI seeks to protect these uncontacted tribes, as well as other indigenous people of the Amazon river basin, with infrequent flyovers, checking to see if they’ve moved locations or if loggers are illegally encroaching on their lands.
But in Amazonian countries with fewer resources to police the region, like Peru – home to some 15 identified uncontacted tribes – conservationists struggle to protect the region and its isolated inhabitants from loggers and prospectors. Unfortunately, their isolation means they’re susceptible to diseases from the outside world. It’s part of the reason why anthropologists and indigenous-rights advocates support their continued isolation.
But these tribes are part of our shared humanity, and their unique cultures are worth preserving and protecting, too.
By Sean Kane, Business Insider UK]]>
“We cultivated our land, but in a way different from the white man. We endeavoured to live with the land; they seemed to live off it. I was taught to preserve, never to destroy.”
The saying belongs to the indigenous Australians, Aborigines, is not only quite dramatic but also let us think about the uncontacted indigenous image which is depicted by the history of civilization one more time. These people have dwelled in depths of wild for thousand years isolated from our society, that is about to step into a new age with the industrial revolution, its mentality and modern world issues. We describe their natural habitat as dangerous, as moving away from the culture of living together with nature. However, they are living amongst the danger that surround them rather than protected from while maintaining their life in a perfect harmony with wild and that is truly cultivating their instinct and survival skills. These self-sustaining tribal people may be considered as uneducated according to the authorities since greater part of modern education is about how to dominate the nature, yet their way of learning is more about feeling, exploring and experiencing.
“Although we are in different boats, you in your boat and we in our canoe, we share the same river of life.”
Indigenous territories are seen obstacles for the agribusiness, under pressure of both legal authorities and illegal gold miners, loggers and land grabbers for economic purposes. According to the UN, their traditional ways of life are threatened particularly as a result of forcible displacement from, or destruction of, their ancestral lands. We assume an obligation to struggle for their territorial rights and protect the environment they call home as they are the guardians of the natural world and sustain the wildlife from the coasts to the jungles better than any civilized community.
“Man’s law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same.”
For the indigenous people, the relationship between humanity and natural world is something to be transmitted through stories to the future generations. Valuing the natural world above all is far beyond their life practices, it reaches further, into the deep of their hearts and spiritual life. Stories are revered as precious teachings, encoding the environmental knowledge, encapsulating their history and belief. It’s a sacred duty to maintain the balance of nature, protect their land and all the animals that they have a powerful affiliation through totems.
We believe their way of being in this world is something we can all learn from.
We aim to get inspired with the hidden treasures of wild and spread love, beauty and healing all around!
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/12/monkey-hats-charlie-hamilton-james/
http://www.sath.org.uk
https://charterforcompassion.org/
http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/pdf/Backgrounder_LTNR_FINAL.pdf
Child labour, pitiful pay and dangerous conditions are among the risks facing undocumented Syrian refugees working in Turkey's garment industry, according to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.
Big fashion brands are failing to protect Syrian refugees from "endemic" abuse in Turkish clothing factories supplying European retailers, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.
Almost 3 million refugees — more than half aged under 18 — have fled to Turkey to escape war in Syria. Many work illegally in Turkey's garment industry, which supplies $17 billion in clothing and shoes a year, mostly to Europe, especially Germany.
A Reuters investigation this year found evidence of Syrian refugee children in Turkey working in clothes factories in illegal conditions. Turkey bans children under 15 from working.
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre said many brands justified inaction on labor exploitation by denying the existence of refugees of any age in their supply chains.
In its survey, drawn up with trade unions and rights advocates, only nine brands reported that they had found unregistered Syrian refugees on factory floors.
Until this year, Syrians were not entitled to work permits, so many refugees worked informally.
Turkey started to issue permits in January, but the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre said "the vast majority of Syrian refugees continue to work without legal protections, making them vulnerable to abuse".
By Thomson Reuters Foundation's Timothy Large, additional reporting by Zabihullah Noori; editor: Ros Russell.
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Fashion's need for raw materials and labour intensive production processes make it an industry particularly vulnerable to environmental disruption — as are the profit margins of businesses that operate within it. “Based on conservative projections, fashion brands’ profitability levels are at risk by at least three percentage points if they don’t act determinedly soon,” says Javier Seara, the lead author of the Boston Consulting Group and the Global Fashion Agenda’s sustainability focused report, "The Pulse of the Fashion Industry." Certainly, inaction on climate change could result in radical risk-taking.
But what are the most pressing threats to fashion businesses, and what is the industry doing about them?
