Photographing environmental issues for a sustainable future.
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A Special Kind of Summer Camp
According to data from the China Women’s Federation, there are some 50 million children regularly left at home when their parents have to work as migrant workers in other parts of the country. These children lack supervision, attention and care from their parents for extended periods of time.
In July and August, Hong Kong NGO Wave5 and Pou Yuen footwear company organize a summer camp for nearly 700 of these “left behind” children, and Timberland employees in China volunteer for the project. Below, photos and first-hand accounts from Timberland volunteers who are spending their summer making a critical difference for these children … and creating impact for themselves in the process.
“I admired the volunteers from Hong Kong tremendously. They were full of love, used their own vacation time, paid their own fee to come and take care of these ‘left behind’ children. Although many of them could not speak Mandarin very fluently, they used their hearts to convey knowledge, happiness and love to the children, the future of our mother land.”
“(At dinner one night) one of the girls carried her plates to the dining table, crying. The food almost fell. I hurried to help and by the time I reached the table, five or six of other little girls were crying as well. I asked them why they cried. From their broken sentences, I realized this was the last meal and their volunteer teachers had to leave. These girls didn’t want to say goodbye to their teachers. They made cards with red hearts for us, saying they would remember us and would love us forever. I saw them working on those hearts and folding paper the day before during my class … it was only now I realized they were making gifts for us.”
“In the past week, I didn’t think I taught them anything, but they taught me to be pure, honest, simple … to trust and love. In the name of volunteering, I gained tremendous amount of love and blessings.”
Preserving Past and Future
Last month, 25 Earthkeepers from Timberland spent the day preserving landscape and history at the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, MA.
The park pays tribute to the opening battle of the American Revolution, and park grounds are preserved in 18th century tradition. Some of the park’s fields are still actively farmed through the park’s leasing program, but many areas have become overgrown with brush and invasive plants. In support of the park’s efforts to restore much of its agrarian landscape and evoke colonial times, when most of the land was used for grazing livestock, Timberland volunteers installed fencing and built an animal shelter for cattle and pigs – favorite “attractions” for park visitors.
Our thanks to the folks at the Minute Man Historical Park for their efforts to preserving events from the past, and land for the future. To learn more about the park, please visit their website.
A Time for Regrowing
A full month has passed since the major earthquake that rocked Haiti and devastated its people. In its wake, much of the world has shifted its focus to the need for aid and relief for Haiti’s survivors. The need for basic necessities – food, water, secure shelter – remains critical.
Equally critical is a vision for Haiti’s future … and as part of that vision, a sharp focus on the country’s environmental state. Haiti suffers one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, thanks in large part to the need for energy (Haitians cut and burn trees in “raw” form or turn the wood into charcoal). Wood accounts for more than 70 percent of all fuel consumed in the island nation … but with fewer than 100,000 acres of forest remaining, Haiti’s deforestation problem is poised to become yet another crisis for the country.
Satellite image depicting the border between Haiti (left)
and the Dominican Republic (right), 2002.
Deforestation is a serious problem anywhere – but particularly alarming when you consider the effects in a region that has in recent years suffered several natural disasters. Without trees creating any sort of a natural barrier or holding soil in place, flooding, mudslides and landslides become severe threats, impacting everything from infrastructure to agriculture.
While we’re currently supporting relief efforts underway in Haiti , we haven’t lost sight or passion for the reforestation project we’re undertaking with our partner Yele Haiti. In fact, the current state of affairs reaffirms our commitment to helping rebuild the country, one tree at a time.
Stay tuned for more details of our reforestation projects, in Haiti as well as other regions of the world
Young Rally Through The 11th Hour
Any "adult" who laments today’s youth are apathetic, uninvolved and politically disinterested hasn’t been reading his or her newspaper. Every paper, whether The New York Times or China’s Reference News, is covering the massive outpouring of youth energy and activism convening in Copenhagen.
The city is packed–absolutely packed–with young people from around the world, many crashing on friend’s couches, in local hostels or, worse, sleeping outside in frigid temperatures in hopes of influencing these last few hours of United Nations Climate Negotiations. Although some have clashed in protests with Danish police , the majority are rallying peacefully and remaining hopeful through the 11th hour.
Check out our recent video on the diversity of YOUTH ACTIVISM in Copenhagen . . .
Week 2: The Brass Tracks
by Gabriel London
It’s week 2 of the Copenhagen Climate Conference and the Bella Center has never been more crowded. Copenhagen Dispatch with Olivia Zaleski #4 marks a new chapter in our coverage because we get into the brass tacks of negotiation: developed vs. developing nations. The conclusion of this conversation in Copenhagen will either yield us a deal or come up short. And your voices – dear viewers – can make all the difference.
As we began the week, with the protest fresh in our minds , we thought we would find a story inside the Bella Center that pitted the developing world against the rich nations like the US and UK. What we uncovered along the way , however, was not so much an insurmountable divide between the rich and poor nations, but instead a unifying bridge, embodied by Ed Milliband , head negotiator for the UK, and Ambassador Dessima Williams , UN representative from Grenada and chairwoman of the much discussed bloc of island nations, AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States ).
We’re hitting the home stretch and word is that Hillary Clinton herself will be here to lend the US its strongest negotiating hand . We gonna chronicle it up to the end (well, almost, because it seems we’re headed home Friday as Obama arrives!).
Copenhagen is buzzing. Stay tuned for all that’s left to come . . .
STAY EDUCATED!
FOR MORE ON: – The Struggle Faced by Small Island Nations visit this recent collection of videos and reporting featured on: The Huffington Post .
And for Ed Miliband and the UK’s Ambition for a Global Deal in Copenhagen visit: actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk .
