CHENNAI: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has, said American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead. One such group of 14 young eco-crusaders, full of potential and passion, has embarked on a drive to take action against pressing environmental concerns like global warming, species extinction, deforestation, climate change, and pollution.
A collaboration to cherish
The work is the effort of Earth Authors, a mentoring programme developed by Youth Conservation Action Network (YouCAN) in partnership with Cogitation Club, through which the group’s dreams took flight during the pandemic. As an output of the year-long research and education project led by facilitators, the children got to write, illustrate and publish storybooks on nature. On Saturday, their small contribution to ecological conservation was celebrated by friends and family at the Madras Literary Society. Hosted by AVIS Viswanathan and Vaani Anand, the happynesswalas, the three-hour event witnessed the launch of their books and conversations with the young minds.
“During the last year and a half, YouCAN relooked at how we have been curating nature and conservation education programmes. We questioned our approaches. We reviewed our practices. We listened to numerous children, young people, schools, and grassroots organisations, most of whom were involved with us formally or informally for over a decade. We discovered a pattern that connected children with nature and encouraged civic action. We decided to focus our time and attention on making such patterns into programmes,” says K Ramnath Chandrasekhar, co-founder YouCAN.
That’s when Ram met Aneesa Jamal, founder of the Cogitation Club. Her venture Al Qamar Academy shut shop due to multiple factors during the pandemic. Speaking of the experiential ecology programme that the middle-school students experienced the previous three years at the academy, she explains, “The children were trained by wonderful educators from Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants.
They had walked down Muttukadu beach observing marine creatures, gone birdwatching on Pallikaranai marsh, visited the mangroves and salt pans in Marakkanam, witnessed the Siruseri eri being restored, found civet cats and a beautiful star tortoise at the Guindy National Park. They also saw the other side of the picture — the result of untrammelled urbanisation, toxic foam at the Besant Nagar beach, and grey fly ash carpeting the fields at Ennore. They interacted with ecologists and environmental activists who enlightened them on the consequences of human development.”
Aneesa wanted their experiences to be documented and shared with the world. More importantly, she wished for it to create an actual difference in the world around them. “Ram had mentored our children for an earlier project and that paved the way for collaboration once again. For the latest one, he taught children about using text and art to write stories with a purpose and helped them identify the exact theme with local settings and characters they could write about. As days passed, the stories started taking shape. We worked with children on creative writing, penning evocative descriptions, and revising the flow. What you see today is a culmination of their hard work as a result of their urgent need to bring about a change,” shares Aneesa.
Stepping up in small ways
The children’s authors’ first-hand experiences inspired them to conceive their storybooks. In ‘An Eagle’s Voice’, Abdul Muiz Syed narrates the story of Bhoora, a white-bellied sea eagle that’s terrified and angered by human encroachment into its territory. In ‘A flutter in the Poonga’, Muhammed Ashfaque captures the independence of butterflies in their natural habitat. In ‘Puli Kathai: The Story Of A Tiger’, Jamal Mohammad Abdurrahman addresses the human-animal conflict. In ‘Dependent’, Anam Fathima calls our attention to the dark side of social media.
In ‘A Turtle Walk With A Fly’, Ishaal Azeez throws light on the struggles of turtles. In ‘A croc in need’, Hamdaan Jabir fights against killing crocodiles for leather. In ‘How Haju Weaved The World’ Athiya Fathima Tawfiq paints the imbalance of ocean ecosystems. In ‘The Adventures of Polly Co2’, Sarah Malang describes the hazardous effects of pollutants emitted from vehicles. In ‘Amira’s Green Friends’, Maryam Shariff condemns the felling of trees in her neighbourhood. In ‘A Lapwing’s Tale’, Khadijah Abdul Sattar talks about the annual bird migration at Pallikaranai marshland.
Explaining the inspiration behind her work ‘The Egg’s-pedition’, Hasna Jabir, one of the authors at the event, notes, “The book is set in the future and it’s grim. This is to emphasise the urgency with which we need to act to save the world or it could be too late.” Speaking of her work, ‘A Backpack, A Cat and A Tale’, Shahana Shameer Syed, another author at the event says, “You find a cat in my book because I feel that they’re similar to human beings; indifferent to the outside world.
That said, we need to own up to our action against the environment.” Mansoor Ahmed, the author of ‘Olivia The Storyteller’, says, “I’ve read about Olive ridley turtle conservation. My story is about its struggles to survive and how our greed impacts it. Abdullah Ibrahim, the author of ‘The Hidden Wild’, says, “There used to be a green space behind my building that was home to many creatures. It was recently cleared to make way for an apartment.
My story revolves around that.” Every story is a reflection of the child’s careful observation of our ecosystem and profound thoughts on how to preserve it. Perhaps, we can all encourage the young crusaders by grabbing copies of their books and becoming a part of their ongoing battle for a better world.
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