“Plastic contains chemicals, chemicals give you cancer, and from cancer you die”, Tamara, 12, explains in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Her reply is the correct answer to the three-question quiz distributed to the children at Sabarin school in Yarmouk, which was selected as one of the locations for the International Volunteer Day 2008.
“I try to connect environment to health”, says the teacher Zubaida Al Hinnawi, who composed the mini-quiz. “Because Syria is not yet a developed country, people are focused on survival – it is too early for environment”, she continued. “So the only way to make people care about environmental problems is to show how they affect their health.”
The quiz was part of a hectic two-hour schedule of environmental activities at Sabarin school in Yarmouk on International Volunteer Day. On this Friday, efforts all over Damascus aimed at promoting volunteering and raising environmental awareness – particularly among children. In addition to games and painting at Melab Al-Fayhat - the center of events during the IVD - this school in Yarmouk invited 150 children to participate and learn to reduce their environmental footprints.
The IVD in Yarmok kicked off with dance and music performances by the students, followed by workshops on how to make toys out of recycled garbage, painting of canvas bags, an educational film on the dangers of plastic, and the use of internet as a tool for researching environmental issues.
The atmosphere was excited at the table for canvas-bag painting, coming close to a wrestle in the fight for color-pens. “Red, red, give me red!” shouted Fatima, 4, reaching for the pen, only to be shoved aside by one year older Naime, who initially yelled for the blue pen but then decided that red was more attractive.
“Maybe it is too early for some of the younger children to fully understand the importance of the environment, to them it is just fun to paint. But I think they still bring some basic understanding with them after this day”, said Zubaida, the teacher. “They will definitely know that plastic bags are bad, but maybe not understand why.”
The older students also showed a firm understanding of the theme of the day. Asked what they had learned during the day, Hadiye, 14 said, “I learned that we should use less plastic because it is not good for the environment – that’s why we got the canvas bags”, she said, proudly lifting her colorful, flower-painted bag. “We also learned that most things can be used again, maybe like toys or something else, so we don’t need to throw away so much.”
One of the few parents that participated on the IVD in Yarmok shared her thoughts on the subject, emphasizing the importance of environmental awareness among children. “The environment in our neighborhood has steadily degraded. It is maybe not the worst neighborhood in Damascus, but it used to be so clean and green.”
She continued, pointing to one of the many problems associated with the growing population and cramped living conditions in Damascus. “More people have moved in here and it is so crowded, and much poorer now. People are throwing things everywhere – sometimes right out from their windows. It is the lack of education, and the culture is wrong.”
Her daughter Selma joins the conversation, drawing attention to one of the key themes of the IVD: “We also need to cooperate more; all the people have to work together. And the government has to take more responsibility.”
Selma’s mother captures the positive spirit of the day, adding, “My children don’t throw things everywhere, they know it is wrong. And I know that the education they receive helps because they come home and share it with me”, she said, indicating that children help spread awareness too. “I see that they think about what they do – and this is how the future will be cleaner and safer for our children, through educating the next generation.”
by Annika Folkeson
December 7, 2008