This blog was written by Ben Mesure, a 17 year old in Year 12 of Lambeth Academy in England.

At the end of last month we had the privilege of playing host to American environmentalist Majora Carter who delivered an inspiring speech on her work in New York, tackling environmental and social issues simultaneously. Her methods of dealing with environmental dilemmas in a way which present social benefits and handling social problems, such as unemployment and crime, in a way which contributed to the process of “going green” were truly commendable. Majora’s speech shed light on the simplicity of the actions we can and should take as a society, yet we fail to take the necessary measures to ensure environmental and social sustainability. As a result of Majora’s time with us, I will now be working with the school to start “green roofing” the building, which will hopefully be just the first of many steps towards making our school sustainable.

Later the same day, we were lucky enough to be invited to a US Embassy reception for another motivational and enlightening speech which proved to be just as engaging as the first. Much of the information would have been incredibly useful in my geography exam which I unfortunately had already sat the previous day. In spite of this, the evening was a brilliant experience, as in fact was the day as a whole, as the degree of passion which was demonstrated by Majora was inspirational. The fact that our school will now be re-enacting the work of Majora stands as testament to her success in her work. I wish Majora and her team luck in all her endeavours.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.