Author Archives: garende

Letter to my grandchild

Greeting in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To my grand child, this letter is for you but you can share it with friends and even the whole world if you want.

Every time when I write I have a reason why I should write but this time I don’t specifically have one. Although I have no reason I strongly feel I should write I should share the feeling I have which if I fail to share you may one day blame my entire generation.

I am writing this letter while seated at the Glenmore Pastoral Centre media room IN Durban South Africa where about 28 Christian youths are meeting for an Eco-Justice Training organized by Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and World Council of Churches (WCC)

Grandchild, this train I am attending aims to educate us on avenues to use to spread the message that God’s creation needs better care from all of us. We are also looking at links between environment and socio-economic justice.

My dear grand daughter this training is taking place few kilometers from the International Conference Centre (ICC) where a United Nations climate change meeting is being held. This is the 17th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Representatives from 194 nations of the world are here trying to push for a legally binding deal on climate change. They meet to safeguard your future so that you can enjoy good air and clean un-polluted water and basically to ensure Justice Ecology that supports all lives.

To be honest with you, I had no idea of what climate justice was all about and had no concern about in the past. I thought climate discussions were issues for the hardnosed academia’s and well educated people who understand the jargons and fat English used like climate credits…

I have realized that climate discussions is no longer an issue that can only be discussed in air conditioned conference rooms, but at all societal levels. Everyone has a responsibility. You won’t necessarily need PHD or Doctorate level of education to fully understand the fact that climate is changing and cause suffering to millions and our human activities are polluting the earth.

It is in this regard that am passionately involved in educating as many people as possible to take individual responsibility in improving our environment. I believe my efforts will bear fruits not only for you but also for your entire generation.

Countries with highest pollution levels were expected to collectively agree on alternative to reduce carbon emission during the climate discussions. This grandchild, would help mitigate the impacts and reduce gas emissions unfortunately the countries are playing games and politics with your life, ignoring my love for you and wishes I dearly have for you. I will continue doing my best just like the humming bird to make a difference in my own little way.

It seems the talks here in Durban may not deliver a legally binding agreement on climate change as I wished. I hope you won’t blame me for doing nothing, I was part of the huge demonstration here during the Global Day of Action attended by thousands of people who wish your generation clean environment.

One important thing you should tell your generation is that youths from 21 countries considered climate justice important and stopped their busy schedules and school programs to cement a good future for you.

What am engaged on in putting pen to paper encourages pause to my thoughts and gives me time to think more deeply about life and regain our equilibrium.

The best gift you would give to your generation is to use renewable energy and safeguard the only earth we have.

(Langa Lulanga is a youth from Lutheran church in Malawi and participated at the Eco-Justice training jointly organized by World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation held in Durban, South Africa concurrently with the COP17 meeting)

By Maggie Mwape

Women and girls are said to bear the brunt of climate change. This is partly because; in many countries they make up the majority of the agricultural workforce hardest hit in the environmental crisis. They often do not have control of their lives and access to as many opportunities to generate income as men. Women are more likely to be poor and to see their poverty increase. This poverty consequently renders women and girls more vulnerable to HIV, as they do not have the ability to negotiate for safe sex. Then there is issue for transactional sex which usually comprises unequal power dynamics usually between the girls and the men paying for sex. Numerous examples of extreme climate change can be found, from melting glaciers in Bolivia, to the destruction of crops by typhoons in the Philippines, and from drought to floods in east, southern Africa and Vietnam. In each scenario, women are shown struggling to keep their livelihoods and families intact, and, in some cases, fighting for their lives.

Empowering women and girls, especially through investments in health and education, helps boost economic development and reduce poverty, thus having a beneficial impact on coping with climate change. Educated girls are more likely to protect themselves against HIV and to have smaller and healthier families as adults. In general, access to reproductive health services such as family planning means lower birth rates and this has a clear bearing on lessening the potential impact of environmental crises and making sustainable development more likely.

The linkage between HIV and the environment needs to be explored further. Recent scholar has documented transactional or “survival” sex as an alternative livelihood strategy. Indeed, in some cultural settings, sex‐based trade is viewed as normative and not simply about survival, but rather about achieving a particular standard of living, commensurate with the perceived commodities of modernity (Leclerc‐Madlala 2004).

Our particular concern is the potential for the “environmental scarcity‐risky sex linkage” to operate in areas of high HIV prevalence. Risky sexual behaviour in most regions is clearly linked to increased susceptibility to HIV/AIDS. Therefore, risky sexual behaviours may pose serious risk at the individual level while also further fuelling the pandemic.