Individual steps towards a better tomorrow
I was barely 17 years old when I knocked on the big brown door of my school’s principal and shared with him the vision of a grand recycling scheme for the school. It was there, in that moment, that I was so compelled by a need to protect my environment that I took the first steps towards a better tomorrow.
Today, at the tender age of 21, I look back at these adrenaline-driven occasions where I was so excited to make a difference that I was unable to sleep that night. Today, I also look back as Lewis Pugh, the South African oceanic swimmer and environmental activists, lays in hospital recovering from a vertebra operation. For it was he, that was so compelled to save our oceans, that he took the first steps to stop me and a passionate team of students from releasing 3000 balloons into the atmosphere.
He that took it upon himself to fight for the future, to phone and to explain to a young ignorant student leader about the damages of plastic to the oceans. It was he, that cared so much, that didn’t allow a silly mistake to be made for the sake of a University’s orientation-week.
Then again today a UN report would make its way onto my Twitter-feed to explain that bio-degradable plastic is an utter lie – especially when it ends up in our oceans. I was struck once more that here I am, 4 months later, only now coming to understand the consequences of biodegradable plastic - Only now truly being thankful for the steps Lewis took to for a better tomorrow.
Read the UN report here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/un-biodegradable-plastics_us_57435cb2e4b045cc9a71afa5
However, it was also today that I listened to the story of our domestic worker’s cousin that was killed just last week. Here I am, listening as to how God is her only help as her daughter continues to struggle with epileptic attacks and as she gets mugged on the train regularly. Here I am, wondering if anybody really cares?
But then I also remember yesterday where I took my bicycle and bought coupons at Straatlig (meaning streetlight) in Stellenbosch for beggars on the street. Here they are, a group of young workers in a NGO taking steps toward our future. Here they are selling coupons to encourage responsible giving, ensuring food for the needy and a pathway away from homelessness.
Find out more about Straatlig here: http://straatlig.org/
It is those countless faces from NGO’s, environmental organisations, schools and communities that takes daily steps for a better future. We need these normal South African heroes, that are so compelled by caring, that they are just unable not to make a difference. Here I am, at the tender age of 21 saying that it’s every one of us taking thousands of individual steps daily that leads to a better tomorrow.
