On the 17^th May 2021 members of the Rotary Club of Church Wilne were treated to an informative and interesting presentation from Sue Tinney of World Vision on how the organisation is combating climate change and is helping the young and vulnerable to combat it and give them a voice to make their views known.

Sue informed the members the bench mark was set out in the 2015 Paris Climate Summit. One of its objectives was to give children a chance to be heard and introduced a project to encourage youngsters to participate, make a difference and to take part in the next summit scheduled for later this year. The summit also acknowledged an increase in global hunger and highlighted that more must be done to help the poorest become resilient to climate catastrophes.

Climate change has caused natural disasters such as floods, drought and famine with consequences such as migration and homelessness through people fleeing their homes. Two countries show contrasting causes of problems caused by climate change. Mali in West Africa has suffered significant loss in food production caused by drought. World Vision established projects and employed agricultural engineers to train farmers to use different farming methods to increase farm yields. It showed them tree management techniques, new methods of planting and the use of drought resistant seeds to help them combat the drought and become self-sufficient. Over the last four years the lives and livelihoods of the people in Mali have been rebuilt.

In contrast, The Philippines have been severely affected by hurricanes, typhoons and flooding. World Vision has worked with the populous and the authorities to give training for disaster mitigation such as evacuating schools and other public buildings and clean up initiatives following flooding. They were trained in disaster reduction strategies and shown how to build better houses with stronger structures to withstand these adverse events.

The policy of world vision is that it is committed to ensuring vulnerable people have a future and can adapt to the problems caused by climate change. It is keen to give the younger generation a voice and seeks to encourage them to use it.

The vote of thanks was given by Rotarian Mick White who said we had learnt a lot and agreed children must be engaged in combating this problem. It was heartening to see that climate change was being confronted and positive action taken.

If you wish to know more about the Church Wilne Rotary and how the members aim to make a difference in the local community of for more information on Rotary, our speaker evenings, events and the main activities organised by our club please contact our Secretary, David Hewitt at: rccw1220@gmail.com. We are always on the look out for new members and are a friendly bunch.

Derek Sheehy-Smith
For Church Wilne Rotary