Generation Equality Youth Challenge

Illustration by Poompat Watanasirikul

Engaging youth in environmental protection not only creates direct impact on changing youth behaviors and attitudes, but possibly influence their parents, relatives and families. Youth are back bone of the nation. They can change the future of the society with their well being and courageous behavior. UN Women has recently heard about a wonderful youth-led environmental conservation initiative.

Since June 2021, Harrow International School Bangkok has been a part of Mangrove Teens: an environmental initiative that aims to restore Thailand’s mangrove forests and spark climate action. The organisation is primarily run by students from international schools across Bangkok and Rayong, who all work toward the shared goal of planting 250,000 mangrove trees in Bang Pu, Samut Prakan. 43,530 trees have been planted thus far as of June 2022.

Recently, Harrow International School Bangkok’s Prep and Lower School students have taken part in the school’s poetry fundraiser titled ‘One Poem, One Tree.’ Three students have been selected from the submitted entries under the theme of ‘Youth and the Environment.’ Below are the final poems.

Overall Winner

O, I Wonder Why

Vin S7

The fire was burning in the rainforest like a nuclear explosion
Bigger, and bigger it grew
The animals were howling around like a jet engine
As the forest fire grew even bigger, the animals were dying
Painfully.
O, all the wonderful forests and animals are getting destroyed!

Industrial factories were releasing flocks of carbon dioxide
Roads were crowded with cars like a music festival
All the amount of carbon dioxide has caused the ice to die
Has caused the sea level to jump up
People were burning trees and farmlands
With no reason.
O, I wonder why!

People were destroying the nature
Animal’s food source, habitat
People were cutting down wood
For money.
People were busy trading wood
The wood was shapeshifted into furniture
Wooden chairs, wooden tables, wooden baskets
And people never replant the trees
The population of trees has dropped.
No more trees are left to reduce CO2
O, why are people doing this?

Help! Nature is getting destroyed!
Help! Animals are getting endangered!
Help! The Earth is dying!
The Earth is in our hands!
Help keep our beautiful planet alive!

Prep Winner

Flower

Darissa C8

The beautiful buds bloomed,
As the warmth hit the flowerbed.
The luminous sun danced in the daylight,
The roses stood bright and red.
The dirt still damp from last night's rain,
And the soft, lush, moss is still moist.
But one bud stood far away,
Sitting next to a small dirt mound.
This one bud did not bloom,
Like the vibrant flowers all around.

It stood shrivelled and hidden from sun,
Placed away from the flower bed.
This small flower that stood far away,
Sitting next to the small dirt mound,
Springs up and blooms as the sun rises high
Above the endless ground.
The small flower stands proud
Just as pretty as all the other flowers around.

Pre Prep Winner

A Tree Poem

Fergus 3M

The wind lifted me up
Into the trees, where I danced
To the rhythm of the evergreen. 
From a tree to forest, and forests to life,
It’s not enough to notice, the forests are 
Starting to perish, us humans are
Starting to be selfish. 
YAYYY