On 19th March, the members of the Earth Guardians Bhutan did more than just observing the Earth Hour by switching of their lights.

EG BHUTAN DEDICATED THIS HOUR OBSERVATION MAINLY FOR THREE THINGS:

• To honour and demand climate Justice for the climate victims around the world by lighting butter lamps.

• To urge all the world leaders to recognize indigenous and vulnerable communities as well as honor intergenerational equity and Human rights when finalizing the Paris Accord.

• Create awareness about the urgent need to address climate change

The participants also contemplated on the suffering of the climate victims.

10 minutes contemplation was mainly to feel consequences the climate victims they are going through all across the world and to realize the urgency to address the climate change.
I asked the entire participants to contemplate on the sufferings and the hardships the climate change victims are facing across the globe and put themselves into their shoes.

The participants after 10 mins of contemplation stated:-

1. I pictured in my mind the heavy rainfall followed by the disastrous floods due to climate change where people and the properties took the heavy damage. I saw the women crying for their drowned children and the men searching for his lost family. I could hear the screams and shouts of the climate victims calling for my help. I was helpless and hopeless at the same time but the moment I opened my eyes I knew there are many things i can do make their life better. I knew that my actions will have greater impact the people in the remotest and unknown places on earth. I have become a better person than before.

2. I realized that the most affected people will be the poor farmers like my parents. I saw them fighting for the good yield but all that they could have was hardly to feed themselves. I felt their agony of not being able to feed their family because of the crop failure and that was something I did not wish to see in reality.

3. Right after I started contemplating on the sufferings of the climate victims, I learnt that the 3rd World War has already started and it was none other than Climate Change. We were the Hitlers.

4. I saw people being so careless and neglectful of the Climate Change. I was sad that despite all the means and solutions we have at our hand, we pretend that Climate Change to be something we can do nothing about.

5. During the contemplation, I put myself in different extreme weather events and felt the fear and despair these climate events bring to us which made me realize that my kids will feel the brunt of it more than us both in magnitude and frequency. I also realized that we should act on climate right now.

We also discussed about the problems we are facing in the community and came up with different solutions to address them. The final document on this is still in the process. Finally we pledged to plant 5000 trees and we decided to plant early until we reach the 5000 mark. We have plantation project coming up in the first week of April. we will keep you updated with our projects and activities, thanks. —Tashi Dorje EG Bhutan CrewLeader