Jane Reflects on 25 Years of Empowering Youth

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Today marks a big day in history for me, the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots as we celebrate the 25th anniversary since the founding of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots programme. What started with 12 Tanzanian students in 1991, has grown into a global humanitarian youth programme, canvassing 130+ countries with hundreds of thousands of young people involved. The basic idea of Roots & Shoots from the beginning was that each of us makes a difference every single day. Young people are the key, and through Roots & Shoots they take action on issues in their community, choosing projects they care about. Today, groups across the globe engage in projects that help people, animals and the environment, with the all-encompassing mission of learning to live in peace and harmony with each other, and with the natural world.

As I reflect on this incredible day from Gombe, I want everyone reading this to know that YOU do make a difference every day you are on this planet, and only YOU can choose what type of difference you are going to make.

You can get involved in the global celebration of #RootsandShoots25 on social media and learn more about the campaign at www.rootsandshoots.org/25years.

About Author

Jane Goodall is a passionate road warrior, traveling nearly 300 days each year on a worldwide speaking tour to raise awareness, inspire change, and encourage each of us to do our part in making the world a better place. Jane's love for animals started at a young age and in July of 1960, at the age of 26, she followed her dreams and traveled from England to what is now Tanzania, to bravely enter the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. She was equipped with nothing more than a notebook and a pair of binoculars, but with her unyielding patience and optimism, she won the trust of the Gombe chimpanzees, and opened a window into their lives for all to see. Jane's studies has taught humanity one of the most important lessons - that we humans are not the only beings on this planet with personalities, minds capable of thinking and above all, emotions. Her findings shook the scientific community and made us re-evaluate what it means to be human.