70 solar lanterns needed by Nepalese Brother- Phurpa Lama. Call +977 9818183958 and help. Elsie Gabriel

 

Lets help our Nepalese Villages light a home with solar lanterns.
Reach out to Climate Reality Mentor Brother- Phurpa Lama.

Elsie Gabriel

 

Six consequtive earthquakes again rocked the Himalayan Neapal region.
This is a call out for Solar lanterns to this village. The phone number and co ordinates are given below,please do reach out to Nepalese relief centers to reach out to them.

Earlier-The Nepal earthquake had killed at least 7000 people approximately and injured more than twice as many as of May 1^st 2015. The disaster occurred on 25 April with a magnitude of 7.8.

 When I heard of the news last weekend, I reached out to some of my friends in Nepal. And then my thoughts focused on our Nepalese brother in the Climate Reality organization - Phurpa Lama. I had briefly met him during the 2014 Delhi Mentor Climate Reality training. A very active leader, Phurpa ensured that he volunteered to any task asked of us Mentors. Later in March and April, we got chatting on the wassapp and facebook social media, I shared how my sister in law is a ‘Lama’ Nepalese by origin and how I could be connected.

 

Little did I know that a natural disaster would again connect us... Phurpa kept sharing his recent Climate Reality presentations, infact two in the month of April, one for the Women and climate change on April 22nd; and another just as recent as the April 24^th,days before the natural disaster. Quote from Phurpa on facebook- “Made a presentation on climate reality to a selective group of participant program organized by Hamro Chahana Nepal marking Global Earth Day 2015. Power outages was a big challenges but able to overcome it.” And another, “Delivered a presentation on Climate reality to Indigenous women leaders from Sindhupalchok Districk at headquarter intitiated by National Women Indigenous Federation, Sindhupalchok. I am glad to see such a enthusiastic and inspiring participant from more than 10 different indigenous communities residing within a district.”

I remember visiting Nepal ten years ago, researching the Chitwan National park and creating awareness about the Rhinoceros. It is a rich country with valuable biodiversity, ancient heritage and monumental architecture. 

Usually environmental stress is mainly attributed to rapid economic and population growth but this high land Everest region seemingly had sustained its lakes, wetlands, fresh water ecosystems and glaciers. Future investigations and continued study of the climate change in the Nepalese Himalayas will throw light on the exact causes of such calamities. Science is still unable to predict earthquakes with accuracy. It is complex. Numerous factors, such as the depth of the quake and the nature of the rocks will surely be studied for future adaptations.

Over the years, unlike many other countries, development has been slow as Nepal has shown respect for its environment.  Ancient constructions, low lying valleys, transportation, seismic activity, pollution,infrastructure strength and population, all these will be top priority research studies now, hopefully to rebuild the land of Mt Everest.

But as of NOW, we need to network and support at the 'first' stage of crisis management which is basic survival kits and networking to direct aid in the right directions.

 So, Why am I sharing this today? Basically to help us all connect as Climate Reality Leaders and Mentors, strengthen the bond among us in order to work and network to uplift each other during such natural calamities. I keep picturing all the natural disaster slides which we use for our presentations, now one of them will be engraved as the recent Nepal earthquake. As a fellow Climate Reality leader and Mentor, May I ask each one reading this to reach out to send aid through which ever charity you may have chosen to patronize for the Nepal Earthquake, by giving Phurpa Lama’s contact and village address, so that Lama in turn can continue to be a Climate Leader in these trying times. He is available on Mobile number- +977 9818183958  and address- Kiul-7, Sindhupalchok, Kathmandu, Nepal 00977 .. @phurpa_lama(Twitter} / phurpayolmo@gmail.com

Phurpa Lama is from Nepal and belongs to the Hyolmo Indigenous community one of 59 Indigenous communities recognized by government of Nepal and affiliated to Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN). Presently he has served as a mentor during 27th Climate Reality Leadership Corps 2015 held in New Delhi. He has been working as a resource person at NEFIN Climate Change Partnership program in Nepal since 2011.

