Happy Birthday Jane Goodall 💝
I was in the 8th std when I first read (or heard!) of Jane Goodall and her work with the Chimpanzees in Africa in a National Geographic magazine. It all sounded so exciting! It was around the time that I had woken up to 'environmental issues' and had freshly heard of the 'reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra and the word 'sustainable' was added to my dictionary. Jane Goodall (Primatologist was another new word in my dictionary!) and her Foundation's work in the African jungles fascinated me and fired me up completely.
One fine morning, I drafted out a nice handwritten letter to 'Dear Ms Goodall' requesting her to take me on board as an assistant during my two month long school summer vacation break ☺️ I said I love animals and jungles 😅 I even drew a small A4 size poster on the RRR theme. Put everything in an envelope, neatly wrote out the c/o Foundation address, borrowed money for stamps from Ma and posted the letter. I awaited a reply for a few weeks. You see, Africa is huge, and a far away continent, things take time! I waited. I dreamt of a summer vacation in Africa with Ms Goodall and the Chimpanzees. But nothing happened 😑
Then one day I got a reply. A fat envelope. With papers about the Foundation and their different programmes, including 'How to Volunteer', and of course, an envelope for donation! All very impersonal. And what I had wanted, a personal reply from Ms Goodall, saying Hello Bina , thank you, lovely poster, come to Africa, etc was not there 😔
Very soon I made my peace wiith the impossibility of a summer vacation in the African jungles with chimpanzees. However, that initial motivational spark led me on......the followings years I got more involved with environment, animals, and plants, and realised how little I knew (or know even now!) of this bountiful earth, it's flora, and fauna. For several years in the 1980's I would read up any news snippet, article, on Ms Goodall and her Foundation. Even now whenever I read or hear about her and her work my heart cheers up. And that dream of a 13 year old smiles in me 😍
I was in the 8th std when I first read (or heard!) of Jane Goodall and her work with the Chimpanzees in Africa in a National Geographic magazine. It all sounded so exciting! It was around the time that I had woken up to 'environmental issues' and had freshly heard of the 'reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra and the word 'sustainable' was added to my dictionary. Jane Goodall (Primatologist was another new word in my dictionary!) and her Foundation's work in the African jungles fascinated me and fired me up completely.
One fine morning, I drafted out a nice handwritten letter to 'Dear Ms Goodall' requesting her to take me on board as an assistant during my two month long school summer vacation break ☺️ I said I love animals and jungles 😅 I even drew a small A4 size poster on the RRR theme. Put everything in an envelope, neatly wrote out the c/o Foundation address, borrowed money for stamps from Ma and posted the letter. I awaited a reply for a few weeks. You see, Africa is huge, and a far away continent, things take time! I waited. I dreamt of a summer vacation in Africa with Ms Goodall and the Chimpanzees. But nothing happened 😑
Then one day I got a reply. A fat envelope. With papers about the Foundation and their different programmes, including 'How to Volunteer', and of course, an envelope for donation! All very impersonal. And what I had wanted, a personal reply from Ms Goodall, saying Hello Bina , thank you, lovely poster, come to Africa, etc was not there 😔
Very soon I made my peace wiith the impossibility of a summer vacation in the African jungles with chimpanzees. However, that initial motivational spark led me on......the followings years I got more involved with environment, animals, and plants, and realised how little I knew (or know even now!) of this bountiful earth, it's flora, and fauna. For several years in the 1980's I would read up any news snippet, article, on Ms Goodall and her Foundation. Even now whenever I read or hear about her and her work my heart cheers up. And that dream of a 13 year old smiles in me 😍
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