Peace to me, doesn’t only mean no fights, wars and disagreements. To achieve peace we also have to think outside the box. I think that we can also achieve peace by helping our home: Earth. We usually think about “more important things” such as school, work, a car, a big house, an enormous TV. But what good would this do if you had nowhere to put it? Most of the time we take Earth for granted. We pollute and trash and overpopulate, but we keep thinking that it’s going to be okay. It is not. Global warming has been threatening the lives of many animals as well as humans. This effect has caused droughts, floods, heat waves and many other natural disasters.
For me, Wangari Maathai is a peace activist. Fortunately, we have people like her in the world. What makes her so great? Well, she has done myriads to help our planet. Dr. Maathai became the first African woman to received a Noble Peace Prize for ‘her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.‘ She received this prize after founding the Green Belt Movement. This movement started because in Kenya, she had heard complaints in which she was told that the women didn’t have logs to make bonfires, the soil was eroding away and harvesting was poorer. She started by giving poor women in Kenya seeds for them to plant and paying them. This would later on prevent soil erosion, create shadows, provide wood for bonfires, and serve as a source of food. Until now, 40 million trees have already been planted. This has not only helped with soil erosion, but has also given poor women in Kenya and many other countries the opportunity to earn money. Because of the increase in trees, there has also been an increase in fauna which has currently attracted many tourists. This has helped developed Kenya’s economy and has encouraged Kenyans and many other people around the world to try and restore what was once found among the flora.
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to make a change. I always thought about accomplishing something big; accomplishing something that would change humanity. This change would probably be headed toward peace. I feel that there is too much grief in this world. I feel that it should change. I want for it to change. I think about this, and how I would like to be out there doing….something! While I am sitting here writing on my computer, there are people dying because of hunger, thirst and violence.I would love to know that all this became history. I would love to feel that I have made an impact. To let the world know that I care, and that I can make a change! But what can I do? I realize that I might not be the only one that feels this. But if I’m not, how come we haven’t changed anything? I know why, because we are all waiting on the world to change. I keep telling myself that it will happen. The world will change. But when?! Maybe I am making a change by stoping and thinking. If everyone stoped to think, wouldn’t that make a difference? But for me thinking is not enough. I really want to do something. I believe that the reason why there are no changes is because we are all waiting. We do not know a way to change thigns so we just wait until someone changes them for us. It would be a relief to know that there has been a chance, but if we all think the same way there is not going to be any change. I feel that we all have to get out there and act. If we do not know how to make a change by ourselves… well, together we could make a difference. A greater difference. “Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.” (John Lennon) Lets not wait on the world to change. Lets change the world ourselves!!!
I now have in mind something a little different. It is only different in the fact that the previous people were nonviolent peace activists. Irena Sendler was also part of a peace movement, in my opinion, but she wasn’t just singing and believing, she was rescuing children.
When Germany invaded Warsaw in 1939, Irena was a nurse in a hospital in Warsaw. When she saw what the ghetto was doing, she knew she had to do something. She started trying to convince mothers to give their children to her so she could try to get them out of the ghetto. She knew it was hard to give a child away, so she gave them time. Sometimes, when she came back to ask if they had made up their mind, she would find out that they had been sent to concentration camps, from were she was sure they would never come back. When she did get kids from families, she would take them out on ambulances and said they had Tifus, which was a very feared disease back then. After a while she started using whatever was available to rescue these children. She used garbage cans, cardboard boxes, coffins and anything that would help. She knew the kids were still in danger once outside the ghetto, so she made each and everyone of them false identifications with different names. She wanted to be able to give these kids what they once had, so she kept their real identifications and buried them in her neighbor’s backyard. She was caught. The nazis found out what she was up to and was taken to jail. There, she was awfully tortured. She bared all the tortures and never gave out the location of the true identities of the children. Because of this, she was put to death penalty. The day she was supposed to serve it, a soldier allowed her to escape. After the nazis left, she got the identifications back and tried to return every child she could to their original home. She saved more than 2,500 kids.
Yesterday, May 12th, with 98 years of age, Irena Sendler passed away. Until last minute, she still got visits from the kids she had once saved or their children. When asked what she felt about what she did, her roesponse was, “I could have done more, and that remorse is going to follow me until the day I die.” She made a huge impact on the life of thousands of people. Irena Sendler will be remembered in history as the “Angel of the ghetto in Warsaw” for her bravery and kindness.
Another person that I highly admire is John Lennon. As you probably know, he was also involved in peace movements. Aside from what he did in the peace movement, I admire him because, like Gandhi, he proved one person can make a huge impact in the world.
He was born as John Winston Lennon, but later changed his name to John Ono Lennon. As an English rock musician, he was one of the founders and members of The Beatles. Not only was he a songwriter and a singer, but also a peace activist. This means that he wanted to achieve peace (during the Vietnam war) by doing different non-violent activities. To prove his beliefs, he participated in protests, boycotted and even created songs suggesting peace. He also participated in television shows, interviews, books, and other ways in which he tried to tell everyone to “Give Peace a Chance”. Unfortunately, during his years as a peace activist, he created enmities. When coming back after his four year retirement, Lennon was killed in New York City. Later, he was voted eighth in the list of the Greatest Britons. He ranked 36th on the Rolling Stones magazine`s list of ‘The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time’ while The Beatles ranked number one.
One of his peace songs is called “Imagine”. If you would like to watch the video, click on the link below:
I wanted to start off with Gandhi because he is a person that has caused a great impact in my life. I love everything he did and highly admire him as a person.He was called Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma meaning “great soul.” There are many other reasons why I admire him, but the main one is because of all the things he accomplished without a single act of violence. He started the Indian movement, one by which he tried to give equal rights to whites and Indians. Many times he was put to jail. This, of course, was only because he opposed to do things whites demanded them to do, because once again he believed in nonviolent co-existence. When in jail, he fed his followers -that had also been put to jail with him- for free. He also lead many strikes and hunger strikes. Beacuse of this, he soon became a national hero. In 1931, in a conference in London, he declared India as independent. Unfortunately, not everyone thought the way the way he did. Because of this, he had some enemies.He was assasinated by Nathuram Godse in 1948.
Some people think one person cannot make a difference. I believe one person make all the difference. This is another reason why I admire Mahatma Gandhi. It all started because he believed he could make a difference; and even though in the beginning he did not have any followers, he slowly started influencing a numerous amount of people. In the end, this one person accomplished his goal. Later on, he also inspired many other important people like Martin Luther King Jr.
“I object to nonviolence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” -Mahatma Gandhi
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” -Mahatma Gandhi
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Gandhi
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” -Mahatma Gandhi
“The Tree Mother of Africa” 
“Mother of the children of the Holocaust.” 
