I Want to Change Everything (Quiero Cambiarlo Todo)

During an official trip to Mexico in April 2006, President Wolfowitz visited with students at the 15 de septiembre bilingual school in Acatlan, Guerrero--one of the poorest states in Mexico. One young girl, Iridiana, recited a poem for President Wolfowitz in her native Nahuatl, describing her hopes and dreams of escaping poverty. Several months later, Mr. Wolfowitz cited her poem in his speech to representatives from 184 member countries at the World Bank Group's Annual Meetings in Singapore, highlighting the urgent need to create opportunities for the poor.

Excerpt from "I want to Change Everything"

I want to change everything
because I love the tiller of the soil and the sweat of his labor
that enriches my homeland 
and brings forth our maize, our beans and our potatoes.

I want to change everything 
because I love a world that does not yet exist; where those who bake bread can eat it too; 
where the farmer becomes a gardner of life and not of death