MY GYELS 2016 IMPRESSIONS – PETER JAMES KANG?ARA

Jambo all! (Hello)

Being part of the 2016 GYELS forum was a great honour and privilege for me. I learnt many new things concerning the environment and climate change. The knowledge changed my perception on how I deal with the environment every day. I made a promise that when I arrive home I will surely do what I  learnt at the summit.

We arrived at Incheon International Airport on Monday,25^th January 2016.The cold was shocking, I had been prepared by the organizers to expect a really cold winter but the reality was amazing, I had never felt that cold. It?s like I had entered a fridge. Kenya in January is very hot so it was a big temperature change. This is what I was looking forward to?winter. I was really excited. We were received by the friendly tour guides Ms. Ok-sun Park and Ha-eun Park. I met a fellow delegate called Manav Jha from UAE at the airport. We found some other delegates in the bus waiting for us. From the airport we went to a restaurant for a welcoming dinner where we met the rest of the delegates and Mr. Luiz Bispo(Chairperson), who would quickly become my role model.

After dinner we did introductions and I got to know the delegates and chaperones well. Thereafter we went to the Ramanda hotel for the night. The hotel was very cosy and comfortable. We woke up the following morning at 6.30 am. I looked out of the window and lo and behold, the ground was white...snow, this was really cool. I could not wait to finish my breakfast and go outside. We then proceeded by bus to Seoul National University (SNU). The trip to SNU was interesting as we got to see the city of Seoul and the famous Gangnum area known for its ?dancing style? and the Han River. The guides were very informative and we got to learn a lot about the interesting history of Korea and the lovely city of Seoul.

At SNU we attended the Global Youth Environmental Forum where we had lectures by prominent persons on the main theme of the forum which was sustainable energy and climate change. Among the speakers were Dr. Hana Kim from the School of Environment SNU, Mr. Julian Quintart, and the Danish Ambassador in Korea among others. The speakers emphasized the need to tackle climate change and the sustainable use of our natural resources and suggested solutions like turning off bulbs, using spaghetti for stirring coffee and saving water by having a quick shower and many others. I will keep all this in mind and practice them at home and a school. At SNU is where i met the gracious Ms. Erika Lim from Samsung who was very, very friendly and nice.

The following day was Wednesday, 25^th January, 2016 was in my opinion the most busy and tiresome day but the most interactive and satisfying day at SNU. We went to another hall known as the Global hall for the UN Model discussions. We were each divided into teams for the stakeholder and interstakeholder discussions. I was in Team B (Green Belt Team) which was fun to be in. My team mates were Jiin Kim, Dohyeon Kim, Yubin Kim and Azril Norafizal.

Jiin was representing the developed countries, Dohyeon the academic experts, Yubin the industries, Azril the NGOs and I the developing countries. We were asked to discuss and make a resolution paper with a common agreed position representing all our different areas and make a power point presentation in one and a half hours. Our team was quite fast and we finished the work quite early and we had time to take a lot of selfies together which made us bond even much more.

The following day which was the third day in Seoul was the best of our days. We were taken to Everland, a very large amusement park in Seoul. We were told it is the largest in South Korea. I think I took all the really hair-raising rides, it was most fun. It was my first time on a roller coaster and what a ride it was! In the afternoon we went to the headquarters of our gracious host Samsung Engineering and we looked in awe at the big magnificent building with the legend written on its front yard ?Samsung Engineering ?We were taken on a tour of the building and I learnt that the company is 78 years old and their ipad, TVs and phones are just a small part of their business and they are involved in the petrochemical industry all over the world.

Thereafter we assembled and each group had to make a presentation in power point in front of the rest of the teams, chaperones and the judges. The judges were looking for team work so everybody had to take part, presentation, creativity and how well thought out the ideas were among other things that judges look for. I had never presented to such an eminent crowd and I was so scared. However we encouraged each other and put our best foot forward.

The judging was most interesting and fair since the judges questioned the groups on the vague points for clarification. All the teams were asked to pick the best team in their opinion but not theres.When the votes were counted Team B (OUR TEAM) emerged tops. It was a very exciting moment for our Green belt team as we were on top of the world with certificates from Seoul University to boot. Later in the evening we had a chance to exchange gifts with our secret angels and it was fun since the gifts and persons were secret.

The GYELS 2016 was the most exciting time in my life that I will never forget. It has opened my eyes and made me more confident to steer my environmental club at home ?The Teachers Environmental Rescue? to greater heights. I encourage other young environmentalists to join Tunza Eco-generation (by the way Tunza is a Swahili word-Kenyan language for conservation) and participate in their events for a better world. I also wish to congratulate the new and continuing ambassadors.Mr.Luiz Bispo, thanks our Chairperson and to all my new friends in GYELS 2016, you are the best, the coolest gang of eco-warriors the world has. Let?s save the world by keeping it cool, clean and green. To the organizers Korea Green Foundation and Samsung Engineering, Good Job! Asante sana and Kwaheri. (Thank you and bye in Swahili)