Saturday, 14 March 2009

A girl who silenced the World at the UN Conference

I write down the speech of Severn Suzuki at UN Conference few years ago. She was only 12/13 years old at that time yet, she is so brave to speak up to the public about the wrong things happened in our world.
It would be nice to watch and listen directly to the video, rather than just read the text.
There are some words that are missing due to my hearing weakness, sorry about that.

Hello, I am Severn Suzuki, speaking for ECO, the Environmental Children Organization. We are group of 12 and 13 years old trying to make a difference, Vanessa Suthie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money to come here ourselves, to come 5000 miles to tell you all you must change your ways. Coming up here today, I have no head agenda, I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election, or few points on stock market. I’m here to speak for all generations to come. I’m here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world when .... going hurt. I’m here to speak for the .... animals dying across this planet because they have no where left to go. I’m afraid to go on the sun now because of the holes in ozone. I’m 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 a fish full of cancer. And now we here of ... animals and plants going stink everyday vanishing forever. In my life, I have dreamt of seeing a great ... of wild animal, jungles and rainforest full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they were even exist for my children to see.

Did you have to worry of these things when you are 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 want you to realize neither do you. You don’t know how to fix the holes and ozone layer. You don’t know how to bring ... You don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can’t bring back the forest, the ones group that is now a dessert.

If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it! Here, you maybe a delegate of your government, business people or organisation reporter or politician. But really, your mother and father, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of you are someone’s child. I’m only a child yet, I know we all are part of a family. 5 billion ... in fact, 30 million species ... and .... and government will never change that. I’m only a child yet, I know we are all in this together, and should act as one single world towards one single goal. In my anger, I’m not lying and in my fear, I’m not afraid telling the world how I feel. In my country makes so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and throw way, buy and throw away, and yet, northern countries will not share with the needy even when we have more than enough we are afraid to share, we are afraid to let go some of our wealth.

In Canada, we live the privilege life with plenty of foods, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computer and TV set at least 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 the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter and love and affection.” If a child on a street who had nothing is willing to share, why are we who have everything still so greedy? I can’t stop thinking that these are children, my own age, that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born. That I, could be one of those children, living in a privilege real. I could be a child starving in Somalia, or victim of war in the Middle East, or a beggar in India. I’m only a child yet, I know if all the money spent on war were spent on finding environmental answers, ending poverty, and finding treaties what a wonderful place this Earth will be.

At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us to not to fight with others ,to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not hurt other creatures, to share – not be greedy. And why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? Do not forget why are you attending these conferences. Who are you doing this for? We are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we are growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying, “everything is going to be alright”, “it is 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 priority? My dad always says, “You are what you do not what you say.” Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You ... up saying you love us but, I challenge you. Please, make your action, reflect your words.

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