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Johannesburg, September (GYRP) – There are catalysts in our midst. And outside the conference centre too. By the entrance to swanky Sandton, where the World Summit on Sustainable Development is being held, Ally Mosina, 24, is handing out yellow flyers – he’s not allowed through the gates.
The flyers ask delegates to send him letters describing their feelings about the Summit. He hopes to use them to put together a book that will pass on messages about the Summit to his community, in one of the townships outside Johannesburg.
“I have not had the opportunity to sit down at any of the round tables, but if you are not part of the summit you can still make sure your voice is heard,” he says. “I am not here representing myself, but my community. People know that there is a summit going on but there is no way to channel the information to them.” He’s aiming to fill that gap.
“About 60 percent of my community is illiterate,” he says, “and without education we cannot talk about sustainable development. Most of the young people are driven by poverty and aim just to sustain themselves. It is so disheartening to see some of the girls driven to prostitution when you know they have so much potential.”
Ally never met his father, and his mother died of an AIDS related illness. “People are still not really open about AIDS. When my mother was ill there were the obvious symptoms but she would never say that was what she had. People are more accepting now but there’s still a real fear of victimisation.”
Despite his circumstances Ally refuses to think negatively. “I think that even when people are saying that Rio failed, that people are not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, it’s useless to criticise without offering an alternative.”
His alternative is education. “Today’s young people were involved in the liberation from apartheid – at that time the priority was liberation first, then education. For a lot of people it’s too late now. They are working to make ends meet, or else have turned to crime.” He’s worried about how he will pay for his younger sister to go to university. No doubt he will find a way. “You must be optimistic. You must not give up.”
The Secretary General for the WSSD spoke of “agents for change” in his opening address. That should be on the agenda inside the conference – but outside there are also some agents for change, like Ally. already putting words into action.
© GLOBAL YOUTH REPORTERS PROGRAMME
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Annabel Short
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Comments
Outstanding! Leon Galindo | Nov 14th, 2002
Thak you Ally, thank you Annabel -- I loved! this article. Goes to the essence of things-- that love, passion, optimism, and action do matter, and that people are out there living this every day.
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