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Let’s choose what we post online carefully
Silent message!
Islands are sinking. The Amazon forest is burning. Health is turning into disease. People are raising their "standards", but where is nature going? Towards destruction! Why are we still silent? We need to stop using words and start showing our deeds. It's time to show gratitude towards nature, who gives us so much and in return we are harming them! A silent message to all people: Plant more and more trees. Show a little act of kindness by not killing living lives for no reason. Save them save earth. Save yourself. The world is a better place to live if we stop using plastic shopping bags and...
The way of the universe
It was empty but there was no empty space. Everything existed yet was still, silent - dead. This was the way of the universe. There was a spark. A traitor among them, twitched, moved- formed. An almighty shatter. Their ties broken, Their net cut, their cage lifted. And the way of the universe was irrevocably changed. The universe instantly recoiled, Completion was the one thing they longed for, circling each other, Reins of force pulled by a desperate universe, loosened. Matter violently jerked into existence, Yet they were still unsatisfied, For this was the way of the universe, Overcoming...
Before it's too late: Ubud tourism
In recent years, Ubud, the cultural hub of Bali has been flooded with foreigners looking to find themselves or perhaps just visiting for the day. Ubud used to be known as the place of art, scenery, and culture. Today, it is more known to be a place for yoga, vegans and Instagram bucket-list hotspots. Thanks to the popularity of the Hollywood movie Eat, Pray, Love and social media. Somehow it has been flooded with young travelers staying in hostels and walking around with their Bintang beers. Monkey Forest road and Pengosekan resemble streets of Kuta, having bars, cafes, and shops with brightly...
How the internet helps me make informed choices
We live in a world that is awash with information, some of which can build us and some that can destroy us in just a click of a button. Access to the Internet is increasing worldwide. Between 2000 and 2015, global Internet penetration grew seven-fold from 6.5 percent to 43 percent. Yet millions of people still lack access to quality, credible information. In some instances, this lack of information can be life-threatening; in others it constrains social and economic growth. For a couple of months through Union National des Femmes Djiboutian (UNFD) I have been part of its online Life skills...
So, you think you are safe online?
Staying safe online is an important issue for young people using the internet, with cyberbullying becoming an increasingly serious problem all over the world. It must be noted, that technology is threatening child development by disrupting the crucial learning relationship between adults and children and has exposed many children to different vices of society. The advent of smartphones and social media nevertheless mean that today’s environment is now far more complex for young people to negotiate. The digital world is reducing contact time between the generations – a development with...
Increasing digital access and skills to prepare Djiboutian youths for the digital economy
In its 2063 Agenda, the African Union states that one of its main aspirations is “an Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth.” Over the next few decades, us young Africans will play a critical and vital role in the social and economic development of the continent. Africa is facing a demographic explosion which will see its population double to more than two billion people in the next generation. This is happening in my country Djibouti, which has less than 1 million citizens now. In the digital age that we are...
Is development a double-bladed sword?
“Development is killing the environment” “If cities continue growing there will be no nature left” “Urban centers are suffocating us” These are strong statements that I find myself, and my peers saying often. We frequently talk about how strange it is that humanity has done so much to improve its way of living, meanwhile destroying its surroundings. This is not completely wrong to say, as half of the world’s tropical forest has been cleared, and we are losing 18.7 million acres of woodland per year which in turn leads to loss of habitat for many species of plants and animals. This is because...
I resent plastic waste so I am doing something about it
While the fight against plastic waste is gaining more resonance in Africa, the use of plastic bags is still well-rooted in custom and practice, at the expense not only of the environment but also of public health, without there being widespread awareness. That is why as a Blogger I am ringing the alarm bell! Djibouti has been facing severe environmental degradation, desertification, drought, and water scarcity. Due to the hot weather, the population of Djibouti is very close to the looming of environmental problems. Marine pollution is one of the major environmental challenges, there is a lack...
