School - age Guyanese stage climate protest

School – age Guyanese stage climate protest

Oct 03, 2019 News

An over-flowing crowd of overwhelmingly school-age young Guyanese staged a well-attended ‘Guardians of the Earth’ Rally last Sunday. The activity coincided with the closing of the week-long ‘Climate Strike’ activities by students around the world.
Sponsored by Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) and two University of Guyana student organisations – the UG Geography Society (UGGS) and the UG Female Empowerment Movement (UGFEM)– the rally commenced from the National Library and found its way to the Sea-wall Bandstand via Camp Street.
The event attracted ten educational institutions, which brought their banners, messages, costumes and enthusiasm. They focused on demanding greater urgency around the climate crisis. Primary, secondary and tertiary students joined hinterland participants, along with UG students, nursing and technical institutions in a wake-up call to the adult world.
The students were joined by nine non-governmental organisations, including faith-based and disabilities organisations along with private sector participants and individuals.
Popular themes on placards and speeches focused on the need for young people to assume the burden of creating a response to the climate crisis. Following an enthusiastic competition for ‘best chant’ — won by The Bishops High, – prizes were distributed for ‘best banner’, ‘best placard’ and ‘largest contingent’.
Winners in the respective category were Georgetown Technical Institute, Marian Academy and Lusignan Good Hope Learning Center and LBI Primary.
Guyana’s newest PhD Michelle Kalamadeen, a specialist in remote sensing of de-forestation, warned “Climate change is here whether we like it or not. This isn’t about saving the planet for our children or grandchildren anymore.
“The future has come to meet us. We’re not waiting for it or for someone to rescue us, we’re not trying to fend it off – we’re living in it. It is NOW and it is US!”
Key messages of the rally announced throughout the programme reflected sentiments expressed in a letter delivered by the sponsoring organisations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week, prior to her departure for the UN Climate Summit.