Also, freedom means the ability to dress, work and play the way I want and to live how and where I want, as long as I am not harming anyone else. The concept of freedom is so confronting to so many because it makes them question their values and behaviour which they know are lacking but either do not know, or do not want to know, how to change.

World leaders should be preaching tolerance, acceptance of diversity, especially in this age of rapid globalization, and love for all humanity regardless or color, creed, and religion. Much more energy and money could be put into programs and policies for healing and creating peace than for war.

We need to set an example for future generations; practice what we preach, dematerialize, love unconditionally and unreservedly and look after the planet.

by Jo Garnett
Australia

And the Future of Freedom – A Manifesto:

Children are the mantle upon which the future of our planet rests, investing in their wellbeing is the ultimate sustainable and political act.

Every child is wanted and welcomed.

Pregnancy is a natural event (not a medical condition) and the importance of the mother’s emotional, mental and physical wellbeing is recognized and supported.

A natural birth affords significant benefits to mother,
baby, father and family; therefore both the potential
benefits and risks of any intervention warrant careful
consideration.

Parents have the right and responsibility to be fully
informed about pregnancy, birthing, health and education
choices.

Optimal development for infants and children is fostered
by full-term breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping,
maintaining genital integrity (no circumcision), and
plenty of skin-to-skin contact.

Children are by nature social beings, born with the
drive to love and be loved, to learn about their world
through spontaneous play, exploration, and participation
inclusion in the activities of their elders, to cooperate
with others, and to contribute to their world. They are
most able to develop their full potential when treated
with care and respect.

Children are born with inherent, physical, emotional,
intellectual and spiritual needs.

Children depend upon their caregivers to protect
them from violence, abuse, being left to cry it out, shaming,
toxic food and toxic environments.

Children depend on their parents to demonstrate and
model to them appropriate ways of setting safe respectful
boundaries and limits to inappropriate behavior.

The role of the father and mother is profound and not
to be underestimated. Also important are the multiple
attachments outside the immediate family.

Optimal development includes supporting children’s
growth towards healthy sexual maturity across the physical,
emotional, social and ethical dimensions of sexual
wellbeing.

Family-friendly political, economic, educational and
social structures enhance parents’ opportunities and
ability to nurture and sustain a secure bond with their
children.

Community plays a vital role in raising children, both
as a support system for this secure bonding and also as a
source for secondary attachments.

Parenting our children means also re-parenting
ourselves. Self-discovery plays a major factor in the art of
effective parenting.

Imperfection is the lesson in how to be perfectly
human. Allowing ourselves as parents to make mistakes,
be transparently ourselves and emotionally alive in
relating to our children, enables them to individuate and
find their own separate and unique self.

After bonding comes healthy separation, facilitated by our
perfectly human inability to be everything to our children.

by Kali Wendorf
Mother, activist, magazine publisher/editor
Mullumbimby, Australia
Kindred Magazine

She listens to the night sounds of insects in the refugee camp, and then drifts off to sleep. This time she hears a soft voice.
“Yes, you leave your home to go to a new land.
Trust, you are protected, I am with you.”

The child awakens and goes to her mother, eyes misty with tears. “Mama”, Tila calls out, “The wise woman on the cloud tells us not to be afraid.”

“What are you talking about?” asks the mother.

Tila continues, “Do you remember the village dancer in the pretty costume who told stories through dance? The wise woman looks like her but she is on a cloud. Her hand is at her heart and her other hand is open. She says to trust where we are going, that we’ll have a new home.”

“Oh Tila,” her mother draws her daughter to her and smooths her hair.

Chores begin. Tila listens to other refugee people talk in the long line as they fill water jugs. Then she walks back to her tiny shack. Smoke drifts up from cooking pots on the fire where her mother is preparing a meal.

“Mama, people say children in the camp do not know the cow or buffalo, the animals for the work we did in our village. Will we stay here so long that I forget too? ”

“We’re only going to be here for a short time, Tila.”
“But mama, we’ve been here so long.” Tila sits by the doorway, head down in her lap.

“Hush little one.” Tila hears the soft voice and raises her head.

“Wise woman on the cloud, is that you? When will we go to our new home? Will I forget our village stories?”

“Soon little one, soon. Sing this song and remember the good stories from your land. The stories are with you to call on anytime.”

A soothing melody comes to Tila…

by Karen Gosetti
Vancouver, BC
Canada

Is there, in fact, hope for Africa’s future?

