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The students that we talked to were from the Philippines and it was immediately evident how different the situation of the two schools were. Students from my school were all gathered in one room compared to the students from the Philippines who were still in lockdown. The conversation started slow (as this was probably a new thing for all the people participating) but did develop into a back and forth with questions about each other’s presentations, culture and countries. The Philippines presentation was about dolomite mining at Pugalo, Cebu. Crushed dolomite is being dumped to make Manilla Bay as part of its rehabilitation and beatification. We learned about many of the negative effects that this dumping and mining of dolomite has on the aquatic life and people who live in the area. Marine life is damaged by the siltation of dolomite rocks due to the heavy metals presents, many mangroves have been lost, and it may cause respiratory, eye, skin, and gastro damage. We also learnt about different organisations and the community’s response. Our PowerPoint presented the issue of unconventional gas exploration in Victoria. Unconventional gas carries all the issues that most other fossil fuels have like release of carbon into the atmosphere, loss of landscape, and other issues like pollution of groundwater. The similarities between these issues is that they need assistance from the government, which has begun with the unconventional gas mining issue in Australia. The Philippines presentation was well researched, engaging and detailed. I learnt a lot about their county, their chosen issue and other issues in their county like deforestation. It was great to talk and meet such a wonderful group of people!
