When Climate Change Became Personal, She Turned to Radio | Short Film Showcase

My name is Caroline PE. I'm 18 years of age, a child climate ambassador, a news reporter. Hello, hello.

Today, we're looking at deforestation in relation to where I live—in a banana in Lusaka, Zambia. Listening to 99, I really love radio. Radio has become a part of me, and I want a world where each and every person is fully informed. They should have the most adequate information at their fingertips.

I realized that I was affected by climate change in 2015 when Zambia experienced erratic water supply and erratic electricity supply. Where I come from, they depend on electricity for them to draw water. I had to wake up at 0:05 every day just to go fetch water because if I go at 3 or 6 hours, I would find that the water is not there. Everyone would have rushed for it. So, climate change for me became personal because I realized that I wasn't the only one facing such a kind of situation. The whole Zambia was actually affected.

One of the major environmental problems that we're facing in Zambia is that of relentless destruction of forests. In Zambia, we're losing about 300,000 acres of forest that are cut mercilessly. Through the works of Beatrice, she gets an opportunity to go into the community, interview marketeers, interview constructors on the state of the environment in Lusaka.

When I pick up that record, it's always a challenge, and it's always inspiring and motivating because I know that whoever I'm going to interview out there, it's either they have the information or they don't have the information. I, as the news reporter, am going to use the tools that I have, you know, the tools that are available, which is radio.

Right now, I'm in Kalama Compound; it's one of the compounds in Lusaka. The area describes that the demand for charcoal has really gone high due to the erratic electricity supply. It's really bad, but I hope that people's mindsets can actually change.

We're launching a campaign where we intend to plant two thousand trees, and this campaign is called Greening the Gray. So, we're trying to make sure that the gray that is left as a result of mass destruction of forests is replaced by green indigenous trees that are going to help with different environmental benefits.

When I listen to Beatrice on radio, I feel inspired, and she's doing a lot of things that can benefit our country and bring out the very best of every young girl in our country. I'm so very proud of Beatrice because she has now become this inspirational figure in our community, and many young people really want to be like her.