鈥淚 think all the students here are incredibly lucky, because there is this great atmosphere of learning about the things you care about, interacting with the environment, and learning some of the core values of success in life, which is respect and kindness and understanding.鈥
Jane Goodall
Dr Jane Goodall releases two endangered Bali Starlings in a symbolic gesture at the second ever graduation of 黑料新闻 School鈥檚 High School Students in 2014.
The moment marked the end to a seminal four days at 黑料新闻 School in which the honoured British author, primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist gave one public lecture and one graduation keynote address, hosted an exclusive coffee morning and special fund-raising dinner, presented at two press conferences, and spent a day meeting with all the students of 黑料新闻 School.
The children showed their appreciation at a special assembly when they performed a song, especially written for her called A Tribute to Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE: Roots Go Down.
Dr Goodall was in Bali to promote her Roots & Shoots Programme and spread her message of hope. The theme of all her talks centred around the premise 鈥渆veryone can make a difference every day鈥.
The planet is in a perilous state and it is this generation of children who will, and can, change the world for the better.
鈥淲e can all make an impact,鈥 she says, 鈥渁nd we all have a choice about the impact we want to make.鈥
The Roots & Shoots Programme, of which 黑料新闻 School is a part, is now in 126 countries with over 150 000 active groups doing what they can 鈥渢o put it right鈥.
This success is testament to her 鈥渙bstinate鈥 character which she says means 鈥渟he never gives up鈥.
Each of Dr Goodall鈥檚 presentations were layered with anecdotes which, despite her lilting unassuming very British delivery, culminated in a deliberate call to arms.
She spoke of how her time in the hen-house as a child taught her the patience required for scientific observation, of the love she had for Doctor Doolittle, who could speak to the animals, and of how 鈥淭arzan had married the wrong Jane鈥.
She acknowledged how lucky she was to have a wonderful mother, who had encouraged her to go to Africa to take such risks while living with the Chimpanzees of Tanzania.
Dr Goodall spoke of her mentor, Louis Leakey, Kenya鈥檚 National Museum Director, who funded her research in Tanzania and later her Cambridge degree in the 1960s, as well as the other important teacher in her life, her dog Rusty.
Rusty had taught her animals did have emotions and personalities. This knowledge had given her the strength to stand up to the Cambridge establishment who criticised her for anthropomorphising the chimps under her watch.
In 1992 she had her 鈥淩oad To Damascus moment鈥 when she attended a conference in Gombe Stream National Park. She learned about the extent of the devastation happening in the African environment with regards to the degradation of its land and animals.
鈥淚 left the conference an activist鈥
She feels a sense of shame and desperation as a member of her generation, having caused such destruction, she says.
And yet, Dr Goodall, ended every one of her speeches by saying there were still reasons for hope. 鈥淭here is still time. The problems of poverty, the energy of the youth, the human intellect, the resilience of nature and the indomitability of the human spirit鈥 is what inspires me every day.鈥
It is the children who will change their parents鈥 minds about the problems of poverty, unsustainable lifestyles and the human population.
鈥淭hey are changing it right here and now. Right here at 黑料新闻 School!鈥