Children march to raise awareness of global warming

Young campaigners from Chiang Rai on the march

11 June 2008: More than 300 students marched from the top of a mountain in Chiang Rai, Thailand to raise awareness of environmental issues and global warming, with help from Plan.

The pupils and 20 youth leaders from Therd Thai school worked in groups to create handmade banners and posters to celebrate World Environment Day on 5 June.

Over the past few years the children have seen several unusual natural disasters in their village and province and decided they wanted to stop the problem from getting worse.

By drawing up the banners, the young campaigners hoped to make the villagers aware of global warming and how to prevent it. They also drew pictures of mudslides and floods to show the consequences of not protecting the environment.

"All the boys and girls were dedicated to this project," said Arbe Piapha, Plan programme coordinator.

"They used their time after school to help by drawing trees, mountains and cartoons to get the message across."

Speaking out

Hundreds of children took part to raise awareness of environmental issues

The students and a marching band marched from the top of the mountain in Chiang Rai down to the market and community area to attract as much attention as possible.

One female youth leader said: "I stopped working as a youth leader for a few years after being warned off by the adults in my community.

"Today is the first day I have been back and it feels so good to be involved again. I have a great time working with my friends and I hope that we make villagers aware of protecting community resources."

Youth network

All the students are part of a youth network which comes under a Plan pilot programme in 2 districts in Chiang Rai. Plan is working with the network to help them inform their peers and communities of environmental issues and how to prepare for disaster risks in the future.

Plan is also calling for this disaster risk reduction work to be incorporated into the local school curriculum by working with the school authorities and providing teacher training packs and guides.

Find out about Plan's global photography competition - this year's focus is climate change.

Learn more about how Plan helps children to speak out