2018 WED celebration story in conjuction with Wetskills!by Rosa Domingos | 28-06-2018 23:27 |
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.jpg) From the 15th to the 27th of June 2018, the Wetskills competition/programme was underway. What is ?Wetskills? you ask? Well, Wetskills Challenge is a programme held in a numbers of counties ( the next host of Wetskills 2019 is Lesotho!), it is a two-week pressure-cooker Challenge for students and young professionals with a passion for water (and pollution based problems)from all over the world. They meet in a country and work in transdisciplinary and transcultural teams at water-related topics. The main challenge is to develop as a team your own innovative and out-of-the-box solution for water challenges in a changing world.  Wetskills logo(www.wetskills.com) I was one out of the many that was selected to participate. Our solution was linked to a problem with regards to the South Africa-Lesotho-Namibia-Botswana Orange-Senque Basin and the fact that the precious Water Tower of Southern Africa?s (also known as Lesotho) wetlands were degrading and unless anything is done, the other countries involved including Lesotho would suffer from not getting quality and quantity based water.  Left: Ms. Lieke (participant), middle: Mr. Fanana (Lesotho case onwer), right: Mr. Henk (Dutch Water Ambassador) Our solutions included short term and long solutions where we involve the local farmers and youth because. firstly, the farmers are in close proximity to the degraded site and secondly the youth may aid in further protecting the land because the are the future.  From right to Left: Susan.D; Lwamkele.S; Reza. N; Nthabiseng. Nooe and Rosa.D. On another positive note, The Minister of water and Sanitation of South Africa came to personally see out poster and was eager to even fund the project that my teammates and I set up! Not just that, But the EU in Lesotho and the Water Authorities form the Netherlands were incredibly interested in helping with funding to start a pilot phase for the project!  My teammates and the poster of our case study in the background.  The Lesotho ?Living Wetlands? case study. I was super excited to have something that is relevant to gain audience and actually help a dying environment in Lesotho.  WED-2018 celebrated in style! We enjoyed World Environment Day (WED) at the WISA conference (Water Institute of Southern Africa) where fellow Dutch, Iranian, Basotho, Zimbabwean and South African participants, who are not my friends, helped promote WED with me in grand style!  WISA Gala Event! It does not take such a large platform such as WISA to promote WED, It starts with YOU! You make the movement, the revolution that our environment needs to be protected and conserved.  WED 2018!  All the major contributors to the event who have now turned out to be my friends! It starts with me and you! #WED2018#Wetskills2018#WISA2018!
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