Yellow Brick Road

Every Thursday at 6.30 sharp in a shiny castle-like Washington Center building starts our class on Millennium Development Goals. During the 3 sacred hours of our pre-weekend life we are devoting ourselves to the humanity, its development problems and possible solutions to them. A group of 24 people from different backgrounds, countries and sometimes one might even think planets gathers in a small cozy classroom of white walls and a sci-fi looking projector atop the blackboard. Honoured Professor (once a pastor and still entitled to carry out marriages) softly tells us stories that touch our hearts. He has been to many countries, worked for humanitarian organizations, cared for hungry people and he now devotes every Thursday to us.

In the dark of the room slides are changing each other on a blackboard. Data across the world paints truthful pictures of people lives. Elephants of India, mountain pikes of South America, tropical forests of Asia and other wonders of the world come to my imagination as the slides go by. At these moments I remember those sweet moments of childhood when during cold winter days I was lying on my couch wrapped in a warm cloth with a cup of tea in my hand and a book in front of me. Back then it seemed that there were no problems in the world – summers were hot, autumns romantic, winters playful and springs cheerfully charming. Seasons changed one other softly and life was full, pure and happy. But now in the dark of the room I see pictures of a different world.

In the middle of the second hour a group of students will start a presentation on the MDGs in Brazil. Under a surveillance of a futuristic projector they will speak about poverty, equality and many other very important and crucial issues. One by one they will cover the Eight Millennium Development Goals and finish the presentation with a huge applause from the group.

At this same time somewhere in the tropical forests of Amazon River local tribes will set up open fires, take fishing nets out of the river and cook their supper. The leader of one tribe, half-naked – half-dressed in the clothes of the globalised world – will hold the speech. They will pray and then go to sleep. Small kids will play with each other even after being forced to go to bed and their mothers will sit long around the fire complaining that they in their childhood were not so stubborn and playful.

These tribes might not be aware of the Millennium Goals, might not posses much knowledge about the world over seas and might not even know that some people in the narrow corridors of public institutions are caring about them. But despite that they might be happy and prosperous. That is what one should always bear in mind when one speaks about development and aid. People lead different lives and sometimes they do not need help, moreover they are afraid of it.

 

Three hours will pass like a minute. The street will be covered by leaves and the moonlight will guide our way. 24 students will leave the magical room of enlightenment and will tiredly move forward. The stars will smile high in the sky. And the world will continue seeking for the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, which it needs today more then ever.

Riddles in the dark

Now I think it is the right time to start my tale. It is a late autumn Wednesday evening with yellow and red leaves following slowly from the trees and brisk wind pressing against the window frames. The sun has set and the nightlife of adventures, mysteries and treasures is enveloping the sleeping world. Somewhere far-far away ships are sailing in the vast waters of storms and hopes, high in the sky stars shine brightly and somewhere in the North polar bears are having tribe meetings and are catching fish. In the world of adventures and secrets, night is its most charming princess. She covers everything and brings dreams, tales and riddles to life. Today is a time for a one special tale.

 

One May ago, I went to London. On the day I arrived, it was heavily raining and all London sky had a famous grey English colour. I was there on occasion. Last April I won the International English Public Speaking Competition in Russia and my prize was a participation in the finale of this event. This finale took place in London, as you may have guessed already. The idea of the contest was very simple. Young girls and boys from across the world tried to deliver their sacred thoughts to the hearts of the people around them. Participants were given three minutes to make a speech on a topic "Dynamic Earth". It was important what things one might have included in one`s speech (in fact each contestant had to make up a title for his own speech), but also very essential was how one declared his ideas and what one tried to persuade people.

 

When I firstly heard of the theme of the contest, it took me a while to come up with a speech. Dynamic Earth is a nice word combination, but what stands behind it? I firstly thought about time (oh, I will tell you later about time and its dazzles), feelings, planets far away, but nothing really touched me. I nearly decided to skip the competition, but then something suddenly struck me (was it Newton`s apple?) and words themselves formed into ideas and sentences. They are below and even now, when I read them one year after they still touch me, being very appropriate now, more than ever before.

 

I am now in Washington D.C. and London is far away. I am learning Millennium Development Goals and at the same time try to change the world around me, at least a little. It is a cold Wednesday night and the wind is pressing against the window frames. Night is ruling the world, but now is the time for a very special tale….

 

 

 

The Lonely Earth

 

Just imagine. There is a planet not far away from the Sun. It flies in its soft and warm rays. It is covered with an atmosphere of courage, with a misty beauty and dreams. It is indeed a wonderful tiny water blue and icy white planet. It is your planet, our planet. The Earth.

 

We, the people, live here. Every day for many thousands of years we invent fire, burn the candles of our lives and drive our way forward. We change the world. We swim in the depths of World`s Oceans, hover high in the sky and fly into the silent eternal space. We clamber over the rocky snowy mountains of the North, bathe in the life-giving waters of springs of the East, luxuriate on sandy yellow beaches of the South and every winter eagerly wait for Father Christmas to come from the North.

We rule time and make our world dynamic, brighter and broader. We consider ourselves to be almighty and see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation. And all the universe is beneath us…

 

But ivy vines are entangling our homes.

 

The Earth is no longer a planet of virgin nature, it is being destroyed and enslaved by man. Neither is it a planet of animals, they are defenceless against belligerent humans. We brutally kill, cut down forests, contaminate blue-blue lakes and springs. Laugh at the holes in the ozone layer, which have already reached half the size of the Antarctica. We seed hostility among us and enjoy the echo of our steps in silent deserted plains. We like books, but prefer not to read the ones, telling us the stories about our own cruelty.

The Earth is no longer a planet of love, but of war, blood and violence. Neither is it a planet of the disabled, who are lonely and dying in their forgotten homes with no relatives alive and eyes covered by ashes. Neither is it a planet of several millions of children, orphans, who live in poverty with no love, no hope, alone in the cold, windy and gloomy corridors of hateful institutions. But if it is not a planet of our children, the sunshine of our life, is it ours at all?

We say that we create the progress, that we reach the white summits of the distant mountains but we can't overcome our children`s loneliness, our own loneliness. It is not a dynamic Earth, rapidly changing and moving towards the brighter future, it is a lonely planet, which got lost in the cold vast universe. And we are its tiny whimsical little children, who just do not want to acknowledge the problems, and are always dreaming of the happy-ever-after story.

But none so blind as those who won`t see. The prophecies are becoming real. Numerous floods, famines, and plagues are the fingers of fate, which are trying to warn us. But we try not to notice them.

 

Though even still, despite all the problems, despite the anger and the spiritual wounds there still exists room for hope. A hope that one day the Sun will shine brightly upon the vast fruitful valleys, that glaciers will shimmer and sparkle and birds along with the elephants will joyfully cry. A hope, that one day the wind will change and it will bring happiness and prosperity to our lands.

 

The Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun. Well, at least some clever scientists say so. But is not just a planet, it is a precious treasure in our hands. And we can save it and help it grow into a miracle.
We just should not forget the magical melody of our hearts. Listen to it and try not to forget.

Beginning

Everything has a beginning...