Kenya: Global Virtual townhall

Globalization   Oct 25, 2017 by Marlyn

The direct definition of decolonize is for a colony to withdraw from a country, leaving it independent; and to decarbonize is to remove carbon or carbonaceous deposits from (an engine or other metal objects).

Of course, in the context of this project and the world these terms mean more than that. To members of Kenyas team to decolonize is to accept our colonial past be it with our mindsets or behaviour. It is to let our past no longer define our future. The term “decolonize” is popular among activists, yet is very loaded and hard to pin down. It has been used to free minds but has also divided communities. Frantz Fanon wrote, “Imperialism leaves behinds gems of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land and from our minds as well.” Some of these so called gems that it has left behind is the need for a country to be just like those who colonized them (the western standard); I get to see this first hand every day. You can see it in the way people prefer to present themselves to society to the way some of us force ourselves to talk. Another gem that has recently been discussed is a part of the education system. In recent years many countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa have grappled over the question of decolonizing the education system. Many schools in these countries still offer a view of the country and continent that is deeply rooted in colonial and apartheid thinking. The school’s curricula remain largely Eurocentric, dominated by what some academics have called “white, male, Western, capitalist, heterosexual, European views.” Decolonization for them involves fundamental rethinking and reframing of the curriculum and bringing their nation and Africa to the center of teaching learning of research. Its also about reconstructing the African continent from various perspectives. Our history, the way its cultures and civilizations are studies and understandings of its political economy have been shaped by European thinkers. Other gems left behind include:

•letting colonization take a part in our countries decision processes

•forgetting there was an us before colonization.

Our entire group fully believes that a decolonized mind accepts their past, loves their present and creates their future regardless of what stands in their way. To decarbonize in context to this project is to mitigate carbon emissions. The definition of this word is quite straight forward and doesn’t really require much explanation. Since carbon emissions are a global issue we need to work together as citizens of one earth to fight the big villain that is climate change and mitigate our carbon emissions.

Both link to climate change since they are the key factors that help us fight it. In order to work together and fight the big villain we all need to use our voices and be unafraid to do so, and that’s where decolonization comes into play with decarbonizing. All nations need to have decolonized minds. We need to create a future together in which our earth is safe. We need to have education systems that allows students to have a full grasp of their nations and what they are facing, we need to make decisions for ourselves including those in rural areas listening to their views rather than sitting back and waiting for colonial powers to make the problems go away. Decolonizing needs to take place in order for decarbonizing to be effective and long lasting. Hence why in this project they are named together, because they need to work hand in hand for either to be effective and long lasting as Canada also agreed during the Virtual Town hall.

How can we as students participate in decolonizing and decarbonizing?

-Simple steps such as choosing to ride bicycles to and from your destinations would reduce the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere through vehicles.

-Participating in activities such as the planting of trees, or even planting a tree or two in your compound if big enough

-Getting crafty with materials that cause a lot of damage to the environment such as plastic bags and bottles e.g. through creating pieces of art out of recyclable materials or even accessories using the same materials. Speak about planting seedlings, shrubs, plants in plastic bottles/containers to avoid throwing them away while producing "carbon suckers" in the process.

-Encourage students to think into the future career wise. How can they make a difference in the fields of professional they want to follow?

For decolonizing, speak of how colonizers have such an influence on their colonies up until today. Stress how important it is on the need for educated individuals (even if educated outside their countries) to share their knowledge and expertise with their countries so many more can be knowledgeable.

We need to accept that our voices/actions (no matter how small) have the power to make a change in the world; and if you can you should. I previously thought why bother right now if its not gonna do anything? We need to iradicate such mentalities from the youth and let them know that there voices mean something. 

What can we as youth do to effect change in our communities? (mentor question)

With fresh new minds entering these discussions come new mindsets and fresh opinions; which is never a bad thing. We as youth can help effect our communities positively by using technology and social media to advantage and as a tool for change. Such as what Terry is already doing on twitter with all of you. Social media can be used as a powerful tool to spread positivity and change into the world, we just need to utilize it. Another great thing we can do is volunteer for organizations that help benefit people. It doesn't only help the world but looks really good on college applications which cant hurt. In Kenya we have many organizations that engage the youth and encourage them to speak up and have a voice. An organization called Stand Up Shout Out (SUSO) is a prime example of one. They tackle issues such as poaching, deforestation and so much more and are currently planning to plant 10,000 trees BETWEEN NOV 6 and NOV 11th. We can also effect our communities by educating those below us. We argue that we aren't listened to and are taken as uneducated, yet we don't want to educate those below us and are just following the same cycle as those before us. We could volunteer at our own school to just have an hour every month to teach kids about our earth and what we are doing/have done. As mentioned by the students from Phillipines during the townhall we do face a problem when trying to implement change.

Many of those who came before us, would rather not listen. Millennials and those after them are taken to have loud personalities and only an eye for social media and what Kim Kardashian is doing, yet many of us are so much more than that. We can change this so called view by again utilizing social media to spark discussions that force them to hear our voices.Furthermore projects such as this one (decarbonize : decolonize) force them to open their ears and hear us. 

Done by: Melissa Joe, Jana and Marlyn Mwita

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