It has been so many years since I started to be more and more informed on the effects of climate change and pollution on human rights, and from my point view this approach to climate change and the respect of the environment is still not much understood by normal citizens.
From the very first moment I came here in Cyprus and started to volunteering at the HFC’s HQ I figure out that I could have the opportunity to implement a personal creative project and since the organization is deeply concerned with children’s rights why not to organize a small seminar for some students of the high school on climate change consequences on human rights. In particular, I thought it could be useful for them to get a focus on the violations of the rights of the future generations, since they are part of the future generation.
I immediately asked to my coordinator if there was any possibility to implement this small seminar and she put me in contact with the responsible of the CRC Campus Club, a project which aim is to educate children on their rights as established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and highlight current issues young people might face in which these rights are violated. We discussed about the structure of the seminar and we scheduled its implementation.
I prepared a short power point presentation, chose two videos from Youtube and drafted a small booklet for students which summarized the content of the presentation.
We went two times at the school. It has been an interesting and stimulating experience for me, both personally and professionally. The students weren’t really aware of all the existing connections between climate change and the violation of human rights, so I understood how important it has been to present the topic to them. In addition, at the end of the last day I asked them for some feedbacks that allowed me to elaborate the limits of my presentation that were mainly related to the too specific content of the project. This will help me in the future to develop the content according to the audience.
It has been a really learning experience and it has been a pleasure for me to contribute in small way to the mission of Hope for Children.
