On 29th YPM expect to conduct the Mkinga football League which will involve the football teams in Mkinga District also art group Tensing will perform to the opening  ceremony and Primary school for tho motto of STOP POVERTY.

Youth concerns about environment and climate change

Youth future life is so much threatened with environmental situation ad climate change all over around the world. Loss of the soil ability to produce, droughts, earthquakes and other anthropocentric activities puts youth in a very hard situation and contradiction on what should be done to serve their lives.

YPM is a nonprofit organization situated in Lushoto District. The organization conducted an event named Youth Day where one of the essences of this day is to gather youth from different Secondary schools so that they may be able to raise their concern about environment and climate change the aim being to increase awareness to the people about environment and come up with collective solutions to different environmental problems. 

Students from Different Schools in Lushoto District Participating Youth Day at YPM

Among of the issues that were raises by youths on this day includes;

School Dropout and environment. Environmental challenges lead to school dropout in many cases. This is caused by heavy punishments that students gets when they go to school while late due to having duties like collecting firewood or fetching water in the morning before going to school. When their punished they lose hopes in education and refuse to go to school. This is an environmental issue because they have to travel for a long distance for water and firewood due to drought and severe deforestation. (Tree planting)

Early pregnancy and marriages. This was the concern from Prince Clause Secondary school students as one of the identified environmental challenges. This occurs after school dropout youths especially girls finds themselves having nothing to do were they decide to engaged themselves in different immoral behaviors which leads them to early marriages, early pregnancies and sometimes getting HIV/AIDS. Also raping occurs most of the time when they are looking for water or firewood. Environmental challenges also results to separation of families and marriages. Many women are divorced when late from the fetching water or collecting firewood which creates street children in the society.

Students from Ubiri Secondary school demonstrating school dropout and early marriage as an environmental issue.

Is Environment a gender issue?  Youths have discovered that environment is a gender issue by showing different challenges that both men and women faces which are caused by environmental destruction. Poverty among women, women have been observed to be involved in agricultural activities and production more than men. Environmental destruction causes climate change which reduces the ability of land to produce; this causes women to suffer looking for food for their children and families. Students from Shambalai Secondary school commented that droughts and unreliable rainfall creates unprofitable agriculture.

Youth are so much exposed to Poverty, hunger and Famine. Intensive use of Natural resources without replacements and restoration makes youth to be in fear of their future. Too much deforestation today which leads to lack of rain creates droughts which affect land’s ability to produce. This concerned was raised by students from Lushoto Secondary School during the event. This continues to expose youth in to different diseases such as malnutrition, and waterborne disease. Poverty also will exceed as so many Africans families incomes depends on agriculture.

Government efforts toward Environmental Conservation and Restoration.

On this day youth wanted to be aware of the current Government efforts towards environmental conservation and climate restoration within the district. A representative from Lushoto District Council answered by explaining different efforts made by the Government on the Matter.

The government has imposed fines to the illegal use of Natural Resource like forest. In the year 2015/2016 they have collected 11 million from fines imposed to the people who were caught collecting firewood, timber and burning charcoal. Also the government is making efforts to provide education to the community about environment and this made them to discover that above 1500 people in the district do not have toilets.

District Environmental Officer Mr. Lymo

The District also make the use of Forest Act of 2007 which gives penalty to person who lights fire in the forest by giving a punishment of 14 year imprisonment. Example the case of 2009 Republic versus Selemani Shempasi and four others  who were convicted by the District court of Lushoto to serve five year in prison and to give compensation. All these are the Government efforts to ensure that environment is protected for today and future Generation.

Do youth have a chance to give their possible solutions towards environmental conservation?

During the event, youth from different schools demonstrated different ways that may be applied to ensure that environment is protected and restored for their future.  Different creative strategy for environment restoration on a renewable energy was demonstrated by students from Mazinde Juu Secondary school. This renewable Energy is expected to be collected from wind. The aim of this demonstration was to show that community can shift from the use of firewood and charcoal to serve the environment.

Students from Mazinde Juu explaining how wind can be harvested

 Another strategy was demonstrated by Shambalai Seconday School. They concentrated on planting trees which will reduce CO2 on air and trees will act as wind breakers. They came up with a diagram which shows the environmental impact between the area which do not have trees and the area which contains number of trees.  They added by saying that trees reduce possibilities of the occurrence of erosion either by wind of running water therefore trees does not only act as a CO2 sinker but also can help in the addition of soil fertility and trees ensures the availability of water.

Students from shambalai Secondary school.

As the matter of energy use and poor disposal of wastes in concerned in developing countries, Ubiri Secondary school students demonstrated different ways which my be used to reduce concentration on natural resources. They demonstrated on how people can use used papers to make charcoal that instead of throwing them away they can be recycled. They also demonstrated how people can use the remains from charcoal (charcoal arsh) to make another charcoal. As the picture below demonstrate.

The Questions remains that: the world efforts is to reduce the concentration of CO2 on air by discouraging industrialization and the use of non renewable energy. For developing countries like Tanznia we are in the era of Industrialization as the moto of the 5^th Government is concerned (Tanzania ya Viwanda). A student from Shambalai Secondary school named Samwel Thomas (A-Level) is asking on how will the Government take in to consideration the issues of environment conservation with Tanzania Ya Viwanda? Is is suggested by the students that efforts of indusrialization should consider environmental conservation for the current and future generation.