Karla Rohova – An Animal Activist Awakens
Karla Rohova – An Animal Activist Awakens – One of the most amazing things about having my animal awareness blog “A Beating Heart” is the number of amazing people that I connect with from around the world. It is one of the reasons why I remain hopeful in the face of impossibly appalling human behaviour. Read Karla’s story about awakening to the fact that she could get involved. Karla now talks to people she knows in The Czech Republic and she is making a difference. March with people in 116 cities around the world on World Animal Day – October 4, 2014. Let Karla inspire you to get involved and help these beautiful, endangered animals.
Guest Writer – Karla Rohova
From The Czech Republic
When I was listening to Ian Somerhalder’s testimony at Natural Resources Hearing on the domestic ivory ban, I fell in love with these two questions: “If we do not lead, who will? And if we do not lead now, how much longer will there still be elephants left to save?”
Since March 2013 I have been trying to change myself, my environment and also our world. Fortunately, I got a chance to share my own missions with awesome people from Ian Somerhalder Foundation and after a few months of ‘work’ – I realized that I’m really changing something – that together with IS Foundation and their team I’m really making a difference.
Thanks to Ian Somerhalder and his foundation I have already met so many amazing human beings. All of them held a certain part of my heart, but there is one person who I’ll be always grateful to. Her name is Patty Weston and she lives in Louisiana which is quite far from my mini country, the Czech Republic. However, Patty has become my best friend and through the last year she gave me so much support that I was able to beat every obstacle which stood in the road of my life.
She is also my idol and I like to call her ‘a hero’, because her life mission is to save and protect elephants, rhinos – and other animals – living in South Africa. I learned that these incredibly beautiful creatures really need our help, so I started informing people around me, involving students from my school in some projects and supporting youth to start their own mission with ISF or to help us protect rhinos and elephants.
You know, the situation in South Africa is disastrous. One rhino is killed every eight hours. One elephant is killed every fifteen minutes. But we’re not talking about some twisted butcher shop – this is a talk about African wildlife. If we don’t do something now, then the future generations will not be able to see an elephant or rhino with their own eyes, because there simply will not be any. And that’s a horrible fact.
When I was a kid, I saw an unknown sci-fi film in which people were living in the future with no lions, elephants, rhinos or even horses. I was so depressed because of the story, that I had nightmares for weeks. One day I asked my Mom if it really could happen – if there really will be no animals in the future.
My mother’s answer was something that I will always remember and teach others: “It depends on you, sweetheart. If it is true, then only you can change it.”
Please, be the change in the world. Planet Earth gives us life. Every day. We can’t destroy our only home and we really can’t murder all the creatures which stand below us. That wouldn’t be right and we would die right after them. So, stop with excuses and start doing something. It’s really simple! You just need to find what you love and protect it with your own actions, words, voice, body and soul.
Watching Ian Somerhalder speak inspired Karla!
Thank you,
Karla Rohová
STOP Poaching – SAVE African wildlife! from Karla Rohová on Vimeo.
When I asked Karla about animal activism in The Czech republic this was her answer:
Well, I’m not so sure about an ideal answer. My country was under socialist regime for many years, so people here had not thought about future or about other countries/problems in the world. Now we live in a democracy, but there are generations which still haven’t accepted this ‘new’ system and are simply scared of the world.
For example, education in schools is very much affected by this. Or political system. In simple terms: We don’t talk about global problems, we don’t want to help to solve them and we certainly have lots of excuses. The biggest problem is that we ‘educate’ kids and youth to do the same.
I had been lucky that my parents weren’t those people when they raised me. They taught me to love animals and take care of our planet. I also learnt a lot from horses which I used to train and the rest of it is from the work of Ian Somerhalder (and his foundation) and my dear friend Patty Weston. If I think about it, I found needed education and encouragement to really become an animal activist just thanks to these two people.
I don’t want to state only negatives, so here are some positives: We are getting better. It will be a long-term fight to change people and to change my country, but I believe that one day we’ll get there. I work with a few young people and I’m trying to give them the same support I needed to start my own mission and once they accept it, they become such amazing change makers! Also, when I finished my video, I shared it with my Czech friends and I was very pleasantly surprised that they wrote me back, asking the best possible question “How can I help you?”.
