Blogs
The bilateral meeting that my class was part of was with the students and teachers in the Philippines from Saint Joseph’s Academy. It was said to be an amazing experience and many of us got to speak and listen about climate issues that they are currently experiencing and what can be done to solve and reduce the impacts of them continuing. I learnt that the school has got 1422 students and 122 staff members, this is similar to my school Pimlico State Highschool in Townsville, Australia which has a total of 1800 students and 130 staff members. I have also learnt that Manila Bay and their government have been placing white sand on the beach which is crushed dolomite and it contains heavy metals so that when it is washed away into the ocean it will increase the acid levels in the water which has a negative impact on the coral and marine life, due to this dolomite sand so many corals have been destroyed. Our school put together a presentation that was about unconventional gas exploration in Victoria and the other schools presentation was about dolomite mining, some of the similarities with the two issues presented was that they both have a negative impact on the people that are working in this field and also the people that use it. The Philippines told us that they are trying their best to stop the commencement of this dangerous act, for example they have been sending around petitions to stop the dumping of dolomite sand. Both countries have found it very difficult to get the politics on board with these ideas that the youth leaders are trying to spread. It was a great experience to meet everyone from the Philippines and I hope to speak with more people who are just as passionate about this as I am.
