I watch them burn my home.
The fields of grass where I once used to run around, is now an industrial complex.
The sky full of stars that I once used to look up to is now full of smoke.
The forests that reminded me to take deep breaths, are now abolished.
There are animals I never got to see.
Coastlines and shores I never got to visit.
Glaciers that melted before I had the chance to admire their beauty.
All of that loss and for what?
For greed, for ignorance, for selfishness.
How many more tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, blizzards, cyclones
disabilities, pandemics, diseases,
deaths – how many more deaths?
Until we learn
Until we do better
Mother Earth, I am so sorry.
I’m sorry they did not listen to us.
When we ran out into the streets
With signs and megaphones
Screaming, crying and begging
Begged them to stop taking from you
Begged them to treat you with respect
They undermine us
Lie to us
Ignore our cries for justice
But we will keep fighting.
We will fight for you
We will fight for our future
We will harness our generational impatience
and create the change
we need in order to survive.
Will you join me?
I believe it is our duty to demand change in the face of injustice and refuse to stop until we are heard. If you are a young person in Canada and would like to have a say in addressing environmental challenges, I urge you to contribute to this online poll. Input from the My Planet My Rights poll will be presented at the Phoenix Consultation workshop and will contribute to a North America Regional Outcome Report and a Global Charter on Children’s Rights and the Environment.
Reeana Tazreean is an 18-year-old innovator, researcher and human rights advocate residing in Canada. She is a Youth Advisor and U-Report Canada Ambassador at UNICEF Canada. As a Design Thinking enthusiast, all her work roots from her belief in the importance of vulnerability and empathy. She is currently pursuing undergraduate studies in the field of Health and Society.