Yes. Provided human populations develop programs that will stabilize, or optimize, their growth rate. It is very important to implement child health care programs along with family planning so that women can expect that their children will live – instead of knowing, as they do today, that many of them will die.

There are many signs of hope. Along a lake shore in Tanzania, for example, villagers are planting trees where all the trees had disappeared.

Women are taking more control over their lives, and, once they become better educated, then the birth rate begins to drop. And the children are being taught about the dire effects of habitat destruction.

There is the terrible pollution around the world, the balance of nature is disturbed, and we are destroying our beautiful planet. There are fears of new epidemics for which there will be no drugs, and, rather than fight the cause, we torture millions of animals in the name of medical progress.

But in spite of all this I do have hope. And my hope is based on four factors.

The Human Brain

Firstly, we have at last begun to understand and face up to the problems that threaten us and the survival of life on Earth as we know it. Surely, then, we can use our problem-solving abilities, our brains, and, joining hands around the world, find ways to live that are in harmony with nature.

Indeed, many companies have begun “greening” their operations, and millions of people worldwide are beginning to realize that each one of us has a responsibility to the environment and our descendants, and that the way each one of us lives our life does matter, does make a difference.

The Determination of Young People

My second reason for hope lies in the tremendous energy, enthusiasm and commitment of a growing number of young people around the world. As they find out about the environmental and social problems that are now part of their heritage, they want to fight to right the wrongs.

Of course they do – they have a vested interest in this, for it will be their world tomorrow. They will be moving into leadership positions, into the work force, becoming parents themselves. Young people, when informed and empowered, when they realize that what they do truly makes a difference, can indeed change the world.

The Indomitable Human Spirit

My third reason for hope lies in the indomitable nature of the human spirit. There are so many people who have dreamed seemingly unattainable dreams and, because they never gave up, achieved their goals against all the odds, or blazed a path along which others could follow.

As I travel around the world I meet so many incredible and amazing human beings. They inspire me. They inspire those around them.

The Resilience of Nature

My fourth reason for hope is the incredible resilience of nature. I have visited Nagasaki, site of the second atomic bomb that ended World War II. Scientists had predicted that nothing could grow there for at least 30 years.

But, amazingly, greenery grew very quickly. One sapling actually managed to survive the bombing, and today it is a large tree, with great cracks and fissures, all black inside; but that tree still produces leaves. I carry one of those leaves with me as a powerful symbol of hope.

I have seen such renewals time and again, including animal species brought back from the brink of extinction.

So let us move into the next millennium with hope, for without it all we can do is eat and drink the last of our resources as we watch our planet slowly die. Instead, let us have faith in ourselves, in our intellect, in our staunch spirit.

Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace impatience and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love.

by Jane Goodall
Author, Activist, Primatologist
The Jane Goodall Institute
www.janegoodall.org

Freedom means love for and from everyone. Loving everyone means creation of a world with no ego and just spirit. When people become caught up in material goods, power and control, their world becomes distorted because there is no room for love in their egocentric mind. If everyone loved each other, there would be no oppressive military dictatorships in places like Burma, and there would be no starvation in third world countries.

Imagine a place where everyone was free to bounce around in big balls of love.

It may be hard to visualize because it seems so unrealistic. But really, take a few minutes to close your eyes and meditate, feeling love and warmth all around you. Letting thoughts come and go. This is what it feels like to have freedom. This is what it feels like to have love and be loved.

How do we liberate freedom from ignorance and fear? I am still in search for this answer.

What I know now, is through non-violence. What I believe, is love. What I believe will work is a united form of loving people. The saying, “Hurt people hurt people” stands true to this. Love is in everyone, and fear evolves when the ego takes over the mind, body and soul. The Generals working in Burma are afraid. They fear love, and only know oppression. We need to remind them that peace is something that CAN be achieved and that a Government can be established with love and warmth for their own people.

If I had one thing to say to the Burmese Generals, it would simply be, “why?” No answer that he could give me could possibly justify the death and harm that he is causing Burmese people. Now, if I could say anything to the assembly, I would tell them to rule with their spirit and to listen to their heart. I would love to have them join me for a meditation.

In order to safeguard future generations, I believe that education is the key. Through education, one can become whoever they would like to be. Education allows freedom of the spirit and the soul. Through education, we can liberate freedom.

My name is Jennifer Tun (Bay Area, California).
www.myspace.com/jenboo77

“I am half Burmese and half European (German and Russian). I have been mostly interested about my Burmese heritage since my father, who was Burmese, passed away when I was 13 years old. I am now 20 years old and searching for my identity.”