Children for Green New Nepal

What We Do

Environmental Presentations in Schools and Orphanages

The core of the Children for Green New Nepal project was centered on raising environmental awareness among children grades 5, 6, and 7 by giving presentations in schools and orphanages on environmental issues. We have given presentations at 10 different locations, and at many of these sites, we gave multiple presentations before different classes.

The presentations were given by student volunteers from grades 11 and 12, guided and assisted by the coordinating staff. These student volunteers created the artistic presentations on chart paper from colored pencils, colored markers, and watercolors. The presentations covered topics such as Global Warming, Air Pollution, Deforestation, Overpopulation and Waste Management.

Each presentation consisted of a 5-7 minute summary of the key points of the topic, including causes, effects and solutions, designed to introduce younger students to that topic and to reinforce learning already being done in the classroom. Presenters were trained in asking questions and creating a dialogue with students to verify learning and encourage feedback.

Tree planting portion of Presentations

After the lecture portion of the presentations was complete, the volunteers recruited children’s help in planting trees as a way of making the lesson hands-on. Individual students were given saplings and allowed to dig the holes and plant the saplings themselves; then they were asked to bring water and water the freshly planted trees. Finally, the students were given individual responsibility to care for and water the young trees regularly. We hope that these exercises brought home the environmental message by making it hands on and personal, rather than restricted to the classroom.

Trash Cleaning Events

We have held eight public trash cleaning events at different places around Kathmandu, beautifying the city and spreading awareness by example about the importance of keeping this city clean. The trash cleaning events have also been highly effective at impressing upon our volunteers the importance of cleanliness and responsible waste management.

Art Activities

Children from a number of the schools that we presented at were invited to participate in our Environmental Art Competition. Fifty art pieces were received, and the art was displayed in Basantapur Durbar Square on National Children’s Day during the hour preceding our environmental street drama performed there on that date, “Environment, My Responsibility.”

Children at the NCO Child Protection Home, Siphal, were involved in painting a wall mural, under volunteer supervision. The mural beautifies the grounds and spreads a message of peace, harmony, and social and environmental well-being.

Community Compost Project

CGNN started a small community compost project on its office roof. First, CGNN volunteers made a wooden compost bin with their own hands. CGNN then distributed bins to 10 families to collect their kitchen waste. Once a week, CGNN volunteers collect the waste from the families to make the compost. This project started as a small scale research venture. CGNN plans to implement it as an income generating project in the future.

Drama

A drama was organized with the Gurukul theatre company on 9th Ashad at Rimal Natak Ghar, Gurukul. The performance was Jaat Sodhnu Jogi Ko, and the proceeds of ticket sales were donated toward our program. Nearly 25 thousand were raised from ticket sales. These funds supported the early stages of Children For Green New Nepal, including the major outing of the program, which was a field trip to Kapilbastu and Lumbini to give our presentations before the Kapilbastu branch of the Bal Mandir orphanage.

Another drama performance was organized on 15th of September by some of the same theatre professionals, this time in their capacity as The Himalayan Theatre, a theatre company related to Gurukul that came together to perform environmental dramas and raise awareness among common people about environmental issues. They wrote an original drama entitled, “Environment, My Responsibility,” based on environmental points given to them by CGNN, and performed it at Basantapur Dabali, where a large number of people were able to view the drama free of charge. The show was a great hit, and feedback indicates it had a powerful affect toward raising awareness among the audience members who were present.

Children’s March

NCO is the organization sanctioned by the government to arrange celebrations for National Children’s Day, and every year they hold a march with up to two thousand students in honor of children and in support of children’s rights. This year, Children for Green New Nepal was closely involved in organizing the Children’s March, with the purpose of bringing an environmental theme to the march.

For this purpose, we printed 250 T-shirts which were distributed among volunteers, NCO staff and children who marched. They had the logo of CGNN and its supporters, as well as environmental slogans. In addition, we obtained two thousand air masks, which we distributed among the children. The children wore the masks throughout the march as a protest against high levels of harmful air pollution in Kathmandu.

After the march, during the celebration held at Bal Mandir grounds, one specially chosen child delivered to the Minister of Health, Women and Social Welfare, who was a guest on that occasion, a petition, on behalf of all children in Kathmandu, asking for clean air for the city. The petition was framed and printed in 10 different languages found in Nepal.

