HOPE FOR OUR ISLANDS A Saturday on board the Greenpeace ESPERANZA (Spanish for Hope)
It could have been a lazy Saturday in, mindless cartoons for the children and hours of sleep deprivation to cancel out for the husband and I. But id seen an ad in the paper about public tours on the new Greenpeace vessel to come our way and lazy Saturday was not to be.
For children of a fashion publicist, at trip to hop aboard an ocean going vessel which rescues dolphins (ok so I had to make I a little bit sexy for appeal) was totally going to be a new experience. My children like many others get a too healthy dose of Hollywood inspired production which do little to help parents raise civic minded children. So seeing that ad in the paper reminded me of a similar Saturday morning way back when I was a teenager and my parents were talking about the Rainbow Warrior, another Greenpeace vessel that my mothers school mate had been a crew of. It was not the beginning of my introduction into greenism but it was surely my real first complete comprehension of how important it s that Greenpeace continues to do the work it does.
I grew up in a family that’s recycled and composted for about as long as Iv know what the word trash meant. Im not sure if its my parents education that meant we were given aggressive life lessons on the environment or if it was that my father grew up on the idyllic island lifestyle but they were greenies even before the term was coined.
So to get the opportunity to take my children and husband onboard the MV Esperanza did not just give us a Saturday to remember but it means now that when im talking about the Artic30 for example, my 4 and 6 year old children have some accurate understanding. It means that when my father is giving someone in his household the often harsh lecture about the importance of putting plastics in that bin and vegetable peeling in the other – my children see him the way iv come to – a real citizen of mother earth instead of the often gruff grandpa!
Not to mention, its also bought me a year of goodwill with the kiddies, months of wine fuelled stories with the hubby and maybe (hands clasped in prayer) grand ideas when the mini mes have to make career choices.
I mean whats not to like? The MV Esparanza is the latest and largest of Greenpeace’s fleet of research and expedition vessels so for mommmy, daddy and kiddie Rovas, the instruments, equipment, the helipad and not the least of all, the inflatable boats.
As the crew explained how crucial a role the inflatables played to the actual physical acts of activism, I felt a sense of gratitude.
I knew nothing of the crew members, beyond their names, nationalities and role on the MV Esperanza. There is however, a Fijian boy in the group of 15 sailing ‘hope’ (translation Esperanza). But I my gratitude is in knowing that these people, case in point: Artic30; are the environmental watchdogs of a world fast falling into carelessness. So im grateful that while I couldn’t give up my life now to devote it to saving the environment, there are people who are. There are people sitting in a Russian jail because they wanted to put up a sign, a sign that said SAVE the Artic.
It may as well be SAVE THE PACIFIC OCEAN, SAVE OUR TUNA or SAVE OUR CLIMATE for all I cared because as far removed as Suva, Fiji is from Saint Petersburg or from the Polar regions of our world, I could relate! #FreeTheArtic30 #SaveTheArtic #SaveOurTuna #SaveOurPlanet
Semoga tetap dikuatkan jalan meneruskan perjuangan untuk perlindungan hutan, laut, dan air kita serta melawan perubahan cuaca. Terima kasih juga buat Johannes Parulin, Supporter Care Coordinator Greenpeace Indonesia telah memberikan kesempatan untuk berpartisipasi.