Teens for Teak
Generation Green, is a 501C3 non profit group, whose goal is to provide hands on environmental education experiences to youth. This organization has developed communication channels to provide environmental education opportunities to students in two countries. Students in the U.S.A. from the San Francisco Bay Area, and students in Ghana, West Africa.
The 8th grade students at the Julia Morgan School for Girls, located in Oakland, California received a 45 minute environmental education slide show (see Ghana, West Africa Earth Day Project Teak Tree Planting 2005, below) and demonstration of West African cloth and drums. The science teacher and the computer science teacher than teamed up and worked with the students to develop their knowledge of environmental science issues in third world countries and at the same time, enhance their computer graphic art skills, to develop ecological art pieces to send to their eco-pen pals in Ghana.
Generation Green then assisted the students in Ghana to set up email accounts and learn how to access the Internet. The students in Ghana are part of a group called EYAN: Environmental Youth Action Network. These are students, a third world country. Most of these students have not ever accessed the internet before, and have never had an email account. More than 69 students to date have signed up with Yahoo.com for a free email account, and are excited to begin communicating with their eco computer pen pals in the USA.
In the meantime, Generation Green is providing younger students at a local Orphanage in Accra with art materials such as crayons and markers and information on teak trees. The students began their communications to the USA via hand-drawn ecological art posters that demonstrate their group's interest in doing a tree planting project. More than fifty drawings were received from students ranging from age 5 to 15.
Generation Green oversees, facilitates, and encourages environmental education and communication between the two counties . The long term goal is for the students in Ghana to learn about protecting and saving Teak Trees; and for the students in the USA to learn about protecting and saving Redwood Trees. A cross cultural education and tree planting project focused on slow growth, endangered, hard-wood trees.
Ghana, West Africa Earth Day Project Teak Tree Planting 2005
- Generation Green has a partnership with Shaibu Dasana, a local teak craftsman and Mr.Bismark, at Ghana University's business agricultural school. We are working to educate youth at the Bodwaise Orphanage on the importance of replanting threatened hardwood teak trees.
- Generation Green donated school supplies (paper, pens, crayons, markers, scissors and more) allowed this orphanage to participate in a coloring project, and prizes were awarded to all!
- Research is underway for a teak tree planting project.
One Planet
One Ocean
One Atmosphere
The earth is our mother. we must take care of her.
Goals
In 2005 to celebrate earth day and emphasize that:
- The Earth is one Planet
- We are all connected
Generation Green decided to plant trees.
- Redwood trees in the USA
- Teak trees in Ghana
Objectives
- Obtain and share information
- Assist with tree planting
- Provide support and encouragement
- Help to Make the world a better place
Activities
- Send emails:
- Happy Earth Day!
- Tree Planting Is Good!
- Pictures
- Poems
- Ideas
- Inspiration
- Thank you's
- Art
Ghana
Ghana is growing rapidly. While life is relatively simple, compared to US society, with no extras, they are experiencing growing pains.
Everyday there are more people and more stuff. The Ocean doesn't take away the Trash anymore. They have inadequate hospitals, bad sewage and poor flood control
Yet, there is much to be saved: beautiful waterfalls, rainforests, oceans and wetlands, small lovely villages, wildlife and wild places, rare animal species.
Some make their living on drums and carvings made from rare teak trees. But teak forests take years to grow. Just like our beautiful California redwood trees. We need to protect them for future generations to enjoy.
We Are all Connected
We can Learn as much from the developing countries as they learn from us. Countries poor in material goods, but rich in spirit.
In the end we will conserve
only what we love,
We will love
only what we understand
and we will understand
only what we are taught.
Baba Dioum, African Ecologist