Freetown, 17 February, 2022 / 5:53 pm (ACI Africa).
More than 6,000 youth in the local Salesian schools and youth centers in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province are set to benefit from a climate club project that aims to provide environmental education.
Spearheaded by U.S.-based development arm of the Religious Institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), Salesian Missions, the project seeks to start with at least 60 youth and will be facilitated by 10 volunteer teachers from St. Augustine Agricultural secondary school.
According to the Salesian Priest behind the launching of the project in Lungi, a small coastal town in the Port Loko District of the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, the region was chosen because of its vulnerability to climate issues.
“When the world is talking about climate change and environmental impact, it’s not being talked about here,” Fr. Philip Gboa said, and added, “People throw garbage around and don’t really care about the environment much. They cut down trees for no reason.”
In a Tuesday, February 15 report, Fr. Gboa says that due to the less care given to climate change and the impact of the environment in the region, diseases such as cholera and typhoid are rampant and children are also affected.