This is first hand information from Phurpa Lama on the Nepal  earthquake which he shared:

 -April 27^th 2015..”Dear all, thank you so much for your love and care towards me. I am safe from a terrible Disaster in Chautara Municipality head quarter of Sindhupalchok. Allmost 90% of villages near by Chautata are Destroyed. My prayers are with those who lost thier lives. And Just after arrival from Sindhupalchok with high risk by Motorbike I am able to reach Ktm and suddenly heard that almost all of my village including my house are destroyed. So trying to connect with my people. Good news Is no any single people are injured but now are living under one tent. And Now decided to do more with Climate change Issues in Nepal. There can be more climate related disaster and if we don't act Immediately. I could feel that. After all I was under tent for 41 hours.”

-April 28^th “ Earth Quake is a natural disaster and so many innocent people are under disaster loosing lives, being injured , hopeless, homeless, and it is for sure there will be more and more Disaster to come that will be climate related disaster. Time is coming up for proper caution I hope every citizen starts getting involved for better enviroment to overcome upcoming disaster.”

-On April 29^th Phurpa Lamam wrote, “The death toll has now climbed 4769 and number of people injured as 9239. Additionally, 61 were injured in the avalanche on Mt. Everest. Neighbor countries India, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Pakistan , Japan including America and Denmark providing tremendous relief fund, Material and supplies but could not reach to victims. Most of the relief materials are stocked at Tribhuvan International Airport. It’s a shame that there is still lacking coordination within government.”

Lets keep Nepal close in our prayers, during its road to recovery. We are all connected to the web of life.

Climate Reality Guru Nobel laureate and former US vice-president Al Gore crusader of climate change.So where does India stand? Elsie Gabriel

 

 

Climate Reality Guru Nobel laureate and former US vice-president Al Gore is crusader of climate change.So where does India stand on its way to Paris?

By Climate Reality Mentor Elsie Gabriel, Mumbai, India.

I don’t know about you, but I want to share that I grew up as a child studying almost every evening under the dim light of a kerosene lantern or candles, atleast for a few hours daily. I grew up in West Bengal India and with parents who were teachers in the Irish Christian Brothers school it was a routine thing to do, study, read books or play outdoors and study some more.We had the best of amenities and the best of childhood memories playing outdoors in the wilderness, but ‘Power cuts’ and ‘Lights out’ are words which still ring in my ears, reminding me of how we would struggle to bring light into the house during study hours. This, believe me was the experience of most folks of my age during childhood, and guess what, some parts of India still go through such chronic lack of energy, un announced power cuts which paralyze industries, homes and households. Till today!!!

 And some ofcourse still do not have any power at all. Electricity consumption in our country has been increasing at such high speed due to population growth and economic development. India’s economy faces increasing challenges because energy supply is struggling to keep pace with demand and there are energy shortages (as much as 15 percent daily in some places) almost everywhere in the country as unreliable supplies still threaten India’s economic growth. This may sound strange to you because you live in a city or uptown,because we belong to only the tip of the ice berg of the Indian population, for that matter anyone reading this blog any where in the world right now.

Yet, the fact remains that our growth is constrained by energy supply and availability. Although we have seen an impressive increase in installed capacity addition, we still can not match the demand.

So, what can India do to meet the future energy demands and help eliminate wide-ranging power outages in the future? The government needs to research how best to address the power needs to meet the future growth and prevent such massive power failures. India’s ‘power blackout’’ is an opportunity to develop sustainable energy solutions. Let the ‘darkness of the power cuts’ show us the way!

We are a sun shining country, the source is for free, we as a country have always been eco friendly, using sunlight to dry our clothes and tumble dry our utensils out on the racks outdoors. More so, use earthen pots made of clay to set our curd and drink water or hot ‘chai’ tea from. We stored water in earthen vessels.We have mostly used'pital' 'tamba' or steel plates which could be recycled like forever...we used bio degradable ‘patals’ or plates made from leaves. It was auspicious to eat from them during marriages or religious functions. May be the newer generation may not but believe me, we Indians had parents and grandparents who used a set of cloth bags all their lives. One for the fish market, another for the vegetables and rations so on, they were washed after each use and reused!!