The fashion industry has evolved using a linear model when it comes to raw materials, often expressed as "take, make, and waste." However, as is becoming emphatically clear, some of the resources fashion relies upon to create its goods are finite, most critically — fresh water. Dyeing and treatment processes use vast amounts of water; to make a pair of jeans and a t-shirt takes 20,000 litres according to the WWF. Over 70 percent of that water usage is in the agriculture of cotton, which is among the fabrics with the highest environmental impact along with silk, wool and leather.
In addition to the inherent waste that fashion’s linear economy creates, many of the geographies that fashion relies upon for cheap labour are at high risk of environmental disruption. The extreme weather conditions expected to become more common in the near future are likely to impact the livelihood and mobility of millions of garment workers, leading to supply chain inefficiency and decreasing output.
The transportation and logistics industries also face an uncertain future. As oil fields become more difficult to access and the cost of extraction rises, oil prices will increase.
The increasing scarcity of resources like oil and water means regulation will play an increasing role in the manufacturing of products such as cotton. "The Pulse of the Fashion Industry" report envisages two scenarios through which higher levels of regulation are incorporated.
The authors’ preferred scenario sees the industry establishing its own sustainability standards and bodies, which are then acknowledged and affirmed by international regulatory bodies. This scenario could be bolstered by legislation that incentivises sustainable practices such as tax breaks.
The second scenario sees international regulators “taking part much more aggressively, ushering in a new generation of profitability for everybody,” according to Seara. “Due to increasing cost pressures, increasing consumer pressure, and eventual regulator pressure of some form, whoever doesn’t get on the wagon of fixing the foundation, collaborating with others to improve, they will not be part of the game.”
By 2020, millennials will be the most numerous demographic in the global workforce, which means fashion businesses must now cater to their preferences, rather than those of Generation X. Millennials consistently identify sustainability as a factor that influences their purchasing habits. But while a third of millennials say they are more likely to buy from companies that are mindful of social responsibilities (just a quarter of those over 51 say the same, according to BCG) only “a tiny proportion of all consumers are willing to pay more for a sustainable product.”
A PATH TO SOLUTION
A number of leading fashion businesses are pioneering sustainability initiatives, motivated by both environmental concern and commercial opportunity. H&M has led the way in reducing the carbon footprint of its store network and has pledged to double its energy productivity by 2030. By that year, H&M also aims to use only recycled or other sustainably sourced materials in its products. In 2016, this share was 26 percent (although 43 percent of H&M’s cotton came from sustainable sources. The goal is to use only such cotton by 2020). “Strategic stakeholder engagement — like Organic Cotton Accelerator and Canopy Style — is vital,” says Eileen Fisher, founder of the namesake sustainable fashion brand.
In addition to increased use of sustainable and recycled materials, circular economic principles are being designed into products. In February 2012, Nike released its Flyknit trainers, with uppers made from micro-engineered polyester that is lightweight and form-fitting. The design reduces waste by about 60 percent compared to traditional cut-and-sew footwear construction. And this month, Adidas launched three new trainer styles made from recycled ocean plastic. Each pair uses 11 plastic bottles and the company's goal is to make a million pairs from recycled plastic this year alone.
BY ROBIN MELLERY-PRATTMAY 26, 2017 05:27
Resources:
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/5-sustainability-threats-facing-fashion?source=bibblio
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MR MCGUIRE had just one word for young Benjamin, in “The Graduate”: plastics. It was 1967, and chemical engineers had spent the previous decade devising cheap ways to splice different hydrocarbon molecules from petroleum into strands that could be moulded into anything from drinks bottles to Barbie dolls. Since then global plastic production has risen from around 2m tonnes a year to 380m tonnes, nearly three times faster than world GDP.
Unfortunately, of the 6.3bn tonnes of plastic waste produced since the 1950s only 9% has been recycled and another 12% incinerated. The rest has been dumped in landfills or the natural environment. Often, as with disposable coffee cups, drinks bottles, sweet wrappers and other packets that account for much of the plastic produced in Europe and America, this happens after a brief, one-off indulgence. If the stuff ends up in the sea, it can wash up on a distant beach or choke a seal. Exposed to salt water and ultraviolet light, it can fragment into “microplastics” small enoughto find their way into fish bellies. From there, it seems only a short journey to dinner plates.
Countries as varied as Bangladesh, France and Rwanda have duly banned plastic bags. Since last year anyone offering them in Kenya risks four years in prison or a fine of up to $40,000. In January China barred imports of plastic waste, while the European Union launched a “plastics strategy”, aiming, among other things, to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030 and raise the proportion that is recycled from 30% to 55% over the next seven years. A British levy on plastic shopping bags, introduced in 2015, helped cut use of them by 85%. On February 22nd Britain’s environment secretary, Michael Gove, mused about prohibiting plastic straws altogether.
