THE GLOBE IN MY HANDS,I CAN BE THE CHANGEMAKER

   

Ever thought of being the change maker? Ever thought of impacting your world? As an individual, a family, a nation or a world at large? There are others too who think that way and It seem impossible when you do not have the zeal to take your dreams and visions the way you go. It is only when we see the glass half full that we can accomplish the missions we set to be the change makers. I recently had a privilege to attend a four weeks fellowship as a young woman leader in Ghana, I met many other young African ladies from various career backgrounds and we shared ideas and created a network that binds us to work together build a better world with input from all walks of career and talents in each one of us. As a student and a youth, I always thought my views and efforts cannot be appreciated, Little did I know that I can contribute in shaping the world. The fellowship I attended has been an eye opening scenario to me and many others too. I listened to many speakers and fellow young people who have the zeal to change the world amongst the speakers was Mama Solar of Kenya, and I would love to share part of her story. She is a woman so passionate about the environment, she has a story that moved me to come back home and start writing about Climate change and other issues to inform people that we can protect our environment, we can access pure drinking water, we can afford a  health life and we can earn a living easily. It all lies in our hands, as individuals what are we doing?

Mama solar cloche used plastic bags that we normally get after shopping from various places. She makes different items like handbags, tissue holders, fruit baskets and many other of which one item would earn her almost US$ 10.Mama Solar does not only cloche to sell out, she also train other women with the skills and help them earn a living and save the environment .One thing that amazed me is that not a piece of these plastics is trashed, the very tiny pieces are used to make cushions, the very cushions you would have on your sofa set and feel so comfortable leaning on. I took a moment to think why is she doing all this? Is it just for money? No, she is passionate about the environment she is teaching others too to protect the environment to make full use of the waste resources like polythene bags that contribute to pollution of our environment and in the long run contributing to the global climate changes. Can you imagine yourself killing two birds with one stone? Just think of yourself as an individual comfortable with a clean environment, an individual making full use of every resource around you and benefit from it. it’s possible we all have talents that we can use to build and protect our environment as we earn a living through it too.

Food is vital, it is fuel our lives. We all need to eat to keep going. As a woman mostly African woman the first place to be every day is in the kitchen. We cook using different energy sources like electricity and gas just to mention a few. Most of us know how expensive and unreliable electricity is in Africa and not everyone would afford cooking with gas, many of the Women including myself have ever and some are still using the three stone cooking method which involves firewood, thus wood burning, this is one of the major contributors to global warming as the burned wood releases 20% of human greenhouse. Looking at how we all are affected with this mama solar uses a solar cooker, it is very affordable, u can make it at home and its efficient in its use, it is made of a cartoon and foil paper and depends on the sunshine to cook, bake, and grill whatever food. This really grabbed my attention, I silently thought “ how many days do we experience sunshine in Africa?” its almost 208 days or more out of the 365 days we have in a year , why then don’t we adopt this method that requires us to use the sun a natural resource that is readily available and at no cost for almost 208 days plus a year and serve electric power as well as our environment from being polluted by the greenhouse emissions. Going deeper one would realize that this solar cooker is not only option for saving the environment but also as a way of preventing some diseases that may result from smoke in our cooking places. If you are an African of have ever been in Africa and visited the rural areas you will agree with me that the kitchen infrastructure is a closed room and if you are inside cooking all you inhale is smoke which covers the whole room and often result in teary eyes. This is often a cause of many diseases like common cough and lung cancer among others. If we can adopt to the solar cooking model not only shall we save trees but also save human lives as well as our globe.

Being an agriculture genetics student myself and having visited most farms that grow plants in greenhouses, I have always been challenged with its effects. It is a fast and very productive way of raising health crops that would feed millions but the effect of the greenhouse gases are far beyond just food for millions as it will cost a million more lives and other living creatures. The greenhouse gases thus methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide leads to global warming which is changing our ecosystem in many ways. The birds’ species are slowly declining, animal growth is decreasing and human life is at risk with a decreasing lifespan. With my genetics experience as a student, I view the genetically engineered crops to be far a better solution as these crops effectively recycle carbon dioxide. Algae too is a good absorber of carbon dioxide and if we can replenish our oceans with algae by cultivating it on a large scale in our farms as it is indicated that the algae species is also declining will help us control the global warming problem and will also be a way of preserving and conserving the algae species besides protecting our environment.

In seeking to learn more on environmental issues and agriculture which is one of the human activities leveling up global warming. I was privileged to attend one of the agroforestry policy dialogue of ICRAF in Malawi and I fully support the initiative that they are carrying out to encourage farmers grow trees on farms. Knowing that this will not be an easily accepted initiative to every farmer they emphasize on trees that are beneficial. These are trees that are either fruit trees or trees that are of soil improvement benefit and is well explained to the farmers that most of them are adopting the system. This agroforestry system does not only benefit the farmers as a way of having bumper harvest and some fruits for either family consumption or market but is also contributing to the conservation of our environment, avoiding soil erosion, and the trees use carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis process thus making use of the greenhouse gas that would affect the climate change through global warming. It is quite interesting how our world can go green with high benefits to all.

The youths are so innovative, talented and most of them open to learn and implement the conditions of our world today. If governments would put up policies that will involve youth participation and fully support their initiatives in many areas we will come up with ways that will solve most of the problems facing our world including global Climate change. Let us build and support a whole youth leader where all their talents, ideas, knowledge and passion will come together and build the world.