Most of us know him from songs we grew up with, like “Baby Beluga” and “Down by the Bay,” but few know that children’s entertainer Raffi Cavoukian (commonly known as Raffi) has his own children’s rights mantra, a mantra that he’s deemed “child honouring.”
“It came to me in a vision in 1997; it woke me up on a Sunday morning. I wasn’t looking for it; it found me and said, ‘Here is the work for the rest of your life.’ It was a luminous moment in which this vision appeared to me. It was a grand epiphany,” says Raffi, who is speaking about child honouring at the first-ever TEDxVictoria event, on November 19.
From his work with children, Raffi has gained a new respect towards the important role that youth play in the future of society. He has been able to establish himself as an important player in the battle towards ecological sustainability, as well as an advocate of children’s rights.
Through child honouring, a view that puts youth first, Raffi hopes to create a world where through the education and diligent care of children we as a society can meet his definition of sustainability.
“Sustainability, to me, is not about air, water, and soil, it is about a code of conduct,” explains Raffi. “I would say that the goal is to redesign society for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people.”
In Raffi’s code of conduct society would put less value in monetary statistics, and would in turn emphasize the social and environmental story of how the products came to the market.
Child honouring will teach children how to do this, he says. It will also help towards building Raffi’s practical goal of the future where children are empowered to make intelligent decisions to better themselves and to better future generations.
“It is all about a world where people matter, where the planet matters, and we do business with ethical commerce,” says Raffi. “What we are talking about it conducting ourselves with some honour, conducting ourselves ethically. Not just towards our young, but towards everybody.”
TEDxVictoria organizers are excited to have Raffi in their speaking lineup, especially since his brand of communication matches the idea behind a style of conference that’s quickly growing to be a trendy event around the world (TEDx brings together various speakers to share their ideas on a wide range of subjects).
“It mimics in some ways the feeling of sitting around a campfire and listening to people tell stories,” says TEDxVictoria organizer John Mardlin. “It appeals to those who have a sense of awe, and are really engaged and interested in what’s going on. It is a place that we can come together to revel in the beauty of a great idea.”
TEDxVictoria
9am-6pm, Saturday, November 19
Victoria Conference Centre
$50 (including lunch)
tedxvictoria.com