Climate Parade

In December 2007, on the occasion of the ongoing 13th Convention of Parties meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, the Climate Change Network Nepal sponsored a climate parade that brought together many organizations and schools to raise awareness about global warming and its effects. Several thousand participants, mainly students from Kathmandu-area schools marched from Basantapur, through Ratnapark and Sahidgate, and then back to Basantapur. Along with Nepal, similar programs were organized in about 84 countries around the world on the same day to call on the most industrialized countries to commit to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Children for Green New Nepal took an active part in the climate parade by creating an educational display on a flatbed pulled along the parade route by a bicycle. The display included depictions of deforestation and its effects on the environment, and showed how solar and wind power can be used to provide energy for industrial and residential purposes. The display got a lot of attention both during the march and afterwards, prompting questions and debate among people about the causes of and solutions to global warming.

The twenty CGNN volunteers who participated in the climate parade had a lively presence during the march. To the beat of drums, they chanted slogans with environmental themes along the parade route. Some of the chants included, “Save the earth!”, “Whose future? Our future!”, and “We have to stop global warming”.

Fundraising Event at DECC

On January 26, 2008, CGNN organized a fundraiser for its activities at the Direction Exhibition and Convention Center in Kathmandu. The event featured CGNN’s environmental drama performance and various cultural dance performances by nature clubs from local schools. The fundraiser also included a special dance performance and a short drama by the Blue Diamond Society to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Perhaps the day’s highlight was a singing performance by Nalina Chhitrakar, a famous Nepali singer, who thrilled the audience with a great rendition of the song “Pani Pani”.

Water Day

CGNN celebrated Water Day in March 2008 by participating in a heritage walk along the Bagmati River. CGNN volunteers learned about the causes and effects of water pollution in Kathmandu and what can be done about it. The group then marched from the river to Basantapur where CGNN and other organizations had set up educational stalls. CGNN's exhibit, which featured a model of how water becomes polluted and a large mandala that educates people about global warming, attracted a lot of attention.

Media Appearances

Children for Green New Nepal was hosted three times on the radio show “Wanna Talk About It?” on Image FM to talk about our goals and activities. The host, Dawa Thendup, also frequently announced our events and supported our activities on his show. Ashton Saylor, Coordinator for Children for Green New Nepal, also participated in a talk show hosted by Maitri FM, along with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Women and Social Welfare and the Deputy Director of Nepal Children’s Organization. A recording is available for the Matri FM show, but recordings are not available from the Image FM appearances. We have been featured in two articles, one in the NCO newsletter, and one in Rising Nepal.



