Who is your hero?
Emily is my hero - who is yours?
As it's coming up to the end of the year I've been clearing out the closets in my laptop and tying up loose ends on our website. As a result I have found myself reminiscing about things that have happened over the last year or even further back...
I have been thinking about all of the wonderful projects I have been involved with this past year notably - defending the Pacific Commons and the Climate Rescue Station in Poland. And I feel lucky to be involved with such wonderful campaigns that are proving to have positive results! One of the questions I get asked when I discuss my work with friends and people I meet - is how I got involved with Greenpeace in the first place. I usually tell people that I became an online supporter and won a competition to be a volunteer for the GE campaign in China. But I often forget to mention that the reason I became an online supporter is because I read a tribute about a girl called Emily who was a Greenpeace activist that died while protecting the Amazon rainforest in December 2003.
She was without a doubt - the loveliest person anyone could ever hope to meet. I was totally inspired by her story and signed up as a Greenpeace online supporter as soon as I put down the January 2004 issue of the Ecologist Magazine where her tribute was printed amongst stunning photos illustrating the amazing work Emily had been involved with.
Now 5 years on - I'm looking back at her tribute page on our website and wondering what she would be doing now if she were still around today. I imagine that she would be on the Arctic Sunrise right now - as it prepares for an action packed visit to the Amazon. I am sure in spirit - she is. I hope that you will take a moment to read about Emily and enjoy her blogs from the Amazon tour she was on in 2003.
She is certainly one of my heroes (considering where she led me - she is actually my greatest) and I will always be grateful for learning about her life that day when I picked up the Ecologist.
Given the environmental challenges that we now face I figure we could all use some green heroic inspiration as we look to the year ahead of us. If you have an environmental hero from this year or from any other year - please tell us about them by leaving a comment.
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Comments
Wow! It's such a shame that that Emily died.
My eco-hero is the tree woman of Africa - Dr. Wangari Maathai because she has worked so hard and has done so many great things in Kenya.
She is a great inspiration!
Posted by: Eric | December 31, 2008 10:51 AM
Just learned of Emily and read about her for the first time. Thanks for keeping her memory alive, and continuing to inspire others. As far as heros, the one that stands out for me right now is the guy who threw his shoes at George Bush...
:)
Posted by: Bill Devitt | January 1, 2009 9:03 PM
emily was a friend of mine. we were both greenpeace crew at one point or another. she was lovely and i miss her. i cannot believe it's been 5 years that she's been gone. i said a silent word for her on december 19th, the anniversary of her disappearance in the amazon. i think of her all the time. she was a truly beautiful person. we have lost too many of them in greenpeace. i like to think their spirits are assembling to give us, left behind, some help.
emily, hans, jorge, hamid, wouter, chris, david, bob...all heroes in their own ways.
Posted by: her friend | January 5, 2009 1:53 AM
Emily is my hero too. 5 years without her was really hard. I love her still.
regards
Birgit
Posted by: Birgit | January 7, 2009 1:08 PM