One practical observation we’ve seen as Amara is how traditional communities always include elements of long-term thinking. The catch-phrase is being aware of how every decision will affect the generations to come, but it’s really more than that, it’s about thinking of how everything will affect the planet and what people sometimes call their “future ancestors”.
Elders like the Njavungo Council of Elders in Taita Taveta play an enormously significant role in traditional Kenyan societies, which is something we’ve largely lost in our modern culture. There are often specific roles for women, young people, too. Another common traditional belief is that the people who will live with the consequences of their actions are the ones who should make the decisions. Most people today, when we shop, drive or do any number of things we don’t really see the impact of our actions on the environment. People in rural traditional villages feel those impacts more.
Climate change most strongly affects the poorest, because they are directly dependent on the land. At the same time, they are people who contribute the least to the global human impact on climate. They are the ones first impacted by floods, droughts, sea level shifts, extreme weather, and so on, and they all too often don’t have the resources to put themselves out of harms way.
So that means it’s a matter of environmental and climate injustice. Many communities feel that as the worldwide climate becomes less stable, they will be less able to count on relief food coming in from the outside world. Many are trying to revive their self-reliance, for example through maintaining traditional varieties of crops and livestock that is more climate resilient.
As they are trying to make decisions on their traditional territory based on all the resources that land provides, and not just what corporations like logging or mining companies can get out of it. Climate change is impacting many of the things we love and cherish, its changing the seasons, upsetting the crops that feed us and affecting precious species. Together let’s protect the world we love from these effects and make sure our love is felt by those can make a world of difference.
One practical observation we’ve seen as Amara is how traditional communities always include elements of long-term thinking. The catch-phrase is being aware of how every decision will affect the generations to come, but it’s really more than that, it’s about thinking of how everything will affect the planet and what people sometimes call their “future ancestors”.