One week ago, the 350 India team kicked off its first climate leadership workshop in the small coastal town of Ongole in the state of Andhra Pradesh. 25 young people, strangers to each other, came from across the state and country to learn from each other the ways to combat the climate crises. Today, I have already received emails from four of them on big plans for Moving Planet. People are concerned, agitated and concerned with the state of our planet and are ready to move for change.
One of the main reasons to organize the workshop in this little known town of India was to bring the participants closer to the problem they would be fighting. Vinodarayapalam, a village that takes pride in being the birth place of Andhra Pradesh's first Chief Minister is now fighting a bitter battle against a coal fired power plant that is set to destroy the livelihoods of people. Just 20 KM's away, the town of Ongole proved to be the perfect place to hold the workshop and later take the participants to have a firsthand experience of this struggle against coal. The visit proved to be a real inspiration for all participants and we many are stirred to action.
The three day workshop focused on providing the right set of tools for young campaigners and activists in strengthening their work in their home towns. Sessions on project management, facilitation and team building, movement building etc gave the participants a good insight into managing their work and provided great case studies and examples to learn from and execute our current campaigns. The session on public narrative was well appreciated with riveted viewing of Barack Obama's democratic convention speech, a perfect example of public narrative and its strengths.
On the 24th of September as part of Moving Planet, people young and old, farmers and workers, students and teachers, doctors and engineers, people irrespective of religion, class and creed will join hands for a large scale mobilization in coastal Andhra Pradesh. To symbolically showcase the strength of farmers and peasants, hundreds will ride on bullock carts and small tractors while thousands more will march for a coal free energy future. While our dedicated onground staff works on making this a reality, the participants from the workshop have taken it upon themselves to organize solidarity mobilizations across the state. For example, in the town of Warangal, students will be mobilized in large numbers over bicycles that will end in a concert with big Indian celebrities performing. In a few other towns across A.P, a Great Power Race style competition will begin amongst campuses, encouraging them to implement solutions and also come together for Moving Planet.
If one workshop can create such enthusiasm in people, then why not do another ? Riding the wave of excitement, 350.org will organize another similar workshop for friends in India and South Asia mid July. Keep an eye out for new announcements. Join the 350 India Facebook page and extend your support.