Ideas for Youth Involvement

Youth pottery-making social justice project at Temple Israel Boston, 2016
  • Adopt a greenhouse / adopt a family (your name will be posted on the website)   
  • Pen pal with children in Chajmaic

        (We can send drawings and/or photos electronically or they can be brought by people on our team who visit Chajmaic.  Key dates are March 15,  April 5, and May 3rd.  We can also upload the pictures to the website.  We can also take photos of families and post on the website so that youth can connect with actual kids in the village.)

Children in Chajmaic, Guatemala use newly tilled soil as a “mountain” for their cars, 2021
  • Youth could do a bake sale or a carwash or perhaps make something in their religious school classes to sell.  
Youth bake sale social justice project at Temple Israel Boston, 2017

  • Additional information on Sowing Opportunities’ response, “How Climate Change Affects Chajmaic’s Food Insecurity and Sowing Opportunities’ Agricultural Solution” is at this link.

  • Here are some resources for students regarding climate change and immigration:  
  1. News from the Guatemalan press, La Hora:
    US to provide US $310 million to Northern Triangle for food insecurity
    https://bit.ly/3tXDf2yApril 26, 2021
    In the article:
    a. “To strengthen the Guatemalan agricultural sector, it will provide US $25 million. It will facilitate access to financing that will allow farmers to rebuild their livelihoods at home in Guatemala.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         b. “The Department of Defense will provide US $26 million to increase its partnership activities in the Northern Triangle to provide health, education and disaster relief services. “The two departments that will supply funds are the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Defense (DOD).
  1. ABC News: Central American drought creates climate change refugees

https://youtu.be/MZ0fzwt0f_c

Published on Apr 22, 2021

ABC News’ Matt Gutman reports from Guatemala, part of a dry corridor across a once-fertile region that’s helping to fuel a migrant exodus.

Earth Day broadcast by ABC National News, “Central American drought creates climate change refugees” with a focus on Guatemala. Very interesting and informative to see a village up close and hear from residents about their struggles and reasons for migration. Also important to see the fees paid to smugglers–up to $13,000–and the collateral required–a family’s house or farm. A very high stakes journey and one that, according to the report, up to 60% of villagers plan to make because they see no other option. 

Look up Jocotan on the map; it’s in the department of Chiquimula in the east, surrounded by Zacapa, Jalapa and Jutiapa, bordering Honduras. That’s a dry region of Guatemala to begin with, made more severe by drought, hurricanes and climate change.

  1. Sep 5, 2014

A LOOK AT HOW A CHANGING CLIMATE WILL HIT SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA

https://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/look-how-changing-climate-will-hit-south-and-central-america

  1. Consequences of Climate Change –

 Do a search for: Corredor seco = the dry sector

One source: “The Central  American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background,” a research collaboration of Israel and Costa Rica, https://www.revistayuam.com/

  1. HIAS article , “Let’s Talk About Climate Change and Refugees,” Nov 21, 2021, https://bit.ly/30HdqKV

This is the webinar they refer to in the article: “Climate Displacement – The Future of Refugee Protection,” https://vimeo.com/642054469

Key takeaways from the HIAS article that was published today:

“In October, the Biden administration released a report on climate change and migration which begins to outline options for protection and resettlement of individuals displaced directly or indirectly from climate change.  The report recommends the establishment of a standing interagency policy process on Climate Change and Migration to coordinate U.S. government efforts to mitigate and respond to migration resulting from the impacts of climate change.

“[Naomi Steinberg, HIAS’ vice president for policy and advocacy, notes] that the administration’s report marks the first time a U.S. government has officially recognized climate change and migration. But Rosenn said the report was not enough. “We need the government to deliver, not just produce reports,” she said.

“Last week, from the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi posted on Twitter that responding to human displacement, mass migration, and refugee crises is becoming more difficult by the day. ‘The #ClimateCrisis is making this challenge even more intractable,’ he tweeted. ‘But it can be prevented, if states and their leaders act responsibly, boldly, and together.'”