Being the change I want to see!
“Spreading the word, inspiring for the change on a small scale that widens by collective efforts and awareness”
Motivated, hesitant, reluctant, enthusiastic…. I had different feelings and thoughts that came across my mind, although I have quite an experience when it comes to local development and youth work, but environmental issues, climate change and global warming!?? That’s by all means a new thing to me, not totally new but I will definitely have to get out of my comfort zone, a new challenge is waiting for me there in the Western Ghats in Sirsi- Karnataka India! Being a climate champion sounds like fun…..being a climate champion sounds like a responsibility!
It was quite a long journey since we left home till we reached Hubli, India, a journey that included 3 flights and some 9 hours of transit, but all is endurable for the cause.
Arriving in Hubli, we realized how hot and humid the weather will be, got out of the airport to find the gathering point where we were supposed to meet other climate champions after 4 hours from our arrival but luckily we found the Earth Watch staff waiting for us outside the terminal saying we don’t have to wait, as almost everybody is here, that was a relief!
Packed the luggage on the roof of the minivan and got ready to move to Sirsi “where the climate center is located. driven by”, a very skilled driver by nature “if you drive here you would become a Schumacher one day”, We had to stop at an hotel downtown Hubli to pick up some of the climate champions who arrived one day earlier and spent the night in Hubli, got to know each other’s name and back to the van.
A bumpy ride it was, with the narrow road and busy streets, we stopped for tea at some café, and I ordered tea just to discover that the default here is that they serve tea with milk if you order “tea”, and if you want only tea, you have to be specific ordering a” black tea”, was a lesson for me if I happen to be in India in future. Enjoyed the tea and resumed our endless track with our skilled driver ,the distance is about 100 kilometers from Hubli to Sirsi ,to take 2 hours and 15 mins “due to the Earth watch maximum speed policy for security and also due to the road itself”. Was quite a beautiful road with green surroundings, we enjoyed it, we slept, woke up, slept again, and woke up just to discover we are still hitting the road. We stopped another time to buy some fresh mango, and after some bargaining and negotiation skills that worked, we had very sweet mango on lunch and dinner.
Arriving at the hotel was something after such long flying time and a bumpy ride. got into our rooms and then we got to meet Dr. Khalid “the field director” who briefed us in short about the program and what we will be doing during the coming 2 weeks and then we had lunch all together continuing the discussion with Dr. Khalid and the other members of the team. The food was good but different and so spicy “really spicy!”, that’s when everybody here was telling me what the yogurt is originally used for, and that they put it on the table for a reason!
After lunch we had the time we were looking for, a good rest wouldn’t hurt after such travel and we had to assemble at 6pm for the introduction and getting to know each other. We started to get to know each other in a nice way to be able to mingle as we are to work together for the next 2 weeks and we were briefed on the climate partnership program -its aims, and objectives and what will we be doing the next weeks.
As a group we had to develop a common code of conduct to refer to during the program, so we thought about our ‘hopes and fears’ in regard to the group dynamics and attitudes and we reached an agreement on a framework in which we all should adhere to. Then we discussed about our expectations which were mainly about sharing and exchanging ideas and best practices as well as brainstorming for some innovative projects ideas to develop in our home countries.
We had a very delicious dinner in which “biryani” played a major role, and we are about to rest again now to cope with the early morning as we will go for “bird watching”.
For those who don’t know about” bird watching” well, it’s literally watching the birds and following their routes and identifying their species. Was quite an activity in the early morning.
During the course of the day we got briefed on climate change and forest management as well as the field work we are to do, our work included the stratification of forest plots, identification of trees to the species level, tagging of trees with a unique number and proper measurement through observation of shrubs and herbs.
After lunch we had a safety briefing about the work on the field and how we shouldn’t get our selves killed in the field J ,then we were taken to a sample plot to get familiar with what we will be doing the next 10 days.
While working on the field we became acquainted with monkeys to the extend that seeing a monkey became as familiar as seeing a cat in the streets of Cairo, what wasn’t that tolerated at least on my side is seeing a snake!!
One day we were working in the field and I was in between the trees working hard and very enthusiastic going inside the bushes where no one else would go and out of a sudden I heard the word “snake”! The most unwanted word in such a context! I looked up to find a green snake on one leaf looking this unwelcoming kind of look ,after having the normal photo session with the snake with all possible poses I was reluctant to continue work or at least to be the same hero I used to be ,going deep between the bushes. Our mentor told me “don’t worry it’s a shy snake, this green snake is a shy one that doesn’t hurt at all”, he said that and left as if he gave me the proper justification to consider this shy green snake as a pet from now on!!
Our work was on two levels ,a practical level through working on the field on the process explained before to take place everyday from the morning till the afternoon and then the theoretical part comes where we have sessions on the science of climate change ,and go deep in terms like greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change we also had sessions on the economics of the bio-gas plants, its self sustainability and the short pay back period also we had a very insightful presentation on how to calculate the carbon footprint of an organization and it was really interesting to know that HSBC had become a carbon neutral in 2005.
Some other day we discussed also the socio-economic impact of climate change and I still remember the quote of this day which was “the world we have created is a product of our thinking; it can’t be changed without changing our thinking “Albert Einstein.
We had several field visits one of them was to a “cashew nut processing factory” and I remember one colleague saying he thought the farmers pick the cashew nut off the trees and then introduce it directly to the market however, I have seen the whole processing cycle which is a lot of time and efforts spent from the having the cashew nuts from the trees till eating it in front of the TV while watching Fox movies!
In our recreational day we went to Yana one of the most beautiful places in Karnataka, Yana rocks, a huge formation that is part of the sahyadri hills in the western chats. Two huge rocks are the center of attraction here and there are two temples, temple of Shiva inside a cave and a Ganesha temple nearby. The good thing is that you aren’t allowed to wear your shoes in the whole place, so humid weather and very hot sand and you should walk barefooted for some good time.
One day we went shopping for souvenirs, I bought some nice scarf’s and some souvenirs, the same day we visited the “Marikamba” temple ,we weren’t allowed to shoot photos inside unfortunately and this was the first time in life to get into a Hindu temple ,seeing the cow inside the temple and the rites the people practice was totally new to me.
Cows here have their rights, and seems they know it quite well, they even practice it on daily basis so it became deep in their characteristics! While driving, it’s very normal to find a cow in the middle of road and as a gentleman you should wait till she moves or else on the worst case you can honk the horn and again wait, so you better not be in a hurry when it comes to driving on the high ways here, otherwise, you should allow some time for such circumstances and leave home long time in advance.
I assume that I have seen a lot in life, countries ,people and religions but India is different by all means I’d say it’s unique, has its own characteristics’ haven’t had the opportunity to go around though. One Indian friend was telling me that I need another life to go around India and I believe he is totally right!
We had a brainstorming session on some ideas for projects that address climate change when we go back home and I have some ideas on power saving and water conservation that I will work on ,it was really of great benefit to share and exchange ideas and best practices with people from different countries and different realities, it really added to me and I got many ideas that might be applicable in my reality.
Once I read Mahatma Gandhi’s quote long time ago” you should be the change you want to see in this world” and I only felt it well when in India and when back from India , I have many ideas to spread the word, inspiring for the change on a small scale that widens by collective efforts and awareness.
Motivated, enthusiastic, determined I am, I had different feelings and thoughts that came across my mind, I might got out of my comfort zone however, I came out of it took the challenge and now I feel empowered and back to my comfort zone with new knowledge, know how and quite a learning process that I went through.
