VoNat, Meg Wah Engage Over 120 Kids in Climate Advocacy in Bamenda, Buea

Some 128 community kids and youths from Mankon and Nkwen in the Bamenda Highlands, and Bakweri Town and Bonakanda in the Mount Cameroon Area are taking part in a 5-month climate action advocacy programme dubbed Ecokids that kicked off in Buea and Bamenda August 12 and 13, 2021 respectively.   Organized by Voice of Nature (VoNat) and Meg Wah (My Earth) with the support of a US-based non-profit, Earth Rising Foundation, the programme is dedicated to boosting the appetite of these youngsters in climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, and species conservation.

At the kick-off event, 58 kids and 70 others earlier selected in Bamenda and Buea respectively, were taken through an experiential learning session on climate change and species conservation via the creative use of traditional folktales & storytelling, workshops, songs, drama, poetry and drawing.

To the Executive Director of VoNat, Ndimuh B. Shancho, engaging children in nature conservation and the fight against climate change is indispensable to environmental sustainability. “Community kids and youths face the greatest brunt of climate change-induced disasters like floods, landslides, and water and food crisis; they are the ones who travel long distances in search of potable water for their houses, and sometimes even go late to school because of this. We have observed that while youths in other parts of the world have refused to be passive victims, those in Cameroon are worried and helpless with limited understanding about what is happening and what they can do. So, engaging these youngsters will help in building a greener and safer planets that they will enjoy as adults,” Shancho expounded.

The organizers of the Ecokids programme are very confident that the strategies put in place will be very effective in mitigating species depletion and fighting against climate change. “The activities carried out and those ear-marked for the months ahead are very crucial for the success of this programme, especially environmental folktales. Folktales about plants and animals greatly contributed in species conservation.  Mimicking what happened in the past that is having these kids seated round a fire, eating groundnuts and listening to folktales about trees and animal species with pro-conservation lessons will no doubt raise environmental consciousness in the minds of the kids and orient them towards taking actions that protect the environment” Mr. Ako Peter Agbor said.

While the kids in Bamenda received lessons on climate change challenges in their communities and what they can do to mitigate the plight, and on techniques in climate information gathering and sharing at the Baptist Center in Nkwen, those in Buea where at the Jungle Village in the Limbe Botanical Garden, where they listened to pro-conservation folktales, sang and danced around the fire site while eating maize, groundnut and plum. These reignited the love for environmental protection in the youngsters.

“The programme of today has inspired me and other kids here today to think about the climate and the role we can play; to think about nature in our actions,” Che Bianka Victory from Mankon in Bamend said.

Fai Ella Pauline from Buea learnt a lot about the importance of trees and animals and promised to “take the message to my home and community that indiscriminate cutting of trees and killing of animals, especially chimpanzees and elephants is not good”.

According to a release jointly issued on August 8, 2021 by both the executive directors of VoNat and Meg Wah, the programme to end in December 2021, will equally engage the youngsters in climate change information gathering & sharing via magazine production, social media, livestream, and media visitation amongst others. The kids will also be engaged in tree planting in public spaces, and nursery establishment & planting of a community orchard of indigenous fruit trees at the verge of extinction. These will culminate in visiting nature historical sites, nature reserves and parks, bird observation etc.