After completing the values activity, I have learnt that my most important values are equality, tolerance and opportunity. My least important values were tradition, power and spiritual growth.
I agree with these results. I think that equality, tolerance and opportunity are very important in the world we live in. I also think that tradition, power ad spiritual growth are important but not as important as some of the other things on the list. A few other values that I find important but are not on this list are integrity, helping and responsibility.
What equality means to me:
Equality means that everyone should get the same opportunities no matter their race, gender, how they look, etc. Everyone should have the same chances and be considered the same until they show who or what they are. Everyone should be equal, receive the same resources and rights, regardless of their circumstances. Everybody should receive he same amount of respect and trust until the prove they shouldn’t. This is important to me because people can change how they were born and how they naturally look. They also cannot control under what circumstances they grew up in, parent wise or money wise.
What tolerance means to me:
Tolerance means to be able to handle other peoples opinions without judging them and putting them down for it right away. It means being willing to accept others feelings, habits, or beliefs, even if you don’t agree with them.
What opportunity means to me:
To me, opportunity is somewhat similar to equality. It means that everyone receives the same opportunities, regarding work, education and much more. It also means that people should get to try and experience things they haven’t tried or experienced before. They should be able to progress and advance in anything they like by having that opportunity (unless they show they don’t deserve it).
The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals that aligns the most with my values is probably “goal 10: reduced inequalities”. This goal strives to reduce inequalities within and among countries. It aligns with the values of equality and oppotunity.
Out of the 17 Unites Nation Developmental Goals, the one I am the most passionate about would have to be either Goal 5: Gender Equality, or Goal 13: Climate Action.
Goal 5: Gender Equality (trigger warning: mentions of death and assault):
Goal 5 works to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. This has been one of my passions for a while now. I have always thought about how unfair women and girls can get treated at time and often have no power to do anything about it. In many counties, women have no freedom and can’t even walk the streets freely. One example that I have been seeing a lot lately, is women being killed for no reason in Turkey. Another example is the women in Afghanistan being banned from attending schools and colleges. In Afghanistan, the women also now have rules when being in public regarding behavior, being able to speak, and much more. They are being tortured, assaulted, facing harassment, etc. The worst part about it is that these are not the only countries where this is happening. Even in the country I live in (Canada), women are not treated the same as men. Although it is not as torturous as in other countries (which I am very grateful and lucky for), it is still unfair. As you can probably tell by now, this is one of my biggest passions and something I will always try my best to inform people about and do what I can to help. This goal is not related to my action project but it is still very meaningful to me and something I think should be addressed. NO WOMEN IS FREE UNTIL EVERY WOMEN IS FREE.
Goal 13: Climate Action:
Goal 13 takes urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Climate change is a part of our world that I am also very passionate about. The reason that I find this important is because this is the world we live in, and for us to survive, we need our earth to survive. Climate change is a very serious and real thing. Humans are the main cause of climate change and we are not doing enough to fix it. We need to work harder to just for ourselves, but also for the other animals living on this planet.
One of the causes of climate change is plastic pollution. This is why, me and my two partners will be doing a bottle drive. We will be posting about our bottle drive on our Instagram and around the school. We will also be doing a park clean-up to get more bottles, then we will recycle the bottles at Return It Depo. The money we raised will be donated to the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC, an organization that helps injured, orphaned, and pollution-damaged wildlife. We thought that this was not only a good organization to donate to but also a good way to raise both money and awareness. The bottles we collect are being kept from ending up in landfills, we are cleaning parks, and we also get to tell people about why we are collecting them. By donating the money we earn to them, we will be giving back to all the animals who we have hurt with pollution, climate change and more.
