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| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
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Water and wildlife... Top issues at children's eco-summit The 2005 Children's World Summit for the Environment will take place in July in Aichi, Japan during Expo 2005, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Japan Organizing Committee (JOC) announced recently. An estimated 1,000 people - children aged between 10 and 14 years together with their parents and chaperones - from about 100 countries, are expected to take part. The summit, organized by UNEP and hosted by JOC, will focus on energy, recycling, water, forests and biodiversity. Projects by children that relate to the themes will be presented and discussed during the sessions alongside workshops and field trips. The event, taking place between July 26 and 29 will also give the children a chance to take part in environmental activities at Expo 2005 and visit environmental exhibits. Chairperson of JOC, Fumio Kawaguchi added: "The theme of Expo 2005 is 'Nature's Wisdom'. Usually, one associates the notion of 'wisdom' with old age and experience, but I think all of us can accept that there is such a thing as the wisdom of childhood. A child has a clearer, simpler view of the world, a view which has not yet been tainted by the realism, (or cynicism) of adulthood". The different aspects of wisdom are embodied in the mascots chosen to represent Expo 2005: Morizo, the Forest Grandfather and Kiccoro, the Forest Child. The Children's World Summit is a follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Summit will help to increase children's understanding of environmental issues by letting them share experiences and opinions, give them an opportunity to collectively voice their concerns for the environment and inspire them to initiate and implement community environmental projects. A Junior Board consisting of seven representatives from the UNEP regions (North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, West Asia, and Asia and the Pacific), as well as four children from Japan, helped prepare the 2005 Children's World Summit. The Junior Board worked with JOC and UNEP to develop an agenda and ensure that the facilities, meals and programme of the summit reflect the needs of the participating children. ********** Tsunami education project from Plan Sri Lanka
Plan Sri Lanka, a child-centred community development organisation, has embarked on an innovative tsunami educational project especially aimed at Sri Lankan schoolchildren. It will launch a book titled 'Searching for Punchi', a fictionalised account of a Sri Lankan child's attempt to come to terms with the loss of a pet that dies in the tsunami. Through this, the concept of coping with grief and issues related to the devastation caused by the tsunami are discussed. The book and the related poster will be trilingual and distributed to a million schoolchildren. This could possibly be the first attempt by a post-tsunami nation to grapple with a direct communication campaign of this sort to children grieving over losses suffered due to the tsunami. It is very probable that the material will be replicated and modified for use by other tsunami-affected Asian countries. The book is a small attempt at taking children through a simple story that addresses some of the problems encountered on that fateful day of December 26, 2004. The poster insert that is part of the book has already been launched through newspapers. Plan Country Director Ming Ming Evora, in the forward to the book, says "into each person's life, some rain must fall. All of us, young and old, have experienced loss. We lose a toy, a pet, a friend, a loved one. Some losses are light. In some, we grieve. "The tsunami has caused us so much loss. Plan Sri Lanka aims to help children and those who care for them cope with loss and grief in this book." Child Psychiatrist University of Colombo, Hemamali Perera, who read through the text and gave some suggestions for the use of the book in the classroom and by parents, said she hoped the book will help children express their thoughts, fears, joys and sorrows. She added that parents, teachers or other adults can use this as a means to explore and talk about issues that are troubling children. The book is aimed at schoolchildren, between 8 and 14 years of age. **************** Little helping hands
Schoolchildren of Lindfield Primary School of Mid Sussex, England were surprised how much shelter their 30 pounds bought for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. The cash was enough to buy badly needed umbrellas for all 36 people in the village of Nidangalawella in the district of Kirinda. Pupil Roshana Wickremaratchi (10) of Lindfield Primary School raised the cash in a bring-and-buy sale, supported by friends. She handed the money to Peter Browne, from High Brook, to take to Sri Lanka and buy things for the children. Roshana's father Sujan, of Colwell Close, Haywards Heath, said: "Peter did wonders. My wife Nadeeka and I are really proud to have such a wonderful caring daughter." Sujan also organised a delivery of emergency goods to Sri Lanka. |
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