“My takeaways? That yes, our frustrations and our challenges are many, but there is a place for optimism. That optimism drives a lot of the work that we continue to do in our entities, in our departments, in our NGOs, and our CSOs. And we must not lose sight of how important it is to remain optimistic,” Terri-Karelle Johnson concluding the CHOGM People’s Forum first session on “The Challenges Ahead: Climate Justice, Health Justice and Freedom of Expression.”
I had asked the panel “What makes them Optimistic for Themselves and Optimistic for the world.”
Terri-Karelle Johnson: “Beautiful question. Absolutely. I'll start with Dr. Hospedales.”
Dr James Hospedales: “Confession. I'm a doctor, so we are dealing with death and disease, and I tend not to be very optimistic about the future of this planet. Well, the planet will be here: I am not so sure about the tenants. but what gives me optimism is to be doing stuff, because if I stop doing, I would get depressed. And when I see that there is a bubbling up of concern across the world, especially among young people and people are doing things, that gives me some hope for the future.
Brianna Fruen: ‘I have so much hope in the fact that this is an intersectional crisis. And a lot of people would think because there's so many crises, shouldn't I be pessimistic? But I believe to truly grasp at the solution, we must get to the root. So, we can't have climate justice without the justice within our health system. We can't have climate justice without freedom of expression, without rights for women, without looking after... for those who are falling through the gaps in our communities. We can't have any of this unless we have all of it. And so, I believe that the crises we're experiencing now, it's like a woven mat or in Samoa, what we call fala. And once you stop pulling at a thread, the rest unravel. So, wherever we are today, whether we're pulling up the thread of the health injustices, whether we are pulling up the thread of censorship, whatever thread we're pulling at, I believe that we'll unravel all the crises we're experiencing. And I have hope in that because I believe there are people in every corner of the world pulling on their threads.”
Kalafi Moala: “I believe that Optimism is only possible when you fail. Just think about it a little bit. When you're doing so well without any failure, you don't need to be optimistic. You don't need hopeful to be hopeful. And so, it brings me back to the word resilient that we use quite a bit. I was thinking in the tongue and language, how to translate resilient. We don't have a word for resilient. And then every leader in the Pacific is resilient, resilient, resilient. So, I started to think, boy, you better write a book to translate resilient, what resilient is. But in the common language, resilient simply means when you fall, you get up and go again. And when you fall, if you're optimistic, you'll get up. If you've lost hope, you won't get up. So, to be resilient is the urge for us... To be optimistic is when we fall. Now Singapore experienced it. A country kicked out of Malaysia and the British wouldn't even touch them. They fell, but they caught up again thank God, and they went on.”
Terri-Karelle Johnson: In Jamaica we have a mantra, ‘Wi likely but wi tallawah’ it means that “we are small but we are mighty” We are a small dot on this map where we've been able to overcome extreme challenges and we've always been able to shine on any world stage, and to show that even though we are small, we have a big spirit. We have a big mind, there's nothing that is bigger than us. There's nothing that is big enough to throw us off course. So, will challenges come? Yes. But we are bigger than our fear. We are bigger than our challenges. And when we look back at our history and we see how much people have fought for us to be here, it is only right that in our DNA we'll continue to fight in our hope and in our optimism that we will make a better world tomorrow. And so that is what keeps me very, very hopeful. And I thank you for your question. Thank you.”
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