Go Green Africa

Vital Stats

Lucy G

Dudley, MA

  • people helped800
  • People Doing It150

The Problem

I propose to promote environmental harmony by teaching a nature conservation summer camp to school-aged children in Cameroon. In the USA strong citizen support is leading our country in a greener direction, by contrast, Cameroon has the most chemical water pollutants in all of Africa and ranks among the top 15 countries with the highest urban concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is harmful to human health and environment. It is not just a metaphor to think of the relationship between human beings and the environment in terms of war and peace, there is a sense in which we are waging all-out war against our planet, and by coming into harmony with our environment, we can ensure peace for future generations. It is clear that the Cameroonian people are intelligent and adaptable. What they lack is environmental education. The careless disposal of trash in Cameroon, especially plastics, is disconcerting. It is simply burned. Basic misunderstandings about this harmful practice need to be corrected, and a beginning has already been made. There is not even a basic understanding that plastic disposal is different from organic disposal. Plastic bags are called “papers” and everything is burned together. It is imperative that we change into a more conscious global community before climate change has destroyed too many species or habitats.

Plan of Action

Living Earth Foundation (LEF), a multinational program, took the initiative by funding the Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project (CEESP) from 2003—05. Building on the curriculum created by LEF, I propose to emphasize a liberal arts approach to learning through craft-making, in class demonstrations, critical thinking and activism in order to develop a comprehensive and effective program. My program will cover issues form ecological sustainability to climate change to community involvement. I will invite guest experts to educate the students in areas of chemical processes, geology, and ecology where I lack expertise. Field exercises will enhance students’ awareness of our course topics on a local level and require them to apply their new thinking skills. The summer program for school-aged children that I propose will help bring the next generation into an era of Cameroonian conservation. Having arrived two weeks early to set up needed materials for teaching, transportation, and demonstration, I will utilize six weeks for individual classes. The program will also make recycling and trash-collecting field trips in an effort to support the conservation initiative. By showing children that their plastic bags end up strangling plants and animals around their homes, I hope to increase their awareness of the life-span of plastic.
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