Emmanuel Jal: Our personal opinion

Emmanuel Jal is an example of bravery and perseverance. He is truly a fighter, in the best sense of the word. We should all look up to him, for having haste and initiative and going after what he wishes to accomplish. Emmanuel has a purpose in his life, he has a goal to achieve. Even though he went through some hard times, he overcame those issues and showed everyone we can do anything, if we put some effort in it. In addition to being a great personal achievement to make his story

known, it’s also important to alert people of what’s really happening in the world today, and raise some awareness. Child soldiers are unfortunately still a current reality, so it is a relevant matter to discuss and do something about. The fact that he realized he should change his lifestyle, and that hurting people is never the right way to deal with personal anger is also very commendable. Instead, he decided to revenge his family by telling the world the truth. Through music, he has done more than most of us will ever do for people in need. More than that, he has thought about the future of a country, and ways to stop history from repeating itself. And that’s exactly why Emmanuel Jal is a role model and why everyone should aspire to be more like him. Because our job isn’t to fix mistakes of the past. The past is gone, and there’s nothing we can really do about it. We can and should, however, prepare the future. It’s much more useful to act to make sure something is not going to happen again rather than just sit around, mourning the days behind us. That’s the most important lesson the whole world can learn with Emmanuel, in our perspective. That we should stand up and fight for what we think is right. Don’t just let life pass you by, be a part of it.

Carla Barreiros, nº2, 12ºEFrancisco Inácio, nº8, 12ºEPaulo Marques, nº16, 12ºE

Sara Amaro, nº18, 12ºD