article by Ella Lagacé Edwards (Y12)
A short Biography
Dr. Jane Goodall, born in April 1934 in Hampstead, London, fell in love with the extraordinary natural world at a very early age. Her stuffed toy chimpanzee, Jubilee, gifted to her by her father, has followed her footsteps for nearly her entire life. Jubilee helped spark an ever-burning flame in her, alongside her loyal dog, Rusty, stable horses, and the various London critters she would find in her backyard.
To become the PhD chimpanzee conservationist we all know famously, Goodall not only had the luck of “the right person at the right time”, she also needed strength, perseverance, and an abundance of patience. In the late 1950s, research behind understanding animal behaviours was not yet popularly funded and was mostly a male dominated field. It took Goodall 7 years to gain recognition for her outstanding discoveries in the world of primates. She also began receiving letters of praise from around the world (the flow from fans would only grow from then on) from those inspired or just wanting to thank her, when the documentary titled ‘Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees’ was first aired by National Geographic.
As of 2004 Goodall began devoting her full time to advocating for chimpanzees and the environment, travelling nearly 300 days a year all around the world to inspire new minds and share her deep, cutting message:
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Dr Jane Goodall
Unfortunately, it would take me more than 500 pages to only summarise all of Goodall’s journeys. Luckily, others have taken on the challenge for me and if you would like to learn more, there are many written biographies and/or documentaries that try to numerically represent Goodall’s life.
The day
On Tuesday the 5th of November 2024, Dr. Jane Goodall made her appearance at The International School of Geneva’s campus, La Châtaigneraie.
Dr. Jane Goodall speaking at the La Châtaigneraie gym hall
This extraordinary activist had the power to hush a full gymnasium to complete silence with only her presence.
A thought for the day
Sometimes the media is able to manipulate us without us knowing. An example of this is how we unconsciously perceive well known people as not being human at all, embellished, even untouchable. It takes us to see or meet this person with our own eyes
to hear the beating heart of a human being, that is no different to us. How do you perceive your idols? How would you prepare yourself if you met them tomorrow?
Having the opportunity for our school community to listen directly to the voice of such an inspirational person was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. That day Goodall was able to empower many new minds in our community to follow what they believe in as well as find new confidence and strength in themselves.
Dr. Jane Goodall gifted us with her most intimate ordeals with the community of Gombe chimpanzees she stayed with for all those years. We watched several filmed moments captured with these intelligent mammals— visual proof of their complex emotions, use of tools, and recognition of Goodall after helping them break free from their illegal captors. She then explained her groundbreaking discoveries with the help of Jubilee and co (a rat and a pig, two stuffed toys). Goodall fascinated us with the unspoken intelligence of many undermined animals that have been given negative connotations through our language.
You may feel guilty (or not) for wondering about her age (to be truthful I believe we all were). Yet, Goodall surprised all of us with her passionate energy. Her age became shrouded and set aside by her vibrant personality, and all we could think about was how lucky we were that she was there, to see us.
Roots and Shoots
Founded in 1991 by Dr. Jane Goodall, the non-profit organization, Roots and Shoots, has the mission to bring together youth from preschools all the way to universities to work on environmental, conservation, and humanitarian issues. Over 140 countries involving 8000 groups worldwide make up this program.
At La Châtaigneraie primary school, you can find the Roots and Shoots educational program in our year 5 and year 6 classes. On the day of Goodall’s talk, she spent her morning in the primary school. She met the young minds taking part in her program, backed up by a group of passionate teachers who are hoping to bloom a passion for our local environment into our school community. Several other small groups of dedicated students from different schools around Switzerland joined us for the day. The aim? To create lasting bonds between our Roots and Shoots schools and inspiring each other with their creative projects.
Our Primary school group is currently working on an inspiring project to bring awareness of the wide variety of species our campus shelters. This collaborated book will bind with The International School of Geneva’s Centenary celebrations, including 100 species for our 100th year.
To find out more about Dr. Jane Goodall, and where she will be appearing next, look at the Jane Goodall Institute website, at https://janegoodall.org/ .
Wonderful and insightful! My children were so inspired as well. Look forward to hearing more about the species that may their home on the campus.
Awesome!