Fearful for their reputations, big companies are shaping up. Coca-Cola has promised to collect and recycle the equivalent of all the drinks containers it shifts each year, including 110bn plastic bottles. Consumer-goods giants such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble vow to use more recycled plastics. McDonald’s plans to make all its packaging from recycled or renewable sources by 2025, up from half today, and wants every one of its restaurants to recycle straws, wrappers, cups and the like.
The perception of plastics as ugly, unnatural, inauthentic and disposable is not new. Even in “The Graduate” they symbolised America’s consumerism and moral emptiness. Visible plastic pollution is an old complaint, too (years ago, plastic bags caught in trees were nicknamed “witches’ knickers”). What is new is the suspicion that microplastics are causing widespread harm to humans and the environment in an invisible, insidious manner. “Blue Planet 2”, a nature series presented by Sir David Attenborough that aired in Britain last October and in America in January, made the case beautifully. But the truth is that little is known about the environmental consequences of plastic—and what is known doesn’t look hugely alarming.
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Humankind’s consumption ambition and unconsciousness cause sea pollution to increase day by day. This effects not only marine species but also puts our future at risk too.
With that being said, while we act unconsciously, do we know these facts?
That the wastes at the bottom of our seas stay there for hundreds of years and if no action will be taken seas and water, our most important source of life will slowly vanish, and we will have to going to bear witness to it?
And every year, at least 8 million tons of plastic are interfuse with the ocean?
If an action is not being taken, by the year of 2050 fishes will be outnumbered by the wastes and disposable plastic?
And above all, the biggest problem being the plastic in the oceans and seas?
Let’s look at some statistic!
Graham Hawkes’s “We’re the big brained animals on this planet and we’re putting everything in danger because we don’t really understand the planet as a whole, and human beings, through our consumption and waste, we are messing with the system.” statement actually sums up everything.
What can we do?
Do not forget! Out of the two breaths which we take in have provided us by our oceans that we pollute. If we do not say "stop" to this situation, we will lead our living resources to destruction.
]]>Every morning we start the day with asking ourselves "what should I wear today?". However, we can never find what to wear that day while staring at a pile of our clothes. Because we have nothing to wear!
But how about people that actually have nothing?
There are real life stories behind our clothes which we do not appreciate enough.
Does it concern you who makes your clothes and in what conditions? Or do you buy your clothes just for "fashion’s sake" without even questioning what you really like?
Unfortunately, the answer for these questions would be yes for most of us. We do not even know what story we carry on our bodies, we wear clothes as they are only fabrics and then throw them away. Whereas, there are traces of hundreds of hands’ hard work and effort even before we can get a chance to hold them in our hands.
INCOMPLIT made collection of “Maram Bag” with these traces of hands. In these projects the bags were made by women’s cooperative and the fact that the bags are made of used coffee beans. We did not want to end the story of coffee beans, with Maram Bags made from recycled coffee sacks produced by Sarıyer Women’s Cooperative because we care about the women’s hands’ hard work and effort!
CHILD LABOR
There are 170 million children in the world who are being forced into slave labor. Many of these children are making clothes to meet the demands of fast fashion. In reality, these children suffer grueling hours and unsafe conditions. There is no way out for them, even from a young age. With no education and no formal skills training, child labor ensures poverty and it passes down from generation to generation.
How sustainable is the world considering that there is still slave labor? Especially in Turkey, the use of child labor by contract manufacturing and contract manufacturing producers in the textile sector has become quite common. A large percentage of children under the age of 18 work informally. Syrian children who fled their country due to the civil war suit contract manufacturers’ book just about right. They want to be integrated here, to start and maintain a new life. Surviving in a strange land, looking after their families, and not to starve push their minds to take all offers without thinking about offers’ conditions. In this is the case, they are willing to work with fugitives below the minimum wage. No one checks over!
We actually make do the greater harm to ourselves by not seeing what is happening behind those magnificent and shiny showcases of big brands. We close our eyes, heart and mind. We ignore the fact that there are actual children’s’ labor behind our flashy clothes. Instead of rescuing those children, we condemn a life that they do not want. These children are valuable, more valuable than the clothes they make, more valuable than minimum wage they take home.
INCOMPLIT carries and appreciates this value. Sustainability and transparency play a crucial role for us. For this reason, local production with local material is our main principle. The other important point for us is to value people and their affection. That is why we are trying to disregard from contract manufacturers for the protection of artisans. We do not want children to be workers, our wish is for them to be heroes of their own fairy tale. We want to carry their stories not their labor.
