Yesterday, Angela wrote something that kept me thinking in
her blog. Her last paragraph read, “Our land will be used to plant trees for damage control; to absorb waste
from our big brothers and sisters and not for other development activities.
Really??? That’s Environmental and social injustice to me!”
She was
referring to the idea behind REDD+ but what came into my mind was beyond the
current standoff in balancing economic development and conserving our planet.
The saying, ‘we did not inherit earth from
our parents but we borrowed it from our children’ came into my mind.
Which is the bigger evil? Which one is the ‘real’ injustice?
The developed world paying us to keep trees in our farms so that we can absorb
the excess waste from their industries in the expense of our other economic
activities or us (the current generation) depleting, defecating and destroying
land which rightfully belongs to our children?
Our fathers thought about us when they planted a tree. They
knew we would need a shade. They thought about us when they conserved a river.
They knew we would get thirsty and need some clean water to quench the craving.
The late Prof. Wangare Maathai thought about us when she fought against
erecting a sixty story skyscraper worth $200 million in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. She
knew a city philosopher would need grass and shade to sit under in the middle
of his busy schedule inside the concrete. She urged us to do something little that can
make a difference. The little things she did were planting trees. Prof knew her
daughter would grow up and she would need some firewood to cook for her family.
Another great African
woman Graca Machel asked, “Can we genuinely say we are going to preserve their
lives, and ensure their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren
inherit a planet which is safe and sustainable?
Our fathers and mothers thought about us, but are we really thinking
about ourselves? Are we thinking about our children? How about our
grandchildren? President Obama once said that we cannot condemn our children
and their children to a future that is beyond their capacity to repair. He said
that they will look at us straight in the eye and ask if we did all that we
could when we could to leave them a safe and sustainable world.
As a 90s kid, I had the privilege of drinking water straight
from the river. Less than two decades later, I cannot recommend my son to drink
treated water straight from the tap. My generation has defined the fate of my
children and generations to come. We are already bottling water because river
and tap water is unsafe. Half a liter of water is more expensive than a plate
of fries. We are raising our children
inside a concrete wall. Our progeny know nothing about the shade their grandpa
and grandma left them; we converted it into some few coins and boasted our
economic prosperity.
Those whom the world has entrusted with leadership have been
talking and pledging during the day but killing carbon tax and destroying
renewable energy sector at night. They carry on about not hurting their
economies.
Despite our ability
to innovate and take technology to a new level, we still can’t figure out which
is the safest and more sustainable source of energy. Let’s just say investing
in wind and solar is more expensive than investing in petroleum. We would
rather keep the status quo that destroys the only life supporting system
available to mankind.
To me, I will follow what my mentor Prof. Wangare Maathai
did. I will play my part and do the little things that can make a difference. I
will plant a tree; I will motivate my son and wife to plant a tree each. We may not grow a forest, but my grandchildren
will say, “At least daddy and granny saved us from the worst social and
environmental injustice to humanity”.
Author: Kenfrey Kipchumba Katui (Founder and the Execute
Director of Scope Intervention)
Nice article Ken, very inspirational
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