Thai children celebrate World Environment Day from the top of a mountain
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| Children marching through the village to raise awareness on environmental issues |
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Global warming and environment consciousness are no longer considered to be fringy causes and have instead inspired an international movement, which has raised the concerns of people from every walk of life.
In Thailand, one group of 20 youth leaders from Therd school in Chiang Rai province have observed several unusual natural disasters in their village in the past few years and have decided to do something about it.
With support and guidance of Plan in Thailand, the girls and boys collaborated to produce hand-made banners with messages to make local villagers aware of the importance of preserving environment and consequences such as floods and mudslides if they do not protect their natural resources.
“Boys and girls are dedicated to this project. They use their time after schools and help draw trees, mountains and cartoons to get the message across. They became so involved in the project that the night before the event, they went to bed at midnight.” said Arbe Piapha, Program Coordinator of Chiang Rai Program Unit, Plan Thailand.
On World Environment Day this year, a bright sky and nice weather on the top of the mountain greeted the 300 students, as school marching bands and representatives from the sub-district office walked two kilometres from the school to the market and community area. Using a megaphone on the front line, the youth leaders caught the attention of nearby villagers and residents whose curiosity became aroused.
“I stopped working as youth leader for a few years after being warned against it by the adults in the community. Today is the first day I have come back to it, and it feels so good to be involved again. I have great time working with my friends and I hope we make more villagers aware of protecting community resources,” stated one girl leader.
Through a pilot programme that covers two districts in Chiang Rai, Plan will build capacity in this youth network so that they can help their peers and community prepare for potential disaster risks in the future. Adult and youth facilitators will be trained to help children identify the risks and recognise the resources on hand to help their community recover from an emergency.
Children’s groups will also develop information materials, survival kits and other idea as to how they can help their communities prepare for and prevent disasters from reaching their most devastating potential. In addition, Plan will also advocate for disaster risk reduction to be integrated into the school curriculum through dialogue with school authorities and via teachers’ trainings.
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