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Voices

Children are not responsible for climate change but they are the hardest hit. Up to 175 million children will die each year as natural disasters increase. The time to act is now.
The future of millions of children depends on the promises made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (7 – 18 December). Save the Children will be there to raise awareness of how climate change is an emergency for the world’s poorest children, and to remind world leaders that signing a deal is critical for the world's most marginalised children.

Suraj's Story

Suraj Sarki (17) is currently studying in grade 10 at Ganesh Secondary School in Narayansthan in western Nepal. Not only is he the first of his class but, at home, he supports his mother and younger brother. His father passed away a year ago, and his mother is gravely ill and mostly restricted to bed rest.

Suraj wakes up at 4.00 AM and kick-starts every day with two hours of study. He then goes to the field to collect fodder for his family’s animals, and then washes and cares for his mother before starting school at 9.45 am. Upon returning from school he cooks, eats, and then studies until late in the evening. When asked what he does for fun, he replies saying, “I never allocate time for playing”.

Nevertheless, he is very active in the school’s child club, which was initiated by Gaja Youth Club, a partner NGO of Save the Children. In the club, Suraj has learned about discrimination and also about speaking in public and reporting. Thanks to that, Suraj is now the vice editor of a monthly newsletter called Sunaulo Bilhani (New Dawn).

“Before Gaja Youth club entered the school, teachers never spoke to students about child rights and they used to beat us with sticks. After Gaja Youth club got involved with our school they stopped beating us. Before Gaja Youth club, we had very old classrooms, now it has totally changed. Children enjoy coming to school more now”.

Suraj also enjoys observing nature and he is worried of what he has witnessed. The maize plant in his garden no longer bears the cobs as they used to. He says “even the grains are scant and there is no taste”.
Closely watching fruits and vegetable in his village, he says that the jack fruit that is found in abundance there are starting to ripen earlier than usual. The fruit has lost it original taste and he would not be surprised if there was damage to its nutritional value.

Suraj remembers that when he was younger there was a variety of weeds in his family’s garden and there were many kinds of herbs which were used for medicinal purposes. Today, he sees very little weeds or herbs.
His work in the family’s small farm every day has also made him aware of how climate is changing: “When it rains, we plant the seeds hoping the rains will continue to nourish the soil but instead it is followed by droughts for months.”

Suraj feels his village is warmer these days. That has affected birds. He says that usually they lay their eggs during the spring season but now they are doing it before.
His parents used to tell him stories of the Terai (Nepal’s southern plains) and how people there were affected by big mosquitoes. That looks like history to Suraj now, as there are big mosquitoes in his village as well.

“The ones getting directly affected by this are the human beings, and the creators of this situation are also the human beings themselves. Experts working in this field should concentrate in this issue seriously. If we don’t address this now, Nepal may suffer from this in the near future. And we won’t be able to solve this problem if it’s too late.”

Nepal’s cabinet to meet at Everest base camp

In the run up to the 15th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, the Nepal government has decided to hold a symbolic cabinet meeting at Gorakshep at an altitude of 5,164 meters (approximately 17,000 vertical feet) at the base of Mt. Everest.

The idea for the cabinet meeting at the Everest Base camp is to draw international attention towards climate change and its implication on the mountain people. The cabinet meeting scheduled for 4th December is expected to declare the area located between Everest and Langtang, spread over 2,035 sq km, as a conservation zone and also express commitment to represent a collective regional voice to protect the Himalayan sanctity. The cabinet is also scheduled to endorse the Save the Himalaya Campaign. Twenty-six ministers will fly to the Everest Base Camp on four helicopters.

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