P&P Campaigner Profile: Hannah Smith
Every month People & Planet profiles an individual campaigner, in order for us to celebrate and highlight what P&Pers are doing. If you think one of your friends should be displayed on this page then get in touch with us. This month's offering is...
Hannah Smith (left) with fellow campaigner on their way to deliver I Count pledge cards to Tony Blair
Name Hannah Smith
Age 17
School Bullers Wood School in Chislehurst
What are you studying? German, Italian, Maths and Further Maths.
What inspired you to start campaigning? I don’t think you can claim to be human if you get up every morning, in full knowledge that so many others are beginning or ending days of starvation, poverty, disease, war, disaster and further suffering, and forget about it as soon as you are faced with the decision of which cereal to eat for breakfast. Once matters are put into perspective, it’s obvious that campaigning for a better world is essential.
Describe your most memorable P&P experience. Last year we had a Fairtrade chocolate game at the school’s Christmas Fayre which involved wearing giant ski-gloves and a rubber moose head. That was quite memorable.
How did you first hear about P&P? What’s the best thing about being involved in a P&P group? I first heard about P&P through the Oxfam website, and thought our school needed one. The best thing is seeing how much a group can achieve with a bit of organisation, commitment, support… and occasionally a kids’ cookbook..
What can be done to engage young people in the campaign for social justice? I think people need to know and discuss what is wrong in the world, and then learn how their individual and collective actions can make a difference.
What do you think is the most pressing issue in the UK today? The lethal damage we are inflicting upon the entire planet through pollution and waste.
What was the last film you watched? Arizona Dream. Starring Johnny Depp, several turtles and a fish with two eyes on one side of its head.
Where would you most like to visit? It would be really interesting to visit some of the communities helped by gifts through projects like Oxfam Unwrapped. Iīd particularly like to check up on ‘my dadīs’ goatīs village in Ethiopia.
What are your ambitions for the future? For the future of People & Planet at Bullers Wood: to get more people involved, keep up Fairtrade Fridays and emphasise the importance of trade justice, develop our climate change campaign, and raise heaps of money by the end of the year. For my future: to go to University, keep campaigning, and never forget that peace, opportunity and freedom are for everyone and not just myself. For the world: to wake up, smell the poverty, and do something about it once and for all.
