West Zone Field Organizer, Anjan, Youth Ambassador, Sakhawate and Environmental Coordinator, Katherine, led about 300 school children at Apollo International School in Ahmedabad, India in a conversation about caring for the environment around their school and homes.
Anjan asked everyone to close their eyes and imagine what it would be like to wake up and realize that all of the trees had disappeared. We understood that we would struggle to breathe, we would feel unwell, there would be nothing to hold onto water or take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, we would have no natural medicines and we would lack nutricous food. This exercise helped us understand the interconnectivity of our lives with all life.
We then identified environmental problems around the school-- including poor air quality, lack of trees, and poor soil quality-- and brainstormed ways to address these problems. Many students proposed planting trees, which the older kids are already doing and could assist them with.
To close, one of the teachers led the students in a pledge to care for the environment and plant trees around their homes in Ahmedabad.