Thursday 16th May 2024

Written by Josh Kane (Year 13 Student, Deputy Head Boy)

On the 10th of May, Jett Rogers, Billy Mccabe, Daniel Kleinhans and I traveled down to Dunedin along with Waitaki Girls' High School to attend the World Vision youth conference. The main topic was climate change and how it has affected a small country called Timor-Leste located just north of Australia. Timor-Leste is a country home to 1.32 million people. They are responsible for only 0.003% yet they are one of the most impacted countries by climate change in the world. The World Vision team shared with us the story of Pasquela. Pasquela is one of many people in Timor-Leste already suffering from the effects of climate change. She comes from a thriving rice farm which 3 years ago was destroyed due to a cyclone. With the farm destroyed, Pasquela’s family had no source of income which resulted in her little sisters having to leave school along with her having to drop out of university. Pasquela’s family share the same burden as many other agricultural families in Timor-Leste. With agriculture once providing subsistence to 80% of the country's population it is clear to see that this issue is catastrophic and needs to be addressed, which is why myself along with others have taken the initiative to act upon the issue.

For me personally, I am taking part in the world challenge as I have grown up on a farm just like Pasquela has. Just to think that what has happened to Timor-Leste could potentially happen to New Zealand is a scary thought especially seeing that New Zealand's main source of income is through agricultural business. Although global warming is already at a state where it cannot be avoided, we are still able to spread awareness and limit the damage that it inflicts. Which is why we as a school have decided to set a fundraising goal of $2,500 to go towards the struggling families in Timor-Leste. To achieve this goal, we will advertise the 40-hour challenge to individuals primarily and essentially provide a large group challenge through the school where we will aim to gain multiple sponsorships to help support the event. In addition to this we will aim towards having a mufti day and a BBQ.            

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