Volunteers form new green partnership
- Source: Global Times
- [18:38 April 21 2011]
- Comments
The UNV China's Carla del Castillo Fontanals gives eco-education books to student Liu Siyu, 12, Wednesday. Photo: Huang Shaojie
By Huang Shaojie
Beijing's volunteer organizations joined global forces in launching an education initiative Wednesday to promote environmental awareness among the city's underprivileged children.
Marking the launch of Volunteer Beijing Green Partnership, officials of founding partner United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) presented 17 copies of a comic book on eco-friendly lifestyles to the migrant children who attend Xingzhi Primary School in Haidian.
"UNDP encourages local involvement in building a greener future for the world," China deputy country director Silvia Morimoto said at the launch, endorsed by the initiative's local partners Beijing Volunteer Federation (BVF), the Beijing Youth League and district education officials.
"Hopefully [the children] will grow up to share the message of green living," said Qing Zhaoshen, vice director of BVF's office of the secretary.
BVF's volunteers gave the Xingzhi schoolchildren their first lesson about sorting waste and conserving water Wednesday.
"It is very important that we start [environmental education] with the children, because they are the future leaders," Morimoto said.
One of UNDP's goals is to eventually have environmental education incorporated into China's school curriculum, she added.
About 1,000 students study at the Xingzhi campus, said headmaster Liu Xuejun.
The school does not have an environmental education course, but the students have had access to some information about the subject via their extracurricular studying groups, student Zhang Wenli, 13, told the Global Times.
One thing kids can do for the environment is to stop littering, Zhang said, adding that she hoped to one day go to college in Beijing.