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A sustainable increase in women’s employment and women’s active role in economic life are two current issues which are being spoken in our country. Gender discrimination caused by the patriarchal society is a problem that has been felt for a very long time in our society, and the economic imbalances are increasing day by day due to this discrimination.
These imbalances cause women to be isolated at the same time economically and socially, by preventing their work fields. The concept of working in our society has different meanings for men and women.
We aim to create a systematic change, as INCOMPLIT, against the inequalities made in economic and social areas of women’s employment in Turkey. We are trying to help women who live and work in difficult conditions in the country to provide job opportunities and to strengthen their social especially economic strength.
Maram Bag Collection made from used coffee sacks got inspired by an exceptional woman, Marquise de Rambouillet, the first famous Parisian literary salon owner. Unlike other salons mostly frequented by men, her salon encouraged young female writers and poets during endless coffee talks. In these projects, the bags were made by women’s cooperative and the fact that the bags are made of used coffee beans and handcrafted is a favorable example of INCOMPLIT’s not only being environmentally friendly but also giving women a good opportunity for employment.
In BOND collection, we wanted to show that invisible bonds are more meaningful than visible bonds. We created an invisible bond between housewives and children, gathered under the Nano Knit in Edirne; we gave life to the drawings of disadvantaged children by turning those drawings into jumpers and cardigans. Through our collaboration with women, we aim to offer an area where they can complement their stories, both children, and women; by saying “Your story is as valuable as for me to carry your traces of mind and idea on me!”
We encountered some challenges during this process, when we were trying to add economic vitality to women, we were actually changing their home and family arrangements. It takes a while to do our products; because of this, their housework gets affected. Our work causes them to put a pause at their “duties” at home against their husbands and children. Therefore, we want to support not an only economic field but also their social and psychological development. Apart from the difficulties, there are some risks we have. For instance, each product differentiates in the hands of different women. We are always used to the standard in the world but for us, it is not a problem that every product is “unique”. For this reason, we are expecting tolerance from our customers with the slips and deficiencies.
]]>Sometimes, the people who come into our lives help us with figuring out who we are and who we want to be. Children in India who I crossed paths with guided me to be the person who I wanted to be. My purpose for this journey was to make an impact on some of these children but quite the opposite they touched my soul.
It is very difficult for me to describe the first day of school. The second, I entered the class every single one of the children said “hello” with their kind and warming eyes at the same time. That moment was indescribable for me.
I sat down on the floor in the garden and there were five children behind me. They put white flowers on my hair and braided my hair. That moment was the most vivid memory I had about India. Whenever they smiled, my heart skipped a beat. Whenever I looked at their jet-black eyes, I felt so peaceful. In those eyes, I saw their life, their tiny world.
Every morning when they arrived at the class, they were rushing towards me to give me my morning hug. That morning hug was the highlight of my day.
When I saw how happy they were in their tiny world, with their little opportunities I felt ashamed of the life I have back in Turkey. They are incredibly happy with their lives; their heart is so pure and full of happiness.
Before I went to India, I did a research on their culture, their daily lives and all I saw was that they use colorful and lively colors in their pictures. Therefore whenever we draw together, they did not want to use dark colors. Every drawing we made together was bright colored and there I saw that black did not belong to their life. Their imagination is as colorful as their hearts.
They really enjoy making henna, “Mehndi” as they say; and I was happy to see their imagination leaving a mark on my body. After I came back I still had the henna leftovers on my body and every time I saw them, they gave me great joy.
During our class, we were supposed to show them where the countries located on the world map. Each time we showed them, they became more curious and wanted to learn more; so we taught them new bits of information every day. Now come to think about it, I do not know if it was necessary to teach them about the unfair world, because the world which they imagined was so beautiful and innocent. In my perspective, they should teach Jaipur to the rest of the world. It is a part of the world which needs to be shown to teach people about happiness and pure love. They should describe the “Pink City”, introduce Indian people, teach us India’s chaos in their own cosmos, and respect for each other in countless cultures in Varanasi. People should be inspired by Indian women. When I looked at their face, I saw the pain in the smiling; they were tired but hopeful and pure. The rest of the kids should learn how to be happy as much as Indian children’s happiness when they play in the mud.
I believe that children are the first step to change the world, what you teach to them, what they believe in will shape the future. Every child is special in their own way, different in each part of the world. They are a blank page, a start point which can be shaped and written by their elders. With their innocence, you learn how to dream and picture a world without cruelty and malice. Each time you sit down and imagine a dream with a child, you are being welcomed in their fairytale and you are a character there; sometimes even a hero. After the time I had with them I realized that they became my hero in my fairytale.
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