Iām a Beluga Grad. If youāre between the ages of 18 and 35 and remember dancing around to Baby Beluga, chances are good youāre one too. āBeluga Gradā ā āBGā ā is singer-songwriter Raffi Cavoukianās affectionate nickname for the children who loved his ā70s and ā80s childrenās records.
Most Beluga Grads are now grown-ups, many with kids of their own. But Raffi Cavoukian, better known as āRaffi,ā hopes that theyāll keep dreaming big.
To the joy of children ā not to mention their BG parents ā Raffi still makes music. However, he now focuses on āchild-honouringā ā a philosophy of respect and love which ālinks person, culture, and planet with the child at the heart of it.ā Like so many of Raffiās projects, child-honouring is rapidly gaining momentum, and a big part of its star appeal comes from its overwhelming engagement with sustainability.
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He sees sustainability as a healing process. āIf we do not restore the worldā¦ what kind of sustainability could we hope to sustain? If we stop damaging (natural systems), they can come back.ā
But action needs to be taken quickly: āWhile thereās still time, the only moral thing to do is to detoxify the environmentā¦ thereās a sense of urgency.ā Raffi emphasizes the importance of overall empathy when engaging in any worthwhile cause. Child-honouring, like sustainability, is respect and love for the possibilities offered by the future: for Raffi, to embrace the one entails the other.
Naturally, no pun intended, sustainability is a key issue for Raffi Cavoukian. āThe good news,ā he adds, āIs that thereās a design revolution underway right now. A green revolution.ā Like Dalhousie, Raffi is at the forefront of that green revolution: heās currently putting the finishing touches on a project that couldnāt have had better timing ā or a more well-qualified founder.
āIām about to launch a centre for child-honouring on Saltspring Islandā¦ itāll be a multidisciplinary campus.ā Sustainable environmental policies are vital to the project. āChild-honouring is an integrative philosophy, and sustainability is an integrated, restorative philosophy. If sustainability is about raising a generation of earth stewards, thereās no better way to do that than during their early years.ā
So what kind of sustainable activity will the Saltspring Island project tackle? āWeāll be looking at childrenās environmental healthā¦ The young child is the most vulnerable to environmental conditions. Children are the most vulnerable beings we have.ā
Thatās a philosophy Raffi has always lived by ā for instance, he refuses to allow his music to be used in childrenās advertising. His concern for children and the environment is also reflected in his music ā take his award-winning ecology album Evergreen Everblue (1990), or his more recent rockabilly number Cool It. Mr. Cavoukianās website, raffinews.com, describes Cool It as āa musical call-to-action on climate changeā with guest vocals by David Suzuki.
Raffi also advises making personal changes at home, such as buying local, organic foods, in the name of sustainability. His comic touch brings to light what often gets overlooked ā sustainability can be simple, rewarding, and even fun. āThere are so many ways to do right by the child.ā
So whatās Raffiās advice to the whole world, right now ā Beluga Grads and beyond? āRespect the children in your care, and love them so much that you create a world fit for their dreams and for their future.ā
And what should we expect when Raffi descends upon Dalhousie? āI might unveil my new song called SustainABILITY,ā Raffi mentions casually. āItās a five-minute dancing tutorialā¦ itās reggae.ā
Raffiās sustainable reggae? You donāt have to be a Beluga Grad to say that sounds intriguing.
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