One of the women that I most admired growing up was Jane Goodall. I loved watching nature programs of her with her beloved chimps. I was so enthralled by these chimps, I even remember their names to this day: Greybeard, Fifi, Frodo and Freud --so recognizably like us that it forced me to re-evaluate my notions of what made us uniquely human. Jane's work seemed so noble and exotic to me in a way that made me wish I could do something that made an impact as she has.
Jane Goodall is still making a difference today. Almost fifty years after she landed in Africa and at the age of 72, Jane travels nearly 300 days a year for her Roots and Shoots Project which has 8,000 groups in 96 countries.
On September 30th, Roots and Shoots is sponsoring their 2006 Day of Peace:
Last year, peace doves flew in 69 cities in a total of 22 countries. They reached some incredible places, including top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the grounds of a monastery in Mongolia. In Nepal, more than 400 children from the Buddhist community paraded their hand-made Giant Peace Dove around the compound of their school, released balloons, sang songs, and gave Tibetan prayers. In Bahrain there was a remarkable parade led by the Bahrain Police Band and doves made by Bahrain children were included on more than 30 Gulf Air flights. In Los Angeles, almost 1,000 people came together to fly 50 peace doves during a day of festivities in Griffith Park.
On this day that marks the anniversary of a horrible act of terrorism, I hope that it will prove to be a starting point for conversations about peace, activism, conservation and protests. I share it here with you in the hopes that other C&Lers (and I see from the comments that you are truly an international group) also consider Jane Goodall's simple words of peace.
Directions to make your own peace dove here and here. (.pdf files)