2013/14 PROJECT: CALLING BACK NATURE

3i Green has outlined the following program to be pursued from this time forth to the end of 2014. The entire program is written with you in mind and for you.
The year ahead of us shall see us through these schedules no matter how stringent things might become:

• 3 months environmental sanitation campaign in Jacobu, Jun-Aug 2013

With more than 10 open refuse damps in and around town, about 8 poorly managed public latrines, plastic waste all over the central business circle, Jacobu is well in the alley of poor environmental health practices. This insanity must stop. But it cannot stop on its own for such waste didn't come by accident. We generated them. All of them.

3i Green shall raise public awareness through multi-media/mass education about the source of the litter we see swallowing us up which come from no where but our very homes! We also are looking forward to hosting people in the comfort of their homes, churches and town hall meetings to sensitize them about how our negligence is affecting the environment therefore having ill-effects on our health. 

• 4 months community outreach to towns/villages afflicted by the mining exploits, Sept, 2013 - Jan 2014

With Jacobu included, 3i Green is spending a month in each of the following forest-dependent but galamsey affected satellite towns/villages in and around Fiankomah, Akutuase and Nyinatease. This exercise is geared to bring those communities face to face with what they seem to be taking for granted in the wake of the so-called gold rush. 

We shall pay particular attention to the rivers and streams that have been made stagnant, polluted for consumption, and posing serious threat to plant/crop and animal life. The communities will get to know the long term effects, which are  apparent even now, for turning upside down their arable lands for gold which hitherto were meant for farming. And by no means shall we forget to foretell the dangers that accompany forest depletion.

At this stage, the month of December 2013 shall be set aside for the festive season.

• 4 months woodlot/fruits seed growing and nursing, Feb - May, 2014

In our effort to help nature reclaim itself, 3i Green has made plans to grow and nurse 15000 woodlot, mango and orange seeds. Our Green Youth Clubs shall be equipped to do the growing and nursing of these precious seeds till the time they shall be matured for proper (trans) planting in and along the rivers, streams, school compounds, backyard gardens and individual farms. We hope to let these seeds out for free so as to ensure intensive community involvement in the entire yearlong project.

CLUB PARTICIPATION

I feel that we should not only maintain gentle, peaceful relations with our fellow human beings but also that it is very important to extend the same kind of attitude toward the natural environment.~ Dalai Lama

I believe that every creation counts. The plants, the animals, humans and the inanimate objects, the waterbodies, the mountains and the land! In attempt to restore the environment to its rightful ecological balance, we should involve the efforts of like-minded humans and nature shall come to their aid in ways inconceivable by the human mind.

3i Green seeks to embark on such an effort and we cannot do without the active participation of those of us - on this mountain - whose lives are directly affected (in all ways) by the gradual degradation of our environment. So, the call has gone out to meet you wherever you are, and be included in this noble adventure of restoring nature. I have carefully thought through how such efforts can be tapped right at source in a manner that will not be too taxing on the individual whose desire is to join this club.

3i Green constitutes a twelve-member core group to be called the educational training team. They shall be referred to as the Green Education Team (GET). GET is constituted by 3 founders from 3i Group, 2 officials from the Forestry Commission, 2 officials from the Ministry of Science and Environment in this district, 4 environmental science teachers, 2 senior high school students, 1 representative from the junior high school club and 1 from Ghana Police. GET shall be the primary trainer of all trainees who may be called upon to be informed and provided with logistics that will ensure the drumming home of environmental conservation/protection acts and practices.

We intend to widen the scope by setting up initial 5 school clubs to be called 3i Green School Club (GSC) in five communities including Jakobu, Fiankomah, Akutuase, Nyinatiase and Akokonso. These are the communities heavily affected by the  mining exploits to such an extent that their river sources have been dangerously polluted and stopped from flowing; they have their farmlands turned up for gold; and their forests shrinking by the days. Even children of school-going age are the very ones on whose shoulders these mining activities rest.2 school clubs shall be established in Jakobu alone - 1 at the senior high school and 1 for all 5 junior high schools combined. The rest of the communities shall have 1 school club each in their respective junior high schools. Each school club shall be administered by three leaders.

In communities that may not have any school whatsoever, 3i Green intends to set up Green Youth Clubs (GYC) in this direction. We are committed to making this exercise purely community owned and predominantly youth based to ensure continual sustainability of the initiative.

All extensions of the parent body shall be resourced with necessary training/education, facilities/logistics for their smooth running. Subsistence allowance shall be provided when and where necessary so as to boost individual participation and group confidence in achieving our set goals.

It should be noted however that, change is the only constant thing in nature. And such a positive change cannot be prudent if modifications are not allowed. I therefore welcome suggestions and useful information in this regard. Comments are welcome in the space provided for that purpose on this blog.


LET US GO GREEN!  
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NATURE CALLS

I am awed by this opportunity - for the first time ever - to add my voice to the menace facing us as we witness and partake in the gradual degradation/destruction of our environment. If any of us has been watching, Amansie Central District/Odotobri Constituency has seen an unprecedented repletion of our farmlands, forests, and river bodies in recent times. These came about as a result of years of illicit mining, centuries of poor farming practices, the ever increasing domestic waste generation as well as our complete disregard of our traditional customs and core values regarding nature. Our poor understanding of modernity has led us to throw away these natural laws and now we must battle for our continual existence on this planet.

Not only are our river deities retreating into oblivion, fish from our rivers are almost a thing of the past, food is becoming a force to reckon with, the rains don't follow the predictable pattern we used to witness some few decades ago, and our bird/mammal companions are taking leave of us. We are becoming alone, literally.

What is happening? One would ask.
Nature is calling. I would say.

And it takes us, alive and kicking, to respond to the call. When we begin to take responsibility for what happens to our environment, that is the day we commence the 'restitution of all things' prophesied in our holy books. That day beckons today; and the call goes out from this mountain - Jakobu.

Going around this town, I see how poorly we have managed the manner we generate waste. Our countless open refuse dumps are not only hazardous to human health, they cast slur on our integrity as sentient beings created in the image and likeness of God. The district assembly landfill on the Fiankoma road is an eyesore. I question the professionalism of our engineers and planning and environmental officers occupying the respective offices.
I see why the rivers/streams have given up the ghost on the life they used to support&produce. Swimming in them, as we used to do years back, is tantamount to bathing in pool of poisonous substance. They are fast drying up and hey, the fishes don't come to swim anymore - not even in Ampemanka River!

We need to be retold what we are taking for granted: OUR LIVES DEPEND ON THE ENVIRONMENT! And the quicker we reiterate that message, the better it shall be in our quest to restore Nature so we can live eternally.

I present to you 3i Green Club; an environmental awareness creation group set up to disseminate useful information on nature conservation. Among many things, 3i (pronounced Third Eye) Green Club shall commit to intensive public (mass) education in and around the district starting from Jakobu and spread through other towns and communities heavily affected by the mining escapades. We call on tradtional rulers, schoolteachers and students, opinion leaders, youth groups and corporate bodies to join the trail to reclaiming what Nature endowed us with.

The time is always right to do what is right. God shall turn this Earth into a paradise again but not without your help!