ABOVELEFT:Yolawithheryogateacher,Nokuphiwo Jada, who inspired her to join the
EcoWarriorinitiative.ABOVERIGHT:YomelelaPrimary, where Yola is in Grade 5, has an
environmentalfacilitatorwhoteachesthekidsabout organic gardening.About80%of
itemsburiedin
landfillscouldbe
recycled.It takes 500 years
foranaverage-size
plasticbottleto
decomposefully.Theenergyit takestoproduce
1,5milliontonsofplastic(300mtons
areproducedgloballyeachyear)could
power 250000 homes.If yourecycleoneplastic
bottle,youcouldsave
enoughenergytoruna
100-wattbulbforfourhours.Morethan 100000 sea
animalsdieeachyeardue
toplasticentanglement
andingestion.AWORLDOFWASTE‘I feltsoempoweredandI want other kids to have
thatfeelingtoowhenthey fight climate change’
YOU NEWS
(From previous page)E
ARLIER this year, the Grade 5
learner at Yomelela Primary
School joined forces with hun-
dreds of other young activists to
march to parliament.
“There were so many kids you
wouldn’t be able to count them!” Yola re-
calls excitedly. “We wanted the president
to hear our plea.”
Her job for the day was to lead a 2 000-
strong protest and deliver a speech. In it,
she urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to
make an effort to combat climate change.
Was she nervous?
“A little bit, but not really,” she shrugs.
“I’m used to it. I felt so empowered and
I want other kids to have that feeling too
when they fight climate change.”
Yola lives with her mom, Sandiswa,
grandmother No-Andile, two uncles and
a cousin. At first her family didn’t under-
stand her passion.
“But as time went on, they saw how
importantit wastomeandhowmuch
I loveit,”shesays.“NowI havetheirfull
support.”
Athomesheteachesherunclesand
cousinaboutclimatechangeandnow
they’repassionateaboutit too.
“Theyalwayssay,‘Sifunaichange’ [ We
wantchange],”shejokes.
Yolawasinspiredbyherschool’syoga
instructor,NokuphiwoJada,andenvi-
ronmental facilitator, XoliFuyani.
Nokuphiwoleadsweeklyyogaclassesat
YomelelaPrimaryandXoliheadseduca-
tionalsessionsthatteachkidsabout
wormfarmingandorganicgardening.
InJunethisyearYolajoinedEcoWarri-
ors,aninitiativestartedbynonprofitor-
ganisationEarthchildProject.Earthchild
hostseducationalprogrammesonthe
environment,healthandlifeskillsindis-
advantagedschoolsintheMotherCity.
Withtheorganisation’shelp,Yola
growsorganicvegetablesandmonitors
herschool’swaterandelectricitycon-
sumption.
“IjoinedafterMissXoligaveusanac-
tivityaboutpollutingEarth,”shesays.
“ThatwaswhenI fellinlovewithclimate
change.
E
VENherfreetimeis devotedto
learningeverythingshepossi-
blycanaboutglobalwarming.
WhenYolaisn’treadinga book
onthetopic,shegoesaround
pickinguptrashinherneigh-
bourhood.
“WhenI seepeoplelitteringit makes
mesad.EvenbeforeI joinedEcoWarri-
orsit gotmeworried.
“That’s whyI startedmyclimate
changeworkthisyear.”
Everymorningonherwaytoschool,
shecarriesa blackbagtocollectplastic
bottlesandwrappersinthestreets.Yola
andherfellowEcoWarriorsthenstuff
theemptyplasticbottlestheysodiligent-
lycollectedwithcompactedwrappers
andpapers.Theseareknownaseco
bricks.
Oncethey’veassembledenoughof
thesebricks,theyplantobuildthings
suchaschairsandtables.
Theystillneedtodecidewhattobuild
butYolasaysa worldwidecollective
effort is needed to combat the effects of
climate change.“We’re going to teach Grade 1, 2 and 3
learners how to make the eco bricks,” she
adds.
If waste isn’t properly disposed of, the
litter ends up in our water systems and
the digestive tracts of wildlife and reduc-
es the quality of the air we breathe be-
cause of its toxicity and smell.
But more than just its effects on the
environment, litter could affect our
health too, as heaped-up waste is often
the breeding ground for pests, which
could lead to the spread of disease, Yola
explains.
It’s just another reason the preteen,
who plans to pursue a career as a lawyer
one day, is advocating for the protection
of the planet.
“Earth is important. If we keep pollut-
ing the planet, we’ll have nowhere to live.
That’s why we have so many natural dis-
asters like floods and droughts,” Yola
says.
“If we young ones don’t do something
to stop it, I don’t know what we’ll do.” S
EXTRA SOURCES: ARSTECHNICA.COM, RUBICONGLOBAL.COM,
BBC.COMINSTAGRAM/@EARTCHILDPROJECT24 | 29 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za