Unlike many in the Western world, people in eastern Africa who have experienced severe droughts for the last five years are very familiar with the hardships of climate change. And those hardships only make other problems more difficult to deal with, whether it’s putting food on the table or dealing with illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. And this is by no means only happening in far-off foreign places.
Much like the poor families who lived on the “wrong side of the tracks” (the industrial side of town, where the noise, smell and filth of factories made housing cheap), those in the developing world live with the negative effects of our “progress” while reaping few of the benefits.
Is this blunt? Perhaps.
Is this reality? Yes.
Have things changed? Not really.
What we are seeing now is that climate change has become a gathering point of an array of local and global issues, and is also becoming a process that will exacerbate all these issues. It is not a pretty cycle to think about. But, the issues must be acknowledged, the problems must be made clear, and the many solutions that exist must be embraced.
When I say "our generation," I refer to those of us alive right now - and who will likely be around for the next 40-plus years to see the evolution of climate changes. When I say "our generation," I think of young adults around the world - each of whom is going to experience a different aspect of climate change (for better or for worse). When I say "our generation," I feel the collective will of good people around the world who understand that changes need to be made to correct the problem and adapt to the consequences.
When I sit back and look at the hundreds of thousands of students and communities across Canada, the US and Australia rising up and demanding institutional change, and see the rising up of empowered youth across the developing world, such as those in southern and eastern Africa creating the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change, I can’t help but feel a surge of a movement. I can’t help but feel that surge every time I email organizers in Kenya, Switzerland, Brazil and New Zealand. Our generation is rising up everywhere because we get it – or at least a part of it. We know the issue and we feel the issue. We feel the issue together, and we are going to change this issue together.
