It was in mid-July of 2018, at about 4:00 AM, as you can imagine, my family and I were asleep. I felt my feet and body soaking wet. My first question was “did I pee on myself?” To reach out for my phone, I realize that my bed was floating and my house was flooded was a huge amount of water. That was the mystery that wakes my family up. It was not long when we realized that my entire city was suffering from massive flooding. The flood had a lot of effect on most Liberians and unfortunately, I had my fair share.
But what scares me the most was knowing that half of my country is surrounded by the Atlantic ocean in the north and people living on the coast have been experiencing devastating effects from the increase in water level. Some are displaced, lost their lives, their loved ones, or everything they ever work for. Also, where I live in Monrovia, is less than 15 minutes from the Atlantic ocean, and this inspired me to be more aware of climate change and led me to do more research which ended with the publication of my article, A Vouch For Climate Justice. However, my fight against climate change never ended.
I know we all have different stories to tell, either based on personal experience, the experience of others, or sometimes the things we read. We might narrate our stories differently but in the end, they all have the same conclusion and that is “we must all rise to combat climate change”.
You also have the choice to say “I live in Indy, and climate change doesn’t affect me. And the answer is “it hasn’t yet”.
Wait, don’t get me wrong, I am not here to overwhelm you with endless statistics rather spark feelings of care and concern for ourselves, our loved ones, and the beautiful biodiversity around us. I do not need you to buy or share my experience because both our stories speak the same awkward language “save the planet or bear the burden”. And some would say, “if it’s going to happen anyway, then why should I care? Well, that’s a brilliant question but have you ever stop to think about what would become of all of us, our endless studies, the quest to be successful, our degrees, or even the magical future we curve so badly?
The real question is “what are we really living and working to build? A future full of wealth, peace, and harmony? or the one hunted and threatened by endless flood, earthquakes, or possibly the all-time famous yellow stone volcano? I don’t see a blurry future not unless we decide to shape it not just by our words but our actions.
This is not all about selflessness because my fight for climate change is out of selfishness-selfishness for my own life, my future, and the future of the people I love and you should be too. And it doesn’t whether I am a Muslim, you are a Christian, shes a Hindu, or they are Jews. It doesn’t count how many times I dance to Beyonce brown skin girl or how yellow, red, or white the color of your skin shines because Climate change doesn’t care about your identity. It dosent ask for the number of years you studied to be a lawyer or a doctor. We might be divisive but climate change is noted for giving us our fair shares. I might have flown over 5, 000 miles using a visa to come and meet you, but guess what? Climate change doesn’t need a visa and so as the natural disasters that follow. It dosent matter whether you from Liberia, Zimbabwe, Russia, or the USA, all It takes is a blank of an eye.
If it takes a blank of an eye, what then would it take for us to stand up together and fight for our future tho it seems to be flaming. Change dosent only require the small or large industries, it takes me and you- all of us to shape the world and make it cleaner, greener, and healthier. It is up to us to refuse food, clothing, and materials, from corporations that are contributing to the destruction of our planet. It is up to us to reject and refute deforestation, pollution, and worse the emitting of greenhouse gases. Moreover, there are many simple steps we can take as individuals and make a massive positive change.
And we can start by reducing the amount of water we water in the shower. What would it take us to walk a short distance, use public transportations more often, and drive less often? What would it take us to conserve our energy by turning the lights off when we are leaving the room or not using it during the day? What would it take us to recycle things rather than create more garbage? What would it take us to become conscious of the packaging methods of the things we purchase daily? What would it take us to be considerate of the meat we eat especially those from industrial agriculture that emit large C02s into the atmosphere? What would it take us to at least reduce the temperate of our Air condition during summer while reducing our heater during winter? Have you ever stop to wonder how much CEO you could be reserving and that would interim be saving our planet?
Lastly, I am challenging all of us to become self-employed ambassadors in the fight against global warming. The fight against global warming is winnable and can be achieved by educating the people around us or simply being aware. My challenged ambassadors, what are we waiting for? I say “Safe the planet and thank yourself later”