The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses rape, genocide, child soldiers, abuse, and animal abuse.

Jane talks about how she began to work with young people. When she started traveling around talking about her work, she met disillusioned young people who felt—rightly, she thought—that their future was stolen by previous generations’ disregard for the planet. Jane wanted to help them understand that there is something they can do, if people act within a certain window of time.

She started Roots and Shoots with 12 local Tanzanian children who came to her with concerns about their local communities and environments. With her help, they set up groups, who each made three projects—to benefit people, animals, and environment. They were mocked at first but the grassroots movement spread. Roots and Shoots became a global movement active in 86 countries. 

Jane thinks all children can be motivated and passionate about environmental activism. Especially in impoverished communities, Jane finds that encouraging disadvantaged children to exercise the power of their voice and telling them that their opinion matters has been effective.

Love in a Hopeless Place

Jane tells a story about an encounter with a man named Robert White Mountain in 2005, after she spoke in New York. Robert’s son died by suicide; they live in an area with high rates of death by suicide in Indigenous communities. Jane visits their reservation community and is shocked by the immense income inequality and unemployment. Since then, she’s tried to establish programs on reservations. 

So far, she’s only succeeded in setting up one, at Pine Ridge Reservation, on Oglala Lakota land, where youth are regrowing the “three sister” crops: squash, corn, and beans. Youth who joined Roots and Shoots largely graduated high school and went to university. At another Roots and Shoots group at a Tanzanian refugee camp for Congolese people, the hens, roosters, and gardens Roots and Shoots provided completely altered the morale of refugees.

“I Don’t Want Your Hope”

Doug asks Jane what she thinks about a speech Greta Thunberg gave critiquing hope and demanding action. Jane agrees with Greta’s assessment about the direness of the environmental crisis, but thinks we need hope, anger, and fear all together to act. While Jane gets angry when people put the responsibility solely on future generations, she thinks kids can inspire their parents and grandparents to embrace climate activism.

She recalls a letter from a mother of a young girl from Chengdu who heard Jane speak and was motivated to start a local Roots and Shoots group. The girl, Joy, learned English to communicate with Jane and they stayed in contact. Joy is 18 and works on environmental causes in local government.

Millions of Drops Make an Ocean

Doug asks what it is about young people that gives Jane hope. Jane thinks young people in the 21st century are more educated and engaged about these issues than ever before. Doug is skeptical that youth activism can change things when most people in power are older; Jane hopes that the power of voting will change the balance of power. She lists some Roots and Shoots alumni who are going on to work as government officials, journalists, teachers, and business people.

Doug asks Jane what her message is to youth who live in countries where they aren’t free to demonstrate against their government; she asks those people to hold onto hope for a better future even if it can’t be realized at this moment.

Nurturing the Future

Doug can’t help but think about the world’s social bias, hierarchy, and oppression. He asks Jane how we can change entrenched views. Jane is honest about not knowing, though she targets the support of parents as an important aspect for raising children who are mindful of others and the surrounding world. Jane “learned from the chimps” (135) about the importance of early childhood and supportive parental figures in determining future success and confidence. 

She recalls a letter she received from a teen girl in juvenile detention, who had a substance abuse problem and no support. The girl found one of Jane’s books in the facility’s library and thought “Jane can be my mother” (137) because of the support she felt from the pages. Doug tells a story of a hope researcher named Chan Hellman who, as a child, was neglected and contemplated death by suicide until he thought about the one teacher who supported him. Doug sees that hope might be a survival trait, but it must be nurtured. 

Jane tells a story about a Roots and Shoots group in Burundi, which experienced a genocide at the same time as Rwanda but received no resources. The group was started by a group of ex-child soldiers and women who had been raped; they all wanted to help their community heal from trauma. Jane still receives letters from the community telling her how the program brought people together in cooperation and rewilded the areas with trees.