68 new Climate Justice Ambassadors in India!

Altogether 68 students from 8 schools attended the Academy in Government Junior High School, Santana, India.

The Academy was made possible thanks to the dedicated commitment of Plant-for-the-Planet foundation, Government Junior High School, Santana and TGIC Eco Club, YCSG members. The event was free of charge for all the attending children, who were aged from 10 to 14.Special thanks goes to Plant-for-the-Planet Academy staff Adelya for helping me throughout the Academy and Rohit Bisht for all his hard work and effort to make this Academy successful.  I would also like to thank Mrs Padma Gupta, Kailash Goswami sir and Narendra Rautela sir for helping us contact all schools and Mr Kailash Goswami (Head Teacher of GJHS Santana) for providing us with a venue and all other basic facilities for the Academy. Not to be forgotten are the many helpers and supporters, without whom the implementation of the Academy, venue, technology, tree-planting event and much more would not have been possible.

After a brief welcome, the full attention of the children turned to the presentation "Now we children save the world!", which was given by Plant-for-the-Planet Coordinator Dharmendra Kapri.  The presentation covered: Introduction of Plant-for-the-Planet, sources of CO2, greenhouse effect, global warming, photosynthesis, climate change, climate crisis and global justice. These topics were explained in a suitable way for children. After the presentation, children had the opportunity to clarify their doubts in a question and answer session.

After a short break, the children were divided into six groups to learn about the unjust global distribution in the so-called “World Game”. The children were asked to distribute the balloons, candy and tokens on the world maps laid out on the floor as symbols of the world’s population, wealth and CO2 emissions respectively.  Each group had one Moderator from our Academy team to help them understand the rules, the process and the correct the results. Eventually, the CO2 emissions and wealth were distributed fairly – everyone has equal rights

Then the children formed six public speaking groups and prepared and presented short passages from the opening presentation that they had seen at the start of the day. They gave each other tips on how to improve their presentations in the future and a short session on “How to Give a Good Presentation” was conducted by Dharmendra Kapri and Rohit Bisht.

During the lunch break, the children had the opportunity to relax a little and to discuss the topics covered so far. 

After lunch was over, the afternoon kicked off with the short introduction videos on Plant-for-the-Planet and how Plant-for-the-Planet plants trees in Mexico as children during the presentation session were very curious to know more about the Plant-for-the-Planet and how we plant trees all over the world.

Rested, and feeling energized, the children relocated to the schoolyard to plant their own trees! Before the planting commenced, the children listened intently to the advice of the Eco club in charge of Mr Pradeep Mishra. He explained how and when to plant trees, and also showed the children how to care for them to make sure they survive. In total, they planted 17 trees (Azadirachta indica, Cassia fistula, Mangifera Indica, Indian Gooseberry, Psidium guajava) in just 45 minutes with the assistance of the Eco Club Members and YCSG members.

After a short break, the "World Café" module started. The children worked on the following questions as at four different stations: "How do we ensure that the media reports about us?", "How do we motivate the adults?", "How do we motivate friends and classmates?" and "How do we organize a planting party?"

After everyone had the opportunity to write down their ideas to each question, the children gave a shortened version of morning presentations, their future plans and outcomes of the school groups and group discussions.

After a long, fruitful, and enjoyable day, all 68 participants were appointed as Climate Justice Ambassadors by Mr Rohit Bisht and Mr Kailash Goswami. An interesting day had come to an end. Apart from the experience and newly found knowledge, all new Ambassadors received a copy of Tree-by-Tree, and of course the Plant-for-the-Planet T-shirt they collected at the start of the day.

The organizing team of Plant-for-the-Planet Academy Santana, India would like to thank everyone involved for their help and support to make this Academy possible.

Do you want to become a Climate Justice Ambassador? Then check here for an Academy in your area.

You can find photos of the Academy here.