I
visited a school during my trip to Cambodia last year. The building
was in a bad state. Because it was the rainy season, the classrooms
were flooded; classes had to be held in another building. Because the
weather was so hot, the youngest pupils were sent home in the
afternoons. What the kids in Cambodia have to suffer every day, we,
who live in the Auvergne, never have to. My visit to that school in
Cambodia made me think: how badly is the climate crisis affecting
children in poor countries and what can we do to help them?
Human
activity is driving up the Earth's temperature. The very negative
consequences of this climate change on our environment (on the
oceans, on the weather, etc.) and on our societies (on our food
security, our health, etc.) is called the “climate crisis” and,
as it is says on the website of the NGO Germanwatch, it is: “the
poorest countries (that) are hardest hit”.
This
crisis impacts the most vulnerable within the poorest countries most,
for example:
- drought means crops fail (3.1 million children die from undernutrition every year according to a 2018 UNICEF report, that's one child every five seconds);
- the ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising and so freshwater is contaminated (according to a UNICEF report, every year, 85,700 children under 15 die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities);
- natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, storms) are becoming more violent, destroying homes and schools (on the UNICEF website, an eight-year old girl called Jessica, who lives in Mozambique and saw her school destroyed by the Idai cyclone, says: “I was scared I was going to drown”).
How
many more children are we going to let suffer and die? By 2030, it is
estimated (by the World Health Organization)
that about 300,000 people (mostly children) will die every year
directly because of global warming. Global warming will also
contribute to some 10 million human illnesses every year. And that's
if we start doing something to reverse global warming now...
What is being done to help these kids? Charities
do good work. They collect funds (for example, you can sponsor a
child through Plan International). They also organize humanitarian
emergency missions and manage development projects. For example: the
NGO Humanium protects and educates and defends the rights of
children. UNICEF makes children's lives better through a number of
projects for their health (including HIV prevention and by supplying
clean water and toilets), for their education, etc.
There
are many initiatives to improve the lives of children in developing
countries, but they are not adequate, despite progress, because
global warming is making things much worse: life expectancy is going
down, hunger is on the rise again, as is the number of climate
refugees. These NGOs need our help if they are to make a real
difference in the coming years.
I
believe we, young people (i.e. aged 15 to 24) who live in Europe, the
wealthiest continent, can do our part to help children (i.e. anyone
under 18) in the poorest regions of the world (that is, countries who
are low on the HDI). I, for one, would like to teach in a developing
country so that children can find the job they want when they grow
up, that way they will be able to help their families. My friend
Maxime wants to be a nurse for a humanitarian organization, to save
children from hunger and disease. We want to do something for them.
And you, what can you do to help save these kids?
Did
you know you can volunteer for UNICEF? Check out its “Generation
unlimited” website! Other NGOs also need
volunteers: Save the Children, Global Fund for Children, Children
International are just three more charities that need not so much
your money but your support: give your time, gve your energy, give
your ideas to help these charities help the kids who are less lucky
than we are, here in Europe, to face the consequences of the climate
crisis. Please.
Coucou Thyphaine ! Avant tout, bravo pour le discours ! Ton talk m'a fait pensé aux formations orientées sur "les droits humains" qu'on peut trouver par exemple au Canada. Une piste à creuser si tu as envie de te diriger vers le droit des enfants. Bien à toi. Camille
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup Camille ! Merci, je me renseignerai. Typhaine
Deletehttp://www.onestopenglish.com/teenagers/spot-on-news-lessons-for-teens/pdf-content/school-of-hope-intermediate/157363.article
ReplyDeleteMarie Besson writes: Typhaine starts with the story of an experience she had recently; it shows us that she knows what she is talking about. Pupils in Cambodia suffer a lot from the weather and even more so since global warming has accelerated, making the rainy and the dry seasons even worse. Then, Typhaine explains what the ''climate crisis'' is and who is the most affected by it. Of course, it is the poorest countries who suffer the most from this crisis. She explains the negative consequences on food, water, hygiene, health, etc. that these developing countries endure. Personnaly, I think she there are too many statistics; I cannot keep track of them all! It would have been better to choose only one number, the most striking, the one you remember, the one that makes people react. According to me, saying that one child dies every five seconds from undernutrition is more concrete than saying that 3.1 million children die from undernutrition every year. She insists on the fact that children suffer because of global warming therefore we expect a list of solutions to reduce global warming or at least slow it down. However, she only proposes projects and initiatives to improve the lives of children in developing countries. It's already a good thing, but herself admits that they are insufficient in the face of a process as destructive as global warming. Nevertheless, it's a really good idea to want to work with the NGOs that are already doing good. It would allow them to do even better! She gives all the necessary information to young people ready to commit (websites, what these organizations need, etc.). This speech is motivating and empowering. She also talks about her and her friend Maxime's future professions. They both would like to work in developping countries to allow children there to have a better life and more opportunities: a better education and access to health care. It's really interesting that she tells us about her personal project, she is not just discussing issues but she is doing things to resolve them! By asking questions and by using ''we'', she retains the reader's attention and it keeps us involved. Her talk is not boring and it is well-structured. It's good work!
ReplyDeleteHello Marie. Thanks for your comments. I will take note of everything you have said to me in order to improve myself. Thanks a lot. Typhaine
DeleteAmaury HENRY writes: First of all, I must say that I find this speech very interesting because it is based primarily on experience. Indeed, using personal experience to make a point is far more important than using statistics alone. I think it's a very intelligent introduction. Second, I find that the statistics are useful. I think it would have been interesting to also use GIEC data (for example: https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/09/AC6_brochure_fr.pdf) that can be linked to other statistics. In the two paragraphs that follow the statistics, we find questions that are clearly designed to make us react, which are followed by a very eloquent argument, using figures again, that I like very much. At the end of the speech, ideas are presented, using personal examples, which I find very good to conclude a talk with.
ReplyDeleteLéa Borrel writes: Hello Thyphaine! You were very lucky to be able to go to Cambodia and I think that this trip and especially the visit of a school made you aware of the difficult situation in which these poor children live. You say that a quarter of a million children in Cambodia are not in school because their families force them to work to earn money; did you see young children working during your trip? You mention UNICEF several times; I find that it provides a lot of solutions for these young children in need. For example, it provides its own social network (which brings together more than 20 million people!) so that young climate activists can make their voices heard… You say that global warming is making the situation much worse in poor countries, so there are things we can do to reduce global warming, such as taking public transport, avoiding waste, reducing energy consumption, etc. If we all make an effort, there'll be real results. Moreover, I think that the fact that you want to teach in these poor countries is very important because education plays a very important role, and I think that having a good education would help these children to get out of poverty. Do you think the situation for these poor kids is going to get better in the next few years?
ReplyDeleteEmile and Manon write:
ReplyDeleteThe French state spends 37.5 billion euros a year on weapons (https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/budget-2020-le-ministere-des-armees-beneficie-de-la-plus-forte-hausse-1775099.html).
693 billion US dollars are spent in the USA on weapons each year (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_de_d%C3%A9fense_des_%C3%89tats-Unis).
We think that countries should spend the money they waste on weapons to help poor regions fight climate change (through technological innovation: we need to invent better electric planes, new hydrogen engines that are less polluting, etc., cf. https://www.dw.com/en/climate-solutions-technologies-to-slow-climate-change/a-51660909).