Transcript

When I am talking to you, the person behind the screen watching this video, who might not care about climate change or honestly have different priorities and minds for what they wanna do with their life, I'll tell you that all those plans you have are absolute gone if you don't care about the climate crisis. No matter where you live in this world, wildfires, flooding, droughts, thunderstorms, all these crises are going to touch your home whether you like it or not. But you have the power to do something. About it. So I grew up in Lagos. It's known as the concrete jungle, but it's also known as the the heartbeat of Nigeria, the cultural epicenter of everything in Africa. When I picture Legos growing up, I see a lot of cars and also a blank sky full of just smoke and fog. What is missing from that picture is just the parks and the playgrounds that I could have gone to and I spent almost half of my days stuck in traffic in 2020 flash floods. The region of Lagos, I remember seeing people on canoes trying to help one another out. It made me realize just how devastating climate crises can be, but also how we don't understand the magnitude of what it is until we see its first hand. Preserve Our Roots is a youth LED NGO that focuses on mobilizing and empowering youth action against climate change and civics issues. I founded it in 2020, the same year the flash floods hit my home. I started. Hosting education campaigns on Instagram. I grew up in the performing arts industry and so I used that sense of expression and storytelling to start making short films and documentaries with my friends on my phone. Until one day when I focused on my village and the two schools that were torn down due to floods. And I was able to use this same platform to raise 2 million naira to rebuild these two schools that were torn down due to floods. The Green sustainability park that we have piloted in Qatar, Lagos. It's entirely built out of recycled materials. For every young person watching this, I want to tell you what I hope you already know. You do not have to ask for permission. If there are no seats at the table, bring a foldable chair. I am telling you that what you need is right inside of you. Take action. The world is waiting. My name is Amarachi Munali, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on preserving our roots.