Its a cold and grey Christmas day as expected in this part of the world (The Netherlands) and on a short visit for coffee with Piet Kersten, a friend whom I find myself always learning something new from in our previous short encounters, I decided to have him send out his message in a quick Interview to the disillusioned world we happen to be living in today.
“Us or the Youth?” Piet (Pete) Kersten 87 started.. “I will like to warn them (People who preach hate)…. You must love your neighbor, or your next keen” and “you must learn them to love all the nice things of the world”… “Its a privilege that we are living on a very nice planet and we succeed in changing… and changing the way we accept people who think different like we, or other things… who have other religion like you or we, you must accept that they are inhabitants on this beautiful Planet…”
The tone continues to be about tolerance, love and the obvious climate change we all bare witness to. Pete a young teenager during the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 and in the very center of the full scale destruction brought on humanity suggests …. “It is already said by many people.. You better make LOVE instead of WAR….. its very simple to love your neighbor, its no problem, in your heart you must have love for other people, also respect for nature, for other creations in the world.”
Also touching on the ecological imbalance and rapid extinction of species due to human activities.. Soft Spoken and methodically he continues.
“MAN is not the only important thing in the world there are very beautiful animals and we succeed to wipe off some of these races.. In the past, you see many animals who dont live on this planet anymore, why is that? We can share this world, the world is big enough for all of us.”
A reminder “never say this piece of earth is mine, you cannot own anything of this world” Its a privilege that you are dropped in this Planet and make the best of it I think”…
“Leave something nice for the next people who come after you… You are not the only important person in the World”
The octogenarian concluded after the short impromptu Video interview… “I just pour out my heart”
Enjoy the interview below: (His voice gets louder after a few seconds)
Bolaji Alonge is an Artiste and International Photographer from Lagos, Nigeria who has been traveling the world for most parts of the last decade documenting exotic cultures, participating in experiences , Tourism, Networking, exchange of ideas and information that sometimes books and the internet do not offer.
-Bolaji Alonge (Dec. 2016)
Photos by: ARL for awefirm.org
Awefirm © 2016 . All Rights Reserved.
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