by Nadia Ramoutar  MMM Communications Coordinator            Ireland                        15.10.2025

As a little girl growing up in Dublin long before social media and screens on phones, I was transported to the wilds of Africa watching Jane Goodall on television. I would sit transfixed. How was she so calm, so gentle and comfortable in the wild? How had she gotten there from a childhood in England? Was she not afraid of this place and these wild animals? She was and has remained a role model for global advocacy of the natural world and being a steward of our Earth. When she died on 1st October, 2025 I cried as if a precious aunt had passed away and I was not ready to say goodbye.

My early fascination with Jane Goodall was no accident as she wisely believed that it was important to engage children about conservation and preservation early on. She wrote many children’s and adult books in her time but she realised that to really make the world better we need to reach people early in life. “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make?” She wisely said and I paid attention.

Two years ago a life dream came true for me and I was in beautiful Tanzania visiting the amazing MMM Missions there. I saw where the Jane Goodall Institute was being constructed. What a shame it would not be open by the time I was leaving. I really wanted to go inside and explore the legacy of this great women. Dr Goodall’s relationship to the animal world was expanded to the human world as she aged realising the harm and damage humans were doing to habitats.

As the world mourns Jane Goodall’s passing, there is much to celebrate in her call for us to be a better human kind. In her 80s and even when she turned 90, Jane worked 300 days a year to try and convince people to care and to not let this important moment in time go by without making the world care. “Above all, we must realise that each of us makes a different with our life. Each of us impacts the world around us every single day. We have a choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place – or not to bother.”

Her words resonate with me and I know in my heart despite my efforts, I have not done enough to make the world a better place – Have you? What else can we do? The great woman has gone to her resting place making every moment count. She has lovingly passed the baton on to those of us who remain. We must, as best we can, hold it tight and go the next leg of the journey with all our heart.