The world-renowned primatologist set foot in what is now Gombe National Park in Tanzania half a century ago, today, to study chimpanzees. Did she know she would be continuing her work 50 years later?
“Well the research began with one young girl and a notebook and a pencil, out there in the rain and in the sun everyday, and gradually learning more and more about the complex structure of these beings; learning them as personalities, learning about their behavior that’s so like ours,” Jane Goodall said about her beginnings in Africa on CNN.
Goodall’s research has made groundbreaking discoveries, such as the fact that chimpanzees make and use tools as humans do. It was in 1977, however, that she established the Jane Goodall Institute. The organization fosters community development programs in numerous African countries, and now globally.
The eventual shift from research to community outreach led her to focus more on conservation and empowerment. The institute launched the Roots & Shoots program to educate and inspire youth and young adults to preserve animal welfare and environmentalism in their communities. The program also approaches social issues, like disease and peace. Roots & Shoots has 150,000 members in 120 countries.
“We’re using every single possible way that we can to link-up these young people around the world so they can share ideas,” she said.
Goodall is determined to share her mission anyway she can. Today, her organizations use Twitter, Facebook and Skype to communicate with others and forge a following of those who want to create positive change in the world.
“I think, actually, my mission in life is to give people hope, because if we lose hope … it’s the end,” she said. “And so I just hope that people understand that every single one of us –– our life is making a difference.”
Photos courtesy of the Jane Goodall Institute.