What We Do Environmental Presentations in Schools and Orphanages The core of the Children for Green New Nepal project was centered on raising environmental awareness among children grades 5, 6, and 7 by giving presentations in schools and orphanages on environmental issues. We have given presentations at 10 different locations, and at many of these sites, we gave multiple presentations before different classes. The presentations were given by student volunteers from grades 11 and 12, guided and assisted by the coordinating staff. These student volunteers created the artistic presentations on chart paper from colored pencils, colored markers, and watercolors. The presentations covered topics such as Global Warming, Air Pollution, Deforestation, Overpopulation and Waste Management. Each presentation consisted of a 5-7 minute summary of the key points of the topic, including causes, effects and solutions, designed to introduce younger students to that topic and to reinforce learning already being done in the classroom. Presenters were trained in asking questions and creating a dialogue with students to verify learning and encourage feedback. Tree planting portion of Presentations After the lecture portion of the presentations was complete, the volunteers recruited children’s help in planting trees as a way of making the lesson hands-on. Individual students were given saplings and allowed to dig the holes and plant the saplings themselves; then they were asked to bring water and water the freshly planted trees. Finally, the students were given individual responsibility to care for and water the young trees regularly. We hope that these exercises brought home the environmental message by making it hands on and personal, rather than restricted to the classroom. Trash Cleaning Events We have held eight public trash cleaning events at different places around Kathmandu, beautifying the city and spreading awareness by example about the importance of keeping this city clean. The trash cleaning events have also been highly effective at impressing upon our volunteers the importance of cleanliness and responsible waste management. Art Activities Children from a number of the schools that we presented at were invited to participate in our Environmental Art Competition. Fifty art pieces were received, and the art was displayed in Basantapur Durbar Square on National Children’s Day during the hour preceding our environmental street drama performed there on that date, “Environment, My Responsibility.” Children at the NCO Child Protection Home, Siphal, were involved in painting a wall mural, under volunteer supervision. The mural beautifies the grounds and spreads a message of peace, harmony, and social and environmental well-being. Community Compost Project CGNN started a small community compost project on its office roof. First, CGNN volunteers made a wooden compost bin with their own hands. CGNN then distributed bins to 10 families to collect their kitchen waste. Once a week, CGNN volunteers collect the waste from the families to make the compost. This project started as a small scale research venture. CGNN plans to implement it as an income generating project in the future. Drama A drama was organized with the Gurukul theatre company on 9th Ashad at Rimal Natak Ghar, Gurukul. The performance was Jaat Sodhnu Jogi Ko, and the proceeds of ticket sales were donated toward our program. Nearly 25 thousand were raised from ticket sales. These funds supported the early stages of Children For Green New Nepal, including the major outing of the program, which was a field trip to Kapilbastu and Lumbini to give our presentations before the Kapilbastu branch of the Bal Mandir orphanage. Another drama performance was organized on 15th of September by some of the same theatre professionals, this time in their capacity as The Himalayan Theatre, a theatre company related to Gurukul that came together to perform environmental dramas and raise awareness among common people about environmental issues. They wrote an original drama entitled, “Environment, My Responsibility,” based on environmental points given to them by CGNN, and performed it at Basantapur Dabali, where a large number of people were able to view the drama free of charge. The show was a great hit, and feedback indicates it had a powerful affect toward raising awareness among the audience members who were present. Children’s March NCO is the organization sanctioned by the government to arrange celebrations for National Children’s Day, and every year they hold a march with up to two thousand students in honor of children and in support of children’s rights. This year, Children for Green New Nepal was closely involved in organizing the Children’s March, with the purpose of bringing an environmental theme to the march. For this purpose, we printed 250 T-shirts which were distributed among volunteers, NCO staff and children who marched. They had the logo of CGNN and its supporters, as well as environmental slogans. In addition, we obtained two thousand air masks, which we distributed among the children. The children wore the masks throughout the march as a protest against high levels of harmful air pollution in Kathmandu. After the march, during the celebration held at Bal Mandir grounds, one specially chosen child delivered to the Minister of Health, Women and Social Welfare, who was a guest on that occasion, a petition, on behalf of all children in Kathmandu, asking for clean air for the city. The petition was framed and printed in 10 different languages found in Nepal. Climate Parade In December 2007, on the occasion of the ongoing 13th Convention of Parties meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, the Climate Change Network Nepal sponsored a climate parade that brought together many organizations and schools to raise awareness about global warming and its effects. Several thousand participants, mainly students from Kathmandu-area schools marched from Basantapur, through Ratnapark and Sahidgate, and then back to Basantapur. Along with Nepal, similar programs were organized in about 84 countries around the world on the same day to call on the most industrialized countries to commit to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Children for Green New Nepal took an active part in the climate parade by creating an educational display on a flatbed pulled along the parade route by a bicycle. The display included depictions of deforestation and its effects on the environment, and showed how solar and wind power can be used to provide energy for industrial and residential purposes. The display got a lot of attention both during the march and afterwards, prompting questions and debate among people about the causes of and solutions to global warming. The twenty CGNN volunteers who participated in the climate parade had a lively presence during the march. To the beat of drums, they chanted slogans with environmental themes along the parade route. Some of the chants included, “Save the earth!”, “Whose future? Our future!”, and “We have to stop global warming”. Fundraising Event at DECC On January 26, 2008, CGNN organized a fundraiser for its activities at the Direction Exhibition and Convention Center in Kathmandu. The event featured CGNN’s environmental drama performance and various cultural dance performances by nature clubs from local schools. The fundraiser also included a special dance performance and a short drama by the Blue Diamond Society to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Perhaps the day’s highlight was a singing performance by Nalina Chhitrakar, a famous Nepali singer, who thrilled the audience with a great rendition of the song “Pani Pani”. Water Day CGNN celebrated Water Day in March 2008 by participating in a heritage walk along the Bagmati River. CGNN volunteers learned about the causes and effects of water pollution in Kathmandu and what can be done about it. The group then marched from the river to Basantapur where CGNN and other organizations had set up educational stalls. CGNN's exhibit, which featured a model of how water becomes polluted and a large mandala that educates people about global warming, attracted a lot of attention. Media Appearances Children for Green New Nepal was hosted three times on the radio show “Wanna Talk About It?” on Image FM to talk about our goals and activities. The host, Dawa Thendup, also frequently announced our events and supported our activities on his show. Ashton Saylor, Coordinator for Children for Green New Nepal, also participated in a talk show hosted by Maitri FM, along with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Women and Social Welfare and the Deputy Director of Nepal Children’s Organization. A recording is available for the Matri FM show, but recordings are not available from the Image FM appearances. We have been featured in two articles, one in the NCO newsletter, and one in Rising Nepal.