Youth as Gamechangers in the fight against Climate Change
We are facing an existential crisis the largest mankind has ever faced. Those of you who have ignored this crisis know who you are and are most guilty. It is not the young who are responsible for this strike. We are striking to have a future and we will not stop - Greta Thunberg Writing in The Guardian, Thunberg and others explained that ‘these strikes are happening today… because politicians have failed us. We’ve seen years of negotiations, pathetic deals on climate change, fossil fuel companies being given free rein to carve open our lands, drill beneath our soils and burn away our futures...
Re-visiting Djiboutian curriculum to re-skill young people for digital jobs
The Government of Djibouti recognizes education as essential for growth and human development. As a result, the government has placed education at the center of its development policies. In 2000, an education reform was initiated with the goal of improving access, quality, and relevance of the education being taught in Djiboutian schools. Despite progress in increasing access and coverage in education, access to education continues to be one of the country’s major challenges. Other challenges include quality, the availability of learning materials, and disparities due to gender, geographic...
We are drowning - literally
The beautiful Arctic scenery, the icecaps and icebergs are disappearing. And it is our fault. Since the industrial revolution, more coal and oil are being burnt, hence the levels of carbon dioxide and methane have been skyrocketing - causing world temperatures to rise, and ice melting at an unnatural rate. Indeed, evidence shows that 95% of the world’s thickest and oldest sea ice (frozen sea water) has already melted, and one third of the world’s remaining glaciers (formed on land) will be gone by 2100. The natural thaw-freeze up cycles are being disrupted by human actions, for example ice...
Meet Generation Green: young people who are determined to save the planet
Digital is the pathway to the future we want
Not one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be accomplished without digital technology. Information and communication technology (ICT) is increasingly disrupting our changing world. In Africa, the world's youngest continent, it is crucial to ensure Africa’s greatest resource, youth, will be able to adjust efficiently and effectively as new skills are redefined by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. That’s why digital literacy is an imperative skill. For each African country, integration of computer science training in the national curriculum must be a reality...
Earth
Birds in the grey sky Fly faster The clouds of smoke Are on their way Fly faster I hear the footsteps The poachers are here Fishes of the sea Get out of the water The sewage sludge Is getting close Get out of the water I smell something It must be the oil Animals of the land Run away Your habitat Is coming down Run away I hear a roar I think it's the hum of the lumberjack's saw Earth closes her eyes She doesn't want to watch her light dwindle away Earth cries out for help 'Don't let man force me astray' Earth Don't lose hope in us We are coming your way We hear your plea Continue to pray
Heatwaves disrupt our daily lives
Weep Child
Weep child Weep for green you'll cease to see Weep for white turning blue Weep for blue turning black Weep, now the sky is red Thank you, Asha Though joey cannot find her mother Mim cannot go back now It's too hot in there It's not home anymore We may loose new titi He has nowhere to go It's hot And I don't know him yet Turtles for the sea We feed them a lot Now they cannot swim Hold the sun Don't let it sink Weep child For your own baby's place Growing are mountains of despair Angry rivers flowing despite Oceans having had enough Too much to hold in Now they are splashing hard Lashing out at...
We all can do It!
Here stands my creation, my very own, Soon to discover knowledge hitherto unknown, As it ventures into the uninhabitable zone. But what is this? Its wisdom has grown And here I stand, all alone, Next to my creation and its clones As if to strip humanity to its bones The robot and its army of drones Oh, how humanity has advanced from stone! But I snap out of my daydream, No longer alone, here is my team A firm group of eighteen That dared to dream To take on the world’s cream Over the next few weeks, we shall give our hand And prepare to make our stand The Five shall go, hand in hand To compete...
Our dear friend
This is a poem I wrote for a school assignment and one of my teachers suggested sharing it! So here it is. Intoxicated. Transparent and translucent shapes pollute the sandy plains like, splotches of paint on pure canvas. Wings, once flying, now dying. Trapped in plastic’s chokehold, they cannot escape. We, the children, horrified- The waves who once watched me grow, the seas that used to caress me tightly, now flooded in scarlet fury. Azure sea howls and roars, vicious, vexed, violent. Deep blue devours chunks of grainy sand like ruthless predators attacking prey. She’s a cold-blooded thief...