Sustainability Education Pt 3- Living Near the Highway

Click here to review Pt 1   Pt 2

My last post was quite lengthy, but locals are affected by climate change on so many levels that I felt I couldn’t skim over any aspects. For the second group of women, we gave the same lesson but they they seemed to be picking up on more. They knew what oxygen and carbon dioxide are and many knew about climate change and how deforestation is contributing. Passwell explained that this is because they live close to the highway, which is a major stop of trucks and passerbys, and therefore had more access to technology and information. Because of this, we were able to cover the concepts in much more in depth for this group of women. Living just 20 miles from the highway makes such a difference, but it highlights the importance of the information gap, as well as how new modern technology is in rural Zambia.

This second day gave me confidence about IVO’s work in Zambia. Not only did we have a chance to teach women in rural areas who otherwise would not be connected to this information, but seeing the difference that technology made for the people of Zimba reassured us of the importance of our computer lessons and donating tablets to schools. Even though everyone, regardless of how close they live to the highway, faces similar impacts from climate change, only those with knowledge are powerful to create change.