Global Education: Why Should You Care?
Global Education is becoming increasingly important – but why? Take a look at the article written below by VSO Volunteer, Justin Kirton, based at Bombolulu Workshops in Coast Province. Thanks Justin!
Schools Recycling Programme
Mombasa Area
Global Education is currently embarking on a recycling programme in the Mombasa area. It has chosen to target the youth through the local schools.
It hopes that by encouraging children it will have more of a long-lasting effect on people’s attitudes going forward. Younger minds are more receptive to change and if properly educated are more likely to make permanent lifestyle decisions based on education which will be sustainable for the future.
In order to make the impact it needs, Global Education needs to highlight the positives and of course the negatives with regard to which choices the individual makes. It is now widely accepted that People Power has become an important agent for change. Through modern social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, (and not to mention You Tube) , important information can be transferred quickly and effectively. The world has become a ‘village’. Now more than ever it is possible to see links between cause and effect. We have decided to focus on the real issue of how our wasteful lifestyles are creating a time bomb which will have real impact not only on ourselves but also future generations. As mineral resources constantly become scarcer and scarcer, the twin problem of how to dispose of the waste-products becomes an equally challenging problem.
Not only has Kenya not got a centralized system of waste management and disposal, the average Kenyan has never been fully educated to the negative effects of its casual attitude to its own environment. Unfortunately since the government chooses to ignore its responsibilities how is it possible to remove this sense of apathy if the individual sees no positive effect of personal efforts The mind-set must be changed.
A visit to the average Tusky/Nakumatt supermarket will usually result in a half-dozen ’paper bags’ [English translation: polythene]. Plastic bottles will quite literally be tossed from the window of a matatu, or where the consumer stands [or sits]. Inadequate disposal methods have a knock on effect. The meeting last week also revealed that rubbish disposal is generally done through burning. This has multiple environmental and health side effects. A recent discussion I had with fellow VSO volunteers, (Jennifer Hampton and Heather Hayes), reminded me of something I remember reading about a ‘giant plastic garbage island’ that had been discovered in the Pacific Ocean. It has been the subject of differing theories of whether it is in fact a hoax or a reality. I decided to embark on an investigation on You Tube.
The following links are by 3 independent researchers and are alarming to say the least.
As I went from one video to the next it became obvious to me that far from being scaremongering from individuals that were just trying to shock the research made real sense. One of the researchers likened the patches to ‘dust bunnies’ the like of which appear mysteriously in most houses; (any enclosed area with doorways and windows). These openings seem to create invisible pathways which channel draughts and breezes. What happens is the dust particles are naturally pulled into these eddies and create little spirals of fluff etc. The oceans are like giant versions of this and the progressive collection of junk and rubbish will eventually pull the garbage into these spirals. The largest of these garbage islands is estimated to be twice the size of Texas (although some estimates give the total landmass of the continental US, at an approximate mass of 350 million tonnes). As the oceans are the basis of all life on earth, it is a sobering thought that the poisoning and clogging up of the ocean with the collective waste of the human race will probably be the undoing of humanity itself. This being in large part the result of just a few decades of irresponsibility. Until everyone accepts that everyone equally has a responsibility to make the change we are on a course that can only end in disaster.
For too long the general attitude has been: “If it doesn’t directly affect me, why should I care”. Nowadays, this argument doesn’t have anywhere to go. People are having to become increasingly aware of the affects of climate change; the poisoning of the oceans; the rapid loss of many species of animals and plants; the increase in suffering brought about by the changing environment in which we live. We are racing against the clock. We are not unaware of the implications of our past and present actions and know the projections. We also know that whilst the time we have to change is increasingly limited, there is still time to effect change and reverse the process.
Many recognize that the most effective agents of change are the young. In Kenya, the majority of its population is under 30 years old. They are the leaders of tomorrow. It is our duty to educate them to the importance of a shift in mindset. Just like modern Kenya, (post independence), had to learn to cope with the legacy of British imperialism, it has done so with dignity and remains one of the more stable and successful independent African states, it must learn to adapt to a world that has been shaped by greed and extravagance of others in most part. It must however also accept that it too has responsibilities. It cannot ignore its own problems. Passing the blame around will have little benefit to the future of its inhabitants.
Kenya’s population is largely comprised of people living in poverty. To most, the concerns of providing food for the family, a secure roof over their heads and the constant fear that disease or starvation will reap its own havoc on an already harsh existence have the net effect of sidelining concerns for the environment. It is only when the results of such actions have a direct effect on the individual that anything is done about it. Global Education plans to disrupt this approach by incentivizing the recycling of waste. This way it makes the process a worthwhile activity. If by rewarding achievements in a physical (financial) way it will encourage activity. If these activities are seen to benefit individuals and communities the knock on effect will be positive. Reward for effort is the best incentive.
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