All these memories came flashing back during a meet led by former US Vice President  Al Gore which aimed to focus on the renewable energy potential for India and the key role that the country plays in the lead up to the discussions in France later this year. High-profile leaders in renewable energy joined Nobel laureate and former US vice-president Al Gore here to train Climate Reality Leaders here in India last month, on the science of climate change and solutions for the climate crisis while developing skills to effectively communicate about both the challenges and opportunities.

The speakers included  Ken Berlin, president & CEO, Climate Reality Project; Ajay Mathur, director general, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Dr. Henry Pollack, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan and Angela Rutter, director of strategic engagement, Australian Conservation Foundation, among many others.

"There are many reasons to be optimistic about our ability to solve the climate crisis," said Gore, chairman and founder of the Climate Reality Project, who outlined the details, graphs and statistics as well as the wrath of climate change, asking the world to wake up.

"The Climate Reality Leadership  training brought together committed activists and citizens from all over India and from several others nations, it gives me yet another reason to be hopeful." he added. Al Gore is the guru of Climate Change education and awareness, his effects on people are deep and his message will spread far and wide. India was indeed blessed to have him visit, train and resurrect the mission to fight climate change tooth and nail.

Today, I feel empowered with the best tools possible to communicate this message of hope. If we educators can teach the next generation about the climate reality we will be equipping the future. Please do get in touch with us for Climate Change educational presentations. Together we can fight climate change.

With awareness of climate change having grown exponentially, Evangelist of Climate Change Education Al Gore also announced that songwriter and singer Pharrel Williams will together present the  Live Earth concerts to take place June 18 at various venues across the world. Live Earth Road to Paris 2015 seeks to build momentum heading into the UN Climate Summit in Paris in December.

Reduce, Reuse, Rethink, Replenish, Recycle and Renew!! I repeat this daily to all my colleagues, friends and students, it is the like the holy grail of the basics that can help bring back planet Earth to the greener planet she was and to fight climate change.

So, where does India stand and where can we go from here? Renewable energy is the most attractive investment because it will provide long-term economic growth for India. A favorable renewable energy policy could create millions of new jobs and an economic stimulus.

India has no better option than to reach out and soak in the sun. Solar energy is the most cost-effective option for India to reduce 'energy poverty' without having to extend national grid services to provide power for individual homes and buildings.

 Aggressively expand large-scale distribution of  renewable energy including solar and  wind, hydro and  biomass to ease the strain on the present transmission.

Yes, Solar is getting cheaper world wide but in India, the government must develop favorable  policies to ease the project permitting process, and to provide startup funds to promote the exponential growth of renewable energy. We already have solar, we are progressing but lets promote solar more among the public users, so that it does not have to compete with conventional energy generation.

Once  research institutions are tapped, industry, government and civil society will follow the path to solar, to guide technology development. A corresponding investment will be required in transmission and distribution.

The country  is hopefully shutting down coal slowly and now knows that pursuing a fossil fuel-led growth strategy which is already bogged down by environmental concerns is not the way out! So, while bridging the gap lets get clean energy, sustainable and renewable sources.

With countries coming to Paris this December to reach a new climate change agreement, lets hope bigger polluters commit to goals as against to saving their country from economic growth.
Hopefully a balance will be drawn somewhere in peace.

 Here is hoping that India will also continue to move forward because they realize the benefits of action which  is not only the health of the planet but the health of their citizens.

We as a country know that India already has the lowest per-capita emissions among major nations but this is what can make us leaders, world leaders in solar if the government would provide a predictable policy regime with standard guidelines for approving renewable energy developments.

Each country, agreed, will have different responsibilities in fighting the climate change threats, it is no use comparing India to other countries but to collaborate and co-operate.

India can be the true contender of climate leadership!

“Elsie Gabriel, attended the event as a Climate Reality Mentor from Mumbai mentoring two groups of trainees, She is founder of the Young Environmentalists Programme Trust an NGO dedicated over the last decade in educating  the youth and community on Climate change,environment education and green living habits as a certified green teacher.She is also the award winning author of the book called Get Out Get Going Outdoors which has chapters on climate change. The Climate Reality Project is an organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate founded by  Al Gore. “