Meet a Changemaker (11)

Monday, 9 February 2009 | posted by Matt_BC
Activism, Climate change, Guildford 2009

Since Guildford and Davos 2009 are over, we will now continue our interrupted programme of "Meet a Changemaker" - with Lavanya from India. As it was originally written before Guildford (when we paused "Meet a Changemaker" for the duration of the event) it is interesting to look back on it now - we hope that Lavanya's hopes and wishes for Guildford were fulfilled:

Its not living, its survival.

My friend tells me that in Rajasthan (a desert state in India, tells me that people don’t have any more water, that the rich have their water supplied from other regions, and the poorer deal with water contamination.

That’s not living, that’s survival.

I have seen news channels where victims to the ’99 Orissa cyclone and at a magnitude rarely seen. They describe stories of walking in neck deep water, of rotting animal carcasses and human corpses flowing down the street and filling the air with a bloody stench. Over 10,000 people died and thousands left homeless.

Thats not living that’s survival.

We are going to see more of this, especially those of us living in poorer parts of the world. And then it struck me, I don’t want the youth to face this.

Namaste, I am Lavanya, 17 years old, the Indian Changemaker.  I am presently studying in class 12 in New Delhi. However, due to my Dad’s frequent transfers (he is a civil servant) I have travelled throughout the country and studied in more than ten different schools ! I grew up in a world of my own, studied in the same schools as the aboriginals. I got a glimpse into their  culture, their lifestyle, their food habits.

But for better education facilities, my parents decided to come to New Delhi. I joined Sanskriti.School.  Sanskriti (meaning culture )isn’t just a school for me. It’s my home where I have found

My passion, my weaknesses and more importantly my friends and teachers.. Its taught me to stand on my own feet. My passion and concern that I started developing for the nature and the need to preserve gained momentum. I had the most brilliant environment studies teacher, Mrs Nita Ganguly. The nature walks she organized, the passion she spoke with would make me believe that climate change is so true, so real. I felt compelled to do something for our mother earth which has given us so much.

Henceforth, i got involved in whatever possible way to stop this within my reach.

Seeing my genuine concern for the cause, I got elected to the school environmental which opened an array of opportunities through i which i could conceptualize policy initiatives and decisions and play an active role in environment friendly policies. But very soon, i realized that i was alone in this dream and thus only a one man team. I started discussing climate change change concerns with Nita Ma’am, my friends and felt the need for an organized and regular action. I thought of starting a green brigade and convinced my Principal. She gave a go ahead.  I decided to conduct interviews to screen the students for green brigade. I was a little apprehensive on how people would react to the formation of an environment society in the school. AND the response was overwhelming.

GREEN BRIGAGE came into existence with the commitment of 35 members and more than 20 volunteers. In little time, we have had a huge success. We conducted street plays, invited celebrity environmentalists, organized anti-cracker marches during Diwali festival, which simultaneously focused on child labour as they make fire-crackers. Our school cafeteria started using dry leaf-plates instead of disposable plastic. I introduced the concepts of one plant in each class, green class, and environment awards.Its been great working with the budding environmentalists. I often tell them that the best way to predict future is to create it and there is absolutely no reason why we can’t actually do it.  On the 16 th of December i organized the SANSKRITI 350 event - inter-school event inviting eco-clubs from over 30 schools, in a bid to highlight the importance of 350. Remarkably enough, Sanskriti (meaning culture) 350 was an event completely for the youth, by the youth and of the youth.

I am an working with the Indian Youth Climate Network  a coalition uniting Indian youth and Indian youth oriented organisations who are concerned about climate change. I help organise leadership training workshops with them and have been a part of the all the summits and meetings where we empower the youth. I actively took part in the Delhi Youth Summit on Climate brought together the youth of Delhi, and began the dialogue on Delhi’s fate in the wake of climate change. !Currently, i am coordinating the Climate Solutions Road Trip presently launched by IYCN focus of this journey is to both raise awareness and convert awareness into tangible actions.

 I am also the Climate Ambassador of the CLEAN India movement which has reached out to more than one million people in the country. Under the CLEAN-India movement I have launched action projects not only in my school but also various schools in my city to make them " Zero Waste Schools "

Besides working in the field og environment field, last year, in collaboration with Pravah NGO along with a few other students of my batch I traveled to the interiors of the poorest region of the country. We lived, interacted and tried to be one with them. My school runs an after school for the under – privileged children where i volunteer to teach them. These experiences made me realise how blessed I am and got a chance to light lamps of joy knowledge in their lives.

I look forward to Guildford for I would be meeting people much like me who not only want to be a part of humanity but also give a part of themselves to humanitarian causes. I intend to come back enriched from drawing on this vast experience of fruitful interaction with tomorrow’s leaders and take up projects to make a significant difference to the society.

THE JOURNEY HAS BEGUN...