Together we are stronger

By Kiley Pillsbury

It all started in a small town in Gill mass and soon spread across the internet. Their movement is now widely known  “People have lived in constant battle with the earth, when it is our home and all we have.”  Says Amara, a sister of the wild wind member and  activist. “We have lived on these planet destroying ways for too long, it is time to change.”

## Background

It started with two determined young sisters, Amara and Alex. That claim this was what they were meant to do. Back in 2022, these sisters friends got involved and the beliefs grew. All of these young brilliant women worked so hard to raise money and never stopped dreaming. They met in the “club house” AKA under the dining room table, and drew and drew and drew coming up with ways to decrease our carbon footprint and found ways to take trash out of the sea, but what they wanted most of all was peace with the planet, they wanted everyone to care. But now much older and have made a huge impact including enforcing and selling clothing made of mushrooms to decrease the need for factory made clothing. The Sisters of the wild windstill haven't found a way to restore our connection with nature, but they won't stop fighting and encouraging young girls to stand up for what they believe in. "These ladies have really taken a dream and ran with it." Says Joan, Alex and Amara's mother, who is now a retired nurse and professional grandmother. This growing group of determined women didn't show up overnight but found their way to a respected place in society through love, compassion and work. But what have they accomplished?

## Differences and achievements

These women have eradicated factory farming by finding better ways to work with the land, people and money. Protests and movements were not uncommon.  But not everyone wanted change, the government held  their doubts surrounding if this was the best way to make a change and if these women new what they were actually talking about. For a while the Sisters of the wild windwere banned from the United States for causing too much instability and controversy throughout  the people and the country. They were pushed into hiding. "They can try to silence us but they can’t stop us." says Alex. “and so in the meantime we visited schools around Central America, teaching the young and old about ways to fix the whole we've made in our earth.'' They sat in a room with many groups of indigenous people, asking what they needed to do to make them feel heard. “There is no way to solve problems with one perspective,” says Alex, "listening has power." The sisters set up classes and videos on healthy, sustainable agriculture and how to be self-sufficient in our fast changing world. Also, how to make this place a greener planet. By talking about deforestation, spreading desserts, habitat loss and loss of culture and language.

“These women have changed me” says Emma Parker, a teacher at one of their schools determined to restore and teach indigenous ways and culture to indigenous children. “Every time I walk into the classroom in the morning, the smiling faces are more valuable than gold”

When things settled down in the us, they came back stronger than before with new smart ideas and ways. They presented their ideas to the people of the world (or as many as they could.) Many of the ideas made it to Kamala Harris, the president of the United States of America. Gaining the support they needed to make their dreams possible. In doing all of this they reserved many high honor awards for their service to the people and the change they made. The awards consisted of The Nobel peace prize and the Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award.

They found a substitute for down, made from mushroom roots. Putting the Canada goose company out of business, by spreading awareness to the public about how the animals are treated and killed. Sparking and creating a whole mushroom fashion line and more Eco-friendly clothes.

But it wasn't always this way, growing up in a farm town and being a big dreamer girl turned many people away. "When I shared my dreams and ideas as a young person most of the people would respond with oh that's really cute you keep dreaming. No one took me seriously, except my sister and my mother, when my dreams began." Says Amara, "my mother took me so seriously, looked into my eyes and said you never change keep shooting for the stars. I was that nerd in school that new beyond their years and thought the unthinkable, imagined the unimaginable, I gained no support from my teachers, and was told to get my head out of the clouds by the principal. You won't learn if you don't work on your math studies, he quotes. But math was not important when global warming was on the rise, animals were getting hurt and killed and black people were not equal and they wanted me to do a math sheet! Everyone expected me not to know as much as I did. I was aware, not blind sided and so I kept learning and researching into my late teens and even to this day in 2040, I am still learning." “To make a change the only mindset you can have is an open one.” This quote from Joan took Amara and Alex very far. "It is alright if people believe in different things, but we are on this ship together and if it goes down, we all go down. We can not wait to act, make a change now." And these girls did just that. One of their many achievements was the fact that they took girls off of the streets and fed them, made them feel wanted. Soon these girls became proud, change-making members of the Sisters of the Wild Wind community. "We now have a purpose." the little girls quote. "This is what we were meant to do."