World environment day

World Environment Day: A race for the environment.

The 5th of June is marked as World Environment Day. This day was
established by the United Nations as an initiative to raise awareness and
encourage action for the protection of the environment. On this day the
focus is placed on environmental issues such as marine pollution, global
warming, sustainable living and wildlife crime.

Climate change has become an international concern. Every year
countries and international organizations try to find solutions! People are
being more sensitive on the topic and taking personal actions. Here in
OCC we care about the environment and this year, along with two other
NGOs, Drop in the Ocean and Wave of Hope for The Future, took action
and organized an event in order to celebrate this day, as well as to
inform the people why this day is so important.

Our main target group was the refugee community from the Nea Kavala
camp, Polykastro and Axioupoli. The excitement and engagement of the
kids and the people that participated was incredible.

The event was held in two separate days. on Friday the 4th of June and
Saturday the 5th of June. On Friday, the children of OCC, together with
their teachers cleaned up the area of the river and the forest of
Polykastro where there was a lot of trash. Drop in the Ocean and Wave
of Hope for the Future cleaned up the area in the camp and outside the
camp. At the end of the activity we talked about the importance of
recycling, as well as upcycling, where they had to think of different ways
to reuse something instead of throwing it away.

The main event was held on Saturday, 5th of June, and it took place
outside the camp of Nea Kavala. We used Drop’s facilities as it was
super hot and sunny outside. There were 6 teams participating in the
race. Each team consisted of 6 people, two adults and four children. All
of the activities were based on the environment. At the end of the race
we had one winning team!

It was an amazing event! The main goal was to raise awareness for the
people to understand how important it is to look after our environment.
This is also an important lesson for our kids, as they are the future. With
this small event we hope we planned a small seed in their mind and
heart so they become responsible citizens and take more actions and
initiatives in the future.

To top it all, we should all agree that every day must be World
Environment Day, not once a year. The time that we are going through is
not easy but even the smallest act can make a difference. I hope our
initiative becomes an example for other people and all of us organize
more events together.