Story by Saki Golafale. See more of Saki’s work at Practice What You Preach

In observance of the United Nations-designated climate change week September 21-25, the youth of Wood Camp community in Paynesville, Liberia, in collaboration with Youth Crime Watch of Liberia and Action Against Climate Change in Liberia, joined the rest of the world to raise awareness about climate change with the slogan, “Go Green Liberia; Do Something Green.” The awareness campaign was headed by Saki Golafale, a resident of Wood Camp community.

The activities started on Thursday, September 24 and ended on Friday, September 25. On Thursday, the youth staged a community parade with awareness messages being said out loud on a mega-phone. The parade went on for three hours with demonstrations from a youth drama group and distribution of green fruits to the crowd and those who answered questions concerning climate change. The climax of the “Go Green” activities was on Friday with tree planting in three different locations within the Wood Camp community. This was followed by a football match which ended in a 3-3 draw.

The executive director of Youth Crime Watch of Liberia, Mr. Zuo Taylor, was impressed with how the young of Wood Camp organized themselves to stage such a campaign. He encouraged the young people to continue the fight against climate change. For his part, the executive director of Action Against Climate in Liberia commended the youth and asked that they join his organization in the fight to protect the environment. He urged other young people to get involved with the process as it is not only a Liberian problem, but also a global one.