© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 1 OF 10

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General I am very pleased that it is you – the young people of the Commonwealth – who are around the table and talking today. It is you who will inherit this century: the world in all its wonder; and indeed the world in all its mess, created by the people of my generation and before. Our hopes rest on your shoulders: see that as a challenge and an inspiration, not as a burden. RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 2 OF 10 “ ” Extract from a letter to delegates of the RCS Youth Leadership Programme 2008

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY 1.Is the world more full of ‘wonder’; or more full of ‘mess’? 2.Why does Kamalesh Sharma think that it is good for young people to be talking? How does talking help the world? 3.Is it too much responsibility to place on young people to take on the hopes of the people of the Commonwealth? RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 3 OF 10

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY Desmond M Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa Each of us is amazing. The scientists tell us that genetically we are more than 99% the same as one another. Wow, isn’t that amazing? Yet each of us is unique. That 1% must be very important. When we have so much in common, it is the 1% over which we fight and kill each other. Instead, that tiny, small percentage which makes each of us unique is a cause for celebration! It is pure gift. RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 4 OF 10 ” “ Extract from a letter to delegates of the RCS Youth Leadership Programme 2008

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY 1.What does Desmond Tutu mean when he says ‘each of us is amazing’? 2.Why do people find it hard to remember that we are all human beings with so much in common? How do conflicts happen? 3.How can we celebrate our uniqueness? RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 5 OF 10

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY Percival N. J. Patterson, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica I hope that you are very well prepared to dream, to think big and moderate your ideas as you test them in the real and ever changing world, rather than to accept the world substantially as it is and perhaps, as the saying goes, tinker at the edges. The future depends on you and people like you. It is not only yours to inherit but yours to manage, protect and guarantee for your children and those who come after them. As we say in Jamaica, “Walk good” today and every day. RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 6 OF 10 ” “ Extract from a letter to delegates of the RCS Youth Leadership Programme 2008

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY 1.Why does P. J. Patterson suggest we should ‘think big’? Do you agree? 2.What does it mean to ‘moderate your ideas’? 3.How can we manage, protect and guarantee the future? 4.What do you think the saying “‘Walk good’ today and every day” means? RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 7 OF 10

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there was mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite… Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished. RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 8 OF 10 ” “ Extract from ‘A Long Walk to Freedom’ (published 1995, p.749)

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY 1.Do you agree? Is love stronger than hate? 2.In the last sentence, does Nelson Mandela mean just man, or does he mean man and woman? What could he have written instead to make his language more inclusive? 3.What can we do about hatred and conflict? Can we teach people to love? If so, how? RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 9 OF 10

© ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY Decide on an action you can take to help people around the world have a better life. Go out and do it! RESOURCE 7-4 | PAGE 10 OF 10