January 1st - February 28th 1997
Moderators
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Kidforums Blue
Print Report, by Tor Arne Richvoldsen
Chief Seatle - How could he know...
OTHER BLUE PRINT -97
PAGES
The first Kidforum topic this year, as it was last year, was Blue Print Earth, an environment project.
The topic was based on the ideas of Mrs. Indu Varma from Sacksville in Canada. The two
moderators, Indu and Tor Arne adjusted the project to be used in Kidforum.
16 schools from 7 nations took part in Blue Print Earth:
2 Canadian schools,
More information and e-mail addresses to the participants can be found on the Kidforum Page of People.
During the first part the students were to point out the most important problems our world is facing
today.
The lists sent to Kidforum contained various important key-words like pollution, crimes, drugs,
forest destruction, and the extermination of endangered animal species.
Other key-words were related to global issues like hole in the ozon layer, global warming, population
explosion and lack of natural resources.
The destruction of rain forests was another important issue.
Personal matters related to family life were described - alcohol and smoking were on our list.
A few also spoke about media like movies and TV as a source of "polluting our minds" and perhaps
causing moral decay "Not enough people care" is a very important key-word in our busy world.
The list is much longer. More informations are found on the Page of Problems.
Then we moved on to the next two parts of the topic, describing possible solutions could be and to invent gadgets og machines that might reduce the problems described earlier.
Some inventions were made and sent to the KIDFORUM list, but on this stage I felt we had too little
time. Due to a late start and Christmas holidays and later other holidays, I felt we didn't have the
time needed for the rest of the topic.
BUT, by all means, a lot of great inventions were presented, and you can take a look at them on the
Page of
Inventions.
How can one buy or sell the sky or the heath from the earth?
The thought is unknown to us. We don't possess the purity of the air or the glittering of the sea.
How can you talk about buying this from us?
We just decide for our time.
The whole world is sacred to my people.
Every shining needle on the trees, every sandy beach, the mist of dark forests, every glade and all the
buzzing insects are holy in my people's traditions and consciousness.
The juice flowing in the trees is the red man's reminiscence.
We know that the white man doesn't understand our way of thinking.
For him every piece of land looks alike.
Because he is a stranger coming at night and steals from the land everything he needs.
The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has impoverished it, he moved on.
He leaves his for-father's graves, but that doesn't weigh down his conscience.
He plunders the earth from his children. His for-father's graves and his children's birthrights are
forgotten.
He treats his mother, earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered and sold as
cattle or lustrous pearls.
His greed will one day swallow up the earth and leave it just like a desert.
The air is precious to red man.
Everything that is alive breathes in the same air - the animals, the trees and the man.
The white man doesn't seem to care about the air he breathes. Remember - the air is to us a dear
friend, that the air shares it's spirit with every living thing.
The wind which gave our for-fathers their first breath, also received their last sigh.
And the wind will also give our children the spirit of life.
What was man without the animals ?
If all the animals were gone, man would die of spiritual loneliness, because all that happens to the
animals, will also happen to man.
Everything is connected. All that happens with the earth also happens with the sons of the earth.
This we know: The earth doesn't belong to man - man belongs to the earth.
Everything is connected.
Man didn't weave life, he is just a tiny fibre in the loom. What we do to the loom, we do to
ourselves.
Just go on polluting your own bed and you'll drown in your own garbage.
When all the bisons are gone and all wild horses are tame and when all the mysterious forests are
stinking with people....
Where are the wilderness ?
Gone.
Where are the eagles ?
Gone.
This is the end of life - and the start of survival.
Go to the KIDLINK
Activity Page