Our children vs. climate change

They were scheduled for a 2-4 P.M. visit to Cabancalan II Elementary School. There they were, however, an hour earlier, at 1 P.M.!

While waiting for the formal program to start and for the participants to gather, the Dutch delegation --Jan Willem Ittmann, Peter Janssen, and Stephan Elst from VHC (Vriendschapsband Haarlemmermeer) Netherlands accompanied by former Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon, the local representative of VHC Cebu-- gamely agreed to go around the school, talk to teachers and students surprised by their unexpected presence in their classrooms!

Thankfully, all’s well that ends well.

That early visit must have been providential too.

Our Dutch partners randomly entered a classroom where the teacher and the students, unaware of their early arrival, were proceeding with their regular ecobrick activity, Our VHC Netherlands partners saw for themselves how actively the elementary students were doing their ecobricks, with the active guidance of their teacher!

As I earlier wrote, from November 2023 to March 2024, VHC-Netherlands with RCE-Cebu conducted several online-onsite trainings on options for various waste types --composting of kitchen/food wastes, ecobricking for plastic wastes and waste paper charcoal production.

Cabancalan II Elementary School immediately implemented what they learned after our training.

Led by their committed Principal, Dr. Jessica Wenceslao, Environment focal person, Sir JL Egas Guigayoma, other teachers, PTA officers and their student government officers, Cabancalan II Elementary School actively practiced ecobricking and paper charcoal production after our January, 2024 training with them in their school gym.

The local barangay officials of Cabancalan facilitated our training in that school and these officials remain supportive of the school’s waste management initiatives.

An outstanding school model for alternative waste management, Cabancalan II Elementary school’s continuing initiative is also a beautiful example of local/global partnership for protection of people and planet and of united efforts to create a better today, a better/sustainable tomorrow.

More than that, the Cabancalan II Elementary School continuing alternative waste management initiative involves the young, the elementary school children who will inherit this earth.

Their present and ongoing participation in keeping plastics from polluting water, air and land through ecobricking is laudable. So is their production of charcoal from waste paper, a simple but doable measure to protect further cutting of trees.

Young as they are, they are already our valuable eco-warriors uniting with adults in actively ensuring the protection of our people, our earth now, rather than later.

The Cabancalan II Elementary School eco-initiative is a shining example of what practice, paradigm shift, partnership can do to avoid global warming, to save our earth, and, to ensure the protection of people and planet!

Just imagine 934 grade school students (in their school and with their households) keeping their daily plastic wastes in ecobricks and producing paper charcoal to use for their scout camping!

Think, consider how much wastes these young students are able to save from being irresponsibly disposed of in dumpsites and landfills!

So much wisdom the old adults can learn from these young students!

Their encounter with the young eco-warriors of Cabancalan II Elementary School impressed Dizon to remark: “inspired by your initiative, I can confidently say, with you, our children as eco-warriors, we can truly fight and win over climate change!”

Thankfully, RCE-Cebu and VHC have other school partners in Sta. Fe, in Mohon, Talisay, in other locations where teachers, students, parents and barangays are producing ecobricks and paper charcoal!

Oh, that all elementary, secondary and tertiary schools will join this campaign!

Can you imagine thousands, even millions of eco-bricks that can be shredded to produce construction bricks! Paper charcoal balls to help save more trees from being cut!

Our children, our young students, are sharing their hands, their time to fight climate change, protect our people and planet NOW!

Wow! Padayon!