People from Golf district in Mbour, Senegal, warn about the sea advance
towards costs, destroying their houses . The 760 kilometers of Senegalese
costs are concerned by the phenomenon, whereas the inner earth is suffering
from severe drought.

Drought impacted greatly on these crops hence, no food production.

On 24^th and 25^th February2012, heavy rainfalls of an extreme intensity poured down onto Gatumba village. Houses were flooded and an estimated 500 destroyed. People were left homeless. They were about 2,000 to flee their houses. Some have found refuge in their neighborhood and others have been gathered in the military domain where they are living up to now in 2 tents provided by the army.

« I couldn’t save anything from the house. Food, clothes, kitchen utensils….all have been destroyed! » said Ruth Buregeya, a victim of floods I met in the displaced camp.

Ruth (in the middle) with her infant and neighbors in the tent they live in since March 2012

Ruth is 30, married and mother of 7 children. When the floods broke, she was pregnant. She fled her house and is now sheltered in the tents provided by the army where she gave birth to a baby boy a few weeks later.

As all the refugees in the camp, Ruth relies on food handouts to survive and is claiming for improved living conditions.

«We appreciate people give us food, but we would also like to be provided in clean water. We have to pay 100 Burundi francs (0.070 $) to get a 10 litres jerrican of water. » Ruth said

Two months after the flood, the place where used to live Ruth is still wet and muddy. There is no hope for her to get back home soon. She said she will wait until the water gets dry to return home.

«I always pray the sun keep shining so that the water gets dry and we rejoin our homes. Maybe God will listen to my prayers and prevent us from this curse again».

“A curse”? Ruth is not the only one to give such an explanation to the floods and other adverse effects of climate change. Sometimes people fail to explain side effects of climate change, they do not make adequate connections and are kept in deep ignorance. What happened in Gatumba was not a matter of curse. Just one among other million climate impacts facts. Gatumba village was seriously hit by the floods because houses were built in a muddy area which is not suitable for human settlement.

Those are the connections and clarifications the 350 Burundi team wanted to share on Climate Impacts Day last Saturday. We had time to explain that not all extreme weather events are due to climate change but as the world get warms, such weather hazards are likely to happen with higher intensity and regular frequency. That’s the reason to worry for vulnerable communities in Burundi and across Africa with minimal adaptation capacity. 350 Burundi team will continue to sensitize people on climate change and weather connections at the same time establishing dialogue with the concerned stakeholders to find out sustainable solutions to the situation and preventive measures to similar ones that could occur any time.

On 5^th May 2012, Garissa Joined the Global Demonstration to “Connect the Dots” Between Extreme Weather and Climate Change.

In solidarity with hundreds of Events taking place around the world to show evidence that climate change is a clear and present danger youth from Garissa (The Garissa Youth County Forum) held a forum gathering people from all walks of life to discuss ways of combating climate change in the area.

The forum addressed issues of drought, erratic rainfall patterns and floods which have adversely affected them. They also talked about the ‘environmental refugees’ at Dadaab refugee camp, the largest in the world and how their activities have had adverse effects on their community further degrading the environment.

'Climate change is killing me' one of the messages on banners. Photo by Elias Mwangi

Attended by the Garissa Supreme Council of Muslims chairman as well as an aspiring Senator in Kenya’s devolved system of government among others they all urged youth to take a proactive role in solving the climate crisis. They promised to lead efforts in ensuring that adequate laws and policies are enacted to address climate change.

They also urged the developed world to remember that the planet was a shared space and thus high emitters should strive to reduce their emissions so as to safeguard the planet and its people.

What stood out from the forum was the willingness by participants to carry on with the climate debate, at home, in schools, churches, mosques, rallies among other for a so that awareness on the issue is increased and diverse solutions tapped into.

The day itself had been preceded by a grenade scare at the Tana River bridge, the only access route by road into Garissa town from Nairobi. This brought to the fore the fact that the region as the rest of the country is also grappling with insecurity issues months after the Kenya Defense forces entered Somalia to neutralize activities of the Al Shabaab group and restore order. Fears aside the event was as peaceful as can be and everyone was elated about the outcome and future prospects for the forum.

At the end of the forum they stood with banners with messages written on them, calling for urgent action, imploring the world to join hands and make a difference. ‘Climate change is killing me’ read one of the banners! The evidence of extreme weather patterns is there, bare fields, flash floods, severe drought among others… these are the dots!

Here the Grade 7 pupils at Virginia Preparatory School in Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa are planting an indigenous garden.

Photographer Clare Guelfucci

Professor Dr. Bindra delivered numerous presentations at the Libyan National Academy and other NGO offices in Tripoli, designed to educate the Libyan community, future Libyan politicians and elites about the connection between the extreme weather Libya is witnessing, the impacts it may witness in the near future – like sea level rise – and climate change.

The action plan to rebuild a new and free Libya after a year-long internal war was presented and debated, and it included numerous solution-oriented projects for minimizing climate impacts for all sectors of economy.

Thanks to the local organizing team (Dr Ibrahim Shaban, Dr Hussein Ghazali, Dr Ibrahim Mohd Salah, Dr Mustafa Al Rafie, Dr Fauzia, Nabil Salih Rawad Muftah, & Prof Dr Bindra) for working hard to make sure that Libya is Connecting the Dots.