- She was among the 75 young teachers who were trained on climate change awareness at COP 29.
- The COP29 mission includes integrating climate change awareness with education - helping young educators gain relevant knowledge and skills which they can share with the next generation.
Image: HANDOUT
A teacher from Malindi in Kilifi county is among young educators who participated in the COP29 Climate Change Summer Camp at ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Jackline Mwambire, a teacher at Learning Hub School, alongside 75 others, were trained on climate change awareness.
They are expected to take the knowledge back to their countries.
The COP29 mission includes integrating climate change awareness with education - helping young educators gain relevant knowledge and skills.
Mwambire said she acquired rich knowledge on solutions to the global crisis.
“Through the different environmental initiatives our school has been doing, I was honoured as one of the participants. The camp brought together many educators across the world,” Mwambire said.
She spoke after getting back to the country.
“This experience has enabled us to come back to our schools and equip our learners with knowledge on climate change and empower them to take action,” Mwambire said.
Schools should be the breeding ground for climate change awareness. As educators, teachers are expected to equip students with the science behind climate change and its impacts and empower them to take action, she said.
Mwambire is a member of The Learners Hub in Malindi. The hub is run by a non-profit organisation known as‘Make a Difference’. Its primary goal is to provide quality education.
“We've been able to achieve this through the two-thirds, one-third initiative, where two-thirds of our students sponsor a third of the students from vulnerable communities. Majority of these students are orphans and very needy," she said.
Evans Mwandoro, a teacher and patron of the Ecosystem Club at Learning Hub School said they are happy that one of their own represented Kenya.
He said the school has partnered with many schools in and outside Kenya in global classrooms and pen pals programme.
“We educate students on environmental matters. We have also partnered with organisations that conduct beach and street cleanups,” Mwandoro said.
Progress Welfare Association of Malindi leads the cleanups every second Saturday of the month.
“As a result of this partnership and initiative, we were privileged to have one of our own representing us in the COP 29 summer camp in Baku, Azerbaijan. She's now back, we believe the knowledge she gained will be of great help to our students and the community,” Mwandoro said.
Pwam and Learning Hub School launched segregation bins in institutions to keep the environment clean and ease identification of wastes.
Chairperson Kate Mwikali praised the project, saying it as a significant step towards a cleaner and more sustainable environment.
“You have shown that no matter where we come from, we can make a big difference in our community, improper waste disposal leads to severe environmental problems,” she said.
Mwikali said segregating waste helps children protect the environment.
She thanked teachers and parents for supporting the children, adding that the initiative and knowledge can be passed to communities.