Established in 1989 as a non-profit conservation and development non-governmental organisation (NGO), Frontier is dedicated to safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem integrity and building sustainable livelihoods for marginalised communities in the world's poorest countries.
The Power of Love for Frontier
Where do you see yourself on the 14th of February this year? Is it the city of love, swimming with dolphins and whales in the deep blue azure sea or caring for the big cats and elephants from the expanses of the wild? Wherever you go, Frontier is not far behind.
Every year, love is celebrated on many different days. Birthdays, Anniversaries and Christmas, but there is no day like Saint Valentine's’ Day. It isn’t just romantic love, it’s friendship, companionship, admiration and a celebration of growth. You send cards, flowers, chocolates with verses of poetry which proclaim that love and shows how beautiful another person is. There are so many traditions to be told about. For example, in Denmark instead of receiving flowers or chocolates, you receive pressed white flowers aka. Snowdrops.
In South Korea, the gender table flips around and it is up to the woman to woo the man with cards, poems and flowers. But alas a month later on March 14th, the men not only give flowers or chocolate but a gift as well. For the singletons spending their day of love in South Korea, you don't miss out, as there is another day, April 14th, dedicated just for you. It's the day of eating black noodles.
If you're residing in Wales you get the gift of a horseshoe. In China you look up to the night’s sky and see two stars, two eternally crossed lovers, only ever meeting once annually on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, called Qixi; or alternatively called the Seventh Night Festival.
St. Valentine was a Catholic priest from Rome, he saw the tragedy of people missing out on this warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside which creates eternal happiness. And he saw an opportunity. His history brought marriage and love to a time when marriage was banned by their Emperor at the time, Claudius II, to make Roman soldiers focused on the war and dedicating themselves to Rome and Rome only. As people during this time were converting their faith to Christianity, Claudius made marriage laws for Christians strict but Saint Valentine married them regardless. His end came years later, when he was found, jailed for his crimes and before being executed, gave a final letter to his love and signed ‘From your Valentine’. His execution date was the 14th of February, the year 270.
If you feel the love, want to give love out or create your own unique day appreciating and showing someone else this year that there is someone out there who loves them. It can be a person you do not know over the internet, Banjo the elephant in Thailand, a tropical forest in Madagascar full of Lemurs or a classroom full of kids in Africa. Would you climb to the top of a mountain for charity and scream out a proposal of marriage, or give yourself some love and take yourself on an adventure? To Brazil, Italy, Nepal, Venezuela or Australia.
It’s your day of love after all. And it is never too late to come with us, in our own festival of love.
Written by Hannah Mathieson
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