By Laida K. Chongo
Prolonged droughts, rising sea levels, wildfires, migration! Does any of it sound familiar? My definite guess is a yes as climate change is no longer that thing we hear about, it’s here and our communities are facing the direct effects of it.
Current Happening
This September, about 11,000 people were killed in Libya says the Red Crescent in Derna, after torrential rains caused two dams to burst near the coastal city of Derna, destroying much of the city and carrying entire neighborhoods into the sea.
More so, a 6.8 magnitude earth quark struck in Morocco, making it the largest strike in the North African state since 1900, while wiping out villages according to local witnesses as the death toll was approaching 3,000. Most of the victims were in the high Atlas Mountains, where several villages still remained cut off from aid as hope faded in the search for more survivors. Many villagers have had no power or telephone service since the earthquake struck and said they had to rescue loved ones and pull out bodies buried under their crushed homes without any help.
Earlier this year in March, The Malawian government declared a state of disaster in 10 southern districts that were hardest hit by Tropical Storm Freddy. Malawi’s commercial hub, Blantyre, recorded most of the deaths, including dozens of children.
With such results, the urgency and prominence of fighting for climate justice cannot be overstated.
During my one-week stay in Lebanon at the climate justice camp, I had an opportunity to speak to people from different countries who have directly experienced intense negative effects of climate change.
Interviews with Survivors from Different Countries
Paulino Goma from Mozambique told his story of how his family thought he had died upon going to college and the town where his college was located was hit by a cyclone which shut down the town for a week without electricity or safe drinking water and all access routes like roads and bridges were damaged. It was only after a week when he managed to call his parents that they found out he was alive. It was after this experience that he began involving young people in actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Cressencio “KC” Bacolod from the Philippians took us through a very captivating journey of his experience as a survivor and becoming resilient in the face of nature’s rage. On November 7 2013, they received the news that a super typhoon was going to hit their town, but the people in the city did not take it seriously as it wasn’t the first time they experienced a typhoon, so people did not panic especially that the weather seemed very bright and good compared to the usual typhoons were they would at least experience a week of rain before it would hit.
So, compared to other families, his family moved to a mountain house as they had two houses in different towns but his cousin remained in town at a three story dormitory room.
“The next morning, our grandfather asked us to hold our roof with a rope as we saw our neighbors’ roof flying, my bikes were flying, and our banana plantation was flying, it seemed like something we only saw in the movies, so we rushed to the basement as the roof started falling off.” He said.
“After some heavy minutes, we felt like the typhoon had ended so we started picking up trying to rebuild a few things but we heard our neighbor saying there were a lot of dead bodies on the street, we were all shocked as that has never happened before, we had never had human casualties, so my grandmother and I decided to go out and look for our cousin who remained in the city. As we headed out we saw a woman crying for help as she was holding her deceased child, when we approached the national highway, we saw absolutely no house along the coastal area where informal settlers used to live, I accidentally stepped on a hand after which we saw a lot of dead bodies on the road, I never thought this could be possible in real life but it was right in front of me, the once beautiful city was entirely gone, all I now saw were people pulling out dead bodies of their loved ones, everyone was asking for help but no one could help as they all needed help.” He continued.
He added that, when they arrived at his cousin’s apartment, the apartment was already in half, they thought she was dead but luckily he was still alive.
“It wasa relief; she survived by tying herself around a banana tree. This typhoon could have been managed well but it wasn’t communicated well so even the people who stayed at evacuation centers and hotels were all gone. My grandmother with years of experience,explained how she hasnever experienced something this devastating, looting followed after that as people were hungry and angry and you couldn’t blame them as no help came for over a week in my town, there was a lot of displacement and rape cases, no electricity, it felt like the end of the road for us, my family and I decided to live the town because we didn’t only run out of food but the volunteers could not contain the so many dead bodies and the town become very stinky as there was no more body bags to cover the bodies. I feel privileged that my family was able to afford to move as we knew we could not survive in the area but many of my friends were left behind and I lost a very good friend, this is the reason I went back and founded Junior Ecology Movement along with another young survivor as the trauma is still fresh,we are doing these activities to help our community.” Bacolod narrated.
I had a very interesting conversation with the co-founder of Main Network, Isaiah Keshoe Kilerai who is an indigenous climate advocate from Kenya. He explained how masai people in his region solely depend on livestock, and due to changes in climate, many of them lost livestock leading to migrations that had adverse economic effects and resulted in families separating, children dropping out of school, and eventually relocation to look for better pasture for their livestock. Marise Majid AKL from Lebanon keened about how she has suffered emotional damage as a result of a wildfire that started and how she had a difficult time escaping while trying to help her father escape the fire as he was from surgery, “It wasn’t easy as I thought this could be the last time, we see our home. Until now, no one knows what caused the fire.” She said.
MRS[WO1] Earth UAE and founder of Trashion Kenya, Hibiba Abdurahman Hemed said she noted how the fashion industry is responsible for 10% Green House emissions which is more than international flights and marine shipping combined. She spoke about how textile waste usually discarded has a negative impact on both the environment and ecosystems.
She was inspired after witnessing the transformation of a local community in Kenya through upcycling initiatives by repurposing waste materials into beautiful fashion pieces. “It highlighted the potential for fashion to be a powerful tool for social and environmental change. Looking ahead, my vision for the future of sustainable fashion is one where eco-conscious practices are the norm to achieve climate justice.” She said.
Lastly the Executive Director of Greenpeace Middle East North Africa Ghiwa Nakat gave a touching speech as she spoke about lived experiences within different communities.
“Climate change isn’t a looming threat; it is our present reality with detrimental social, economic, and health impacts on vulnerable communities who have contributed the least to the climate crisis. More than three billion people in developing countries live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change. We are all witnesses of the impact of the climate crisis on our communities. From the small island nations to coastal cities that face existential threats from rising sea levels to the prolonged droughts in Africa and Middle East putting communities at risk of starvation and pushing people further into poverty. The increasing wildfires, devastating floods and cyclones, soaring temperatures, and daunting droughts are more than just alarming headlines. While last July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth with an average of 16.95, temperatures in Iraq have exceeded half the boiling point. The path towards genuine climate justice necessitates that those living on the frontlines lead the change. You aren’t just representatives of your nations; you are ambassadors of hope, resilience, and change.”
Climate Justice Now
As lethal and conspicuous the effects of climate change are tip-toeing and will just make things worse while humanity will continue to suffer massive brawls albeit they can be mitigated, so this is not just a generational responsibility as our daily lives are being affected hence the need for a climate justice now!
[WO1]Is this supposed to be upper caps or lower caps?
