Train Environmental Youth Advocates in Kenya
You can train ten rural village youth and young adults to educate and advocate on the human-caused sources of pollution and their effects on public health, and to advocate for conservation of important ecosystems and biological diversity protection. In four-days, three-hours workshops, youth and young adults will learn the hazards of improper disposal of batteries, burning plastics, farm chemical use, and other public health hazards. With this knowledge, they advocate for their community's environment through being a member of the Environmental Youth Action Corps. Upon completion of the program, each participant gets a certificate, a button that proclaims they are an earth caregiver, and a solar flashlight.
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The Need
There is a profound need for understanding the effect of environmental advocacy on public health now and in the future. Two of several of detrimental practices that need to be addressed are:
- Western civilization's unsustainable over-use of disposable plastics negative impact on communities. Plastics trash is burned, releasing highly toxic chemical emissions. Dioxin, a carcinogenic and hormone disruptor that accumulates in human and animal body-fat is the worst of these toxins; pregnant mothers give it directly to their babies via the placenta or through nursing. Dioxins also settle on crops and in streams where drinking water is collected.
- Discarded batteries are buried, littered, or incinerated, and are frequently handled by young children who put them in their mouths. Most batteries contain cadmium, lead and mercury, each of which is shown to cause cancer, birth deformities, and arrested brain development. Corroded and burned batteries contribute to profound contamination of rural communities' soil and water.
About Village Volunteers
Partner since March, 2010
Village Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works in partnership with rural village and capacity-building programs to support the development of sustainable solutions for community survival, education, and growth. Their vision is to build sustainable communities that reach their full potential in the areas of health care, public health awareness, environmental conservation, access to clean water, sanitation, education, food security, and economic stability. Today, they work in rural villages in Kenya, Belize, India, Ghana, and Nepal.
