What we can do for climate change

In Bangladesh which is susceptible to climate change, because of sea level rise due to global warming, seawater has broken into underground water and salting of drinking water is in progress. Salt damage is also causing serious damage to crops, and make the life of those engaged in agriculture very difficult. In Children’s Forest Program (CFP), we are focusing on activities to teach the children the knowledge about climate change and countermeasures so that they would be able to live with peace of mind in the future. 

Not defeated by difficulties, school forest children foster

Fulbari School is located in a rural town of the southwestern part in Bangladesh. As there is a big river nearby, agriculture is thriving. On the other hand, the area is facing a problem of river flooding in the rainy season. In order to solve this problem and to raise environmental awareness of students, the school participated in CFP since 2014. 

Started activities getting the understanding of the community

Kalabogi Sunderban is located in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. Before the start of activities, there was no greenery and the environmental awareness of students and teachers was not high. In this situation, OISCA coordinators and the school principal had a meeting and also a briefing was held for teachers and parents in order to smoothly carry out the activities.

Towards activities spreading

from children to adults

   This school which has 162 students is located in Khulna, the third largest city in Bangladesh. It joined CFP in 2016, but until then, the students were not so interested in environmental activities. The teachers, however, felt a sense of crisis over the natural disasters which frequently occurred in the country in recent years and started activities in the hope of minimizing damage even a little. 

Just joined CFP!

   This school which joined the Children’s Forest Program (CFP) in 2016 carried out activities raising the slogan “Let one person plant a tree and take care of it throughout the year”. On July 13, 100 students and 11 adults together with representatives of the local NGO: RUSA (Rural & Urban Problem Solve Association) and government officials planted 100 seedlings of mahogany and other species. In the tree planting, the students and adults all got excited just like in a festival. 

My name is Hafizah. I have benn participating in CFP activities at Chakoria Nurul Amin Public School. My favorite subject is Mathematics. During recess time, I play with my friends in doing dice game and rope jumping. In my village, there are many people who cannot afford to go to hospital for treatment. So, I am going to study hard and would like to be a medical doctor for helping the village people in future.

    This school started CFP activities in 2013 when the CFP coordinator called on. Previously, the school grounds were dreary vacant lots. So, the first thing the coordinator did was to distribute seedlings for tree planting. The children were very excited about the first tree-planting. As with the case of many other schools in Bangladesh, their tin-roofed school buildings get very hot when exposed to the sunlight, and turn into tough environment for the children. They plant seedlings and take care of them, and are anxiously waiting for grown trees to provide shade blocking the sunlight.

 This school has been paticipating CFP activities since 2004. The Principal, who is an advisor of mangrove planting, is very active in carrying out the activities. The main species that the children are planting are mahogany or acacia which can be utilized as lumber. The trees planted around the school buildings and the dormitory are growing big, provide good environment in the form of shade and fresh air, and also are useful for improving school equipment such as tables and chairs for the children.

Bangladeshis have a sweet tooth and many sugar-loaded desserts are made. When coming to Bangladesh, one has to taste the popular misty and doi.

Bangladeshis have a sweet tooth and many sugar-loaded desserts are made. When coming to Bangladesh, one has to taste the popular misty and doi.

Misty is an oval shaped sweet with a dense texture made from semolina, milk and sugar syrup. Color varies from white to brown or dark brown depending on how long they are fried. This misty is one of the most prominent trademarks of Bengali Culture and probably the face of Bengali cuisine to people outside of Bangladesh. On the first time of taking misty, one would probably find it hard to finish the whole piece, but after while he will be surprised to be craving for more and will definitely be tempted to take another piece. This misty is just the right dessert, washing away all the spiciness especially after taking curry. It is addictive indeed, so be careful not to lose control on this sweet devil. Misty also serves as a round the year gift when meeting people. Especially if a foreigner brings this as a present when visiting friends at their home, the locals are more than delighted and will tell you, “you are becoming more Bangladeshi everyday”.

Bagbari Madrasa School is a school that provides primary, secondary and college levels of educations, and there are many children come to this school everyday.

In the premise of the school, there is a voluntary-built and aided orphanage. Children in this orphanage, of course, attend Bagbari Madrasa School. The Children's Forest Program's activities of this school in 2011 were mainly done around this orphanage. The seedlings children picked to plant around the orphanage building were mango trees. This is because that the orphanage is managed relying on voluntary contribution and does not have enough funding and they thought they would be able to earn some money by selling mangoes someday while they can green their school premise.

It will be a long way to harvest mangoes. Children, however, are sure to look after the trees they planted in expectation of harvesting yummy mangoes in the future.

Illishia Jamila Begum High School has opportunity of Japanese visit of encouragement every year. Every time the Japanese group visits the school, they have a cultural exchange program where both parties perform something representing their cultures such as singing or dancing. There are few foreign visitors in the village. This opportunity is one of the biggest events of the school. For some students, this is the most awaited extra-curricular activity of the year.

Moreover, not only they exchange entertainments each other, the students of Illishia Jamila Begum High School also joins the Japanese group’s reforestation work which is the main reason the group visits Bangladesh. Through planting mangroves struggling with the mud together, the students and the Japanese visitors strengthen their emotional bond. The school principal Mr. Nurul Hossain spoke, “we are truly thankful for the continuous support from Japan. It is very encouraging for the students to have enjoyable time with the Japanese visitors".

Bagbari Madrasa is a school comprising approximately 600 students both primary and secondary school combined. In this school, students know each other very well and everyone is like a family to all.

SInce they started to join the Children’s Forest Program, the students took care of planted tree seriously. Due to their efforts, the school has included environment-related topics in extra-curricular activities. Now the trees provide the school and the children cool wind and a shade from direct sunlight.

From this year, the school has started agriculture and environmental education. But since the school has no enough facility for the children’s practical and hands on exercise on basic agriculture, OISCA Bangladesh and Bagbari Madrasa primary and high school agreed that practical sessions be conducted at OISCA’s training center.

Hopefully, this interaction will mark a new beginning of "give and take" between the children and agriculture, as well as between the school and the Children’s Forest Program.

Bagbari Madra, Kashimur, Gazipur

Program starting year: 1994 Number of students: 600