LETTER FROM GAIA ( EARTH)

I worry about all my continents, but you, poor Africa, are the land of my deepest concern. I had the most magnificent dreams for you when you were taking form. You were my pride and joy, the cradle of men, draped in your ample cloak of forests, with such diverse scenery and wildlife. When my turbulent Europe was spitting smoke from her blackened lungs, I sought solace by your great, placid rivers, watching the canoes go by.

I have felt as one with your societies where “we” took precedence over “I” and where solidarity was always victorious; where man belonged to the land more the land to him, and yesterday, today and tomorrow’s generations were one close family in quest of life in nature. Life flowed with the seasons and with resources I provided.

With great sadness I remember the wise rules that guided your heritage, as in Niger’s delta where fishermen, hunters, pastoralists, all obeyed the code of honor that preserved the inheritance of future generations. Sacred woods were abundant in the forests where rules of conservation and sustainable development were intertwined with religious beliefs.

Today you seem forgetful and prostrate. Yesterday’s traditions are forgotten. Your image, poor Africa, is tainted with drought, famine, disorder, war and coups. Every year the forest is further reduced to the point where it will soon be completely gone. Your great island Madagascar; yesterday covered with abundant forests, today is reduced to bare hills. Every day your wealth is shamefully wasted.

Can’t you see your blood red rivers carrying your soil to the oceans? Yesterday protected by your cloak of heavy vegetation, today hills are lifeless, all hopes for a bountiful harvest lost. The rains create rivers of mud, spreading disaster along their course.

Rivers of men leave the countryside to enter the tormented ghettos of the cities. Your population is exploding; poor men condemned to pain and deprivations.

Should I abandon you, let you fall to such degradation? No. a mother could never accept it. Take the opportunity, mend your wounds, recover your values and preserve your heritage. For you I will do anything. Regain courage; rediscover the joy of life, the laughter fused in the rhythm of the drums, the rewards of man in communion with nature and the innocent solidarity that many societies have forgotten in the darkness of their history.