- Growing up in town helped her learn, unlearn and relearn, every time directing questions to her parents on what climate change entails.
- Denisse never relents in advancing child rights issues during climate change advocacy.
- “I am making a passionate appeal to environment lovers to facilitate my travel to Dubai,” she appeals.
For Lyn Denisse, a trained child journalist at Mtoto News International and a climate change crusader, tongue clicking, panting, and grinding of the beak were not ordinary behaviors of the birds.
At the age of 8 and in Grade 3, she was well aware the birds were communicating to humanity to act on climate change. She did not expressly know what climate change meant, but from instincts, everyone had a responsibility to act on climate change.
Growing up in town helped her learn, unlearn and relearn, every time directing questions to her parents on what climate change entails.
“A little effort towards saving the environment is better than literally no effort at all. If you cannot reuse, refuse.
Let us strive to nurture nature to have a nurturing future. My resolve to protect nature is purely a calling and I look forward to accomplishing what I started,” Denisse told Scholar Media Africa in an exclusive interview.
Denisse ventured into the unrivaled path of climate change at a very young age, following her mother’s advice to listen to her passion and interest. Climate change, according to her, is the source of food insecurity and why many families go hungry almost daily.
She says, “Increasing hunger is driven by the worsening climate crisis. Growing food amid great storms, unrelenting droughts and floods is complex.
It disproportionately affects families and threatens their rights to healthy living. It pains me when children go hungry, and families are disillusioned due to activities which could be avoided.”
The Grade 7 student at Loreto Convent Msongari, Nairobi, expresses her disappointment with excluding children in the climate change mitigation debate, terming it a “double tragedy” in the ultimate efforts to tame runaway climate change.
She says children are crucial actors in environmental conservation and hence asked policy-makers in the sector to engage children in environmental activities.
She says birds communicate through their behavior, and humanity must listen to the silent and loud behaviors of the ecosystem.
She underscores the need to incorporate communities and individuals from all walks of life in discussions destined for a clean, green, safe environment.
Born in Homa Bay County, Denisse reminisces about the beauty of nature in the rural setup, the exciting birds flying freely in the skies, and the chattering monkeys jumping here and there.
She admits communities must act on climate change to continue enjoying the presence of beautiful nature.
Denisse never relents in advancing child rights issues during climate change advocacy.
Recently, at a workshop during the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) geared towards COP-28, she said, “In several parts of Africa, people fight over the limited land and water resources.
This, in essence, makes families move from one place to another, causing children to drop out of school and get into child labor.”
While referring to United Nations General Comment No 26 (2023), she stated that children no longer expect adults to decide for them, but expect to be included and fully engaged in finding climate change solutions.
She added that it was time the government of Kenya incorporated climate change as a key learning area in the school curriculum.
The Committee on the Rights of a Child, in General Comment No 26 (2023), emphasizes the urgent need to address the adverse effects of environmental degradation, with a special focus on climate change, on the enjoyment of children’s rights.
It clarifies the obligations of States to address environmental harm and climate change.
It also explains how children’s rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child apply to environmental protection and confirms that children have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The Mtoto News child journalist, speaking on behalf of all children at the KIPPRA workshop, charged that children do too little towards climate change and environmental degradation, yet they suffer the most.
“Despite being passive in climate change and environment degradation, we have suffered the most. For instance, some of us go to school hungry, and skip school, as a result of floods and droughts,” she clarified.
Caroline Linda, Denisse’s mother and a Child Development Expert, says her daughter grew up as any other child.
However, as a mother, she could tell something was burning inside her. It did not take long before she detected flames of environmental conservation and sparks of climate change mitigation.
Memories are the key not to the past but to the future. Denisse heavily borrows from the courage, resilience, and dedication of Nobel Laureate, the late Prof. Wangari Maathai, whose undying love for the environment saw her achieve international honor.
“Even in death, Prof. Maathai continues to inspire me. I share in her conviction and belief of a truly green, clean, and safe society, free from contamination and wastes, because that is the meaning of beauty,” she adds.
Denisse agrees environmental conservation debates should not have boundaries, and just as Prof. Maathai traversed the universe, advocating for a safe environment, everyone should be brought on board to actualize that which was the intention and dream of the late Prof. Maathai.
John Riaga, a Media Personality and father to Denisse, traces his daughter’s long journey to a safe environment with admiration, convinced her commitment to climate change advocacy is a noble cause.
“In her formative years, she was such an inspiring singer. Today, singing has given her the personality gem to face crowds and congregations, as she promotes climate change mitigation activities,” he says, in reference to Denisse’s national and regional climate change activities.
“As a communication expert, I am aware that children should not be limited. They should be given the time, room and space to advance their heart desires.
My daughter joined Mtoto News International, where she trained as a child journalist. The training has given her the courage and confidence to advance climate change mitigation ideas,” Riaga says.
Mtoto News is a digital platform that has lifted children in society by leveraging technology to improve their lives by making them visible. The platform envisages a society where children are seen as players, not spectators.
Denisse heaps praise on the President of Kenya, William Ruto, for his renewed efforts in tree planting.
“The declaration by CS Interior Prof. Kithure Kindiki of November 13 a public holiday for all Kenyans to participate in tree planting is welcome. It should never be an event but a culture that is practiced every time and again.
I still plead with the government to involve the youth in such meaningful initiatives,” Denisse acknowledged.
Other than a climate change crusader, Denisse advocates Child Online Safety.
She says freedom of expression and the current learning dynamics, which tend to give children the freedom to choose what and how they learn, have exposed many children to cyber risks and privacy breaches.
She, however, underscores the importance and relevance of digital learning.
“We must embrace digital literacy and encourage children to walk this path. However, the greatest undoing of many parents is their absence during digital learning and technological experience. Our parents forget we need more of their presence and not their presents,” she says.
At the recently held Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Denisse and other proponents of a safe environment called on the Department of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy to incorporate a Youth Division in their program.
In April this year, Denisse was privileged to host the African Children Summit, an event held at the Boma Hotel in Nairobi.
The three-day conference brought together children from across Africa, setting the pace for the next year’s South Africa conference.
In October 2022, she attended the European Union Right to Education and Digital Transformation event.
Here, she shared her experience and positive lessons on managing difficulties of internet access, digital literacy, and protecting children in the digital world.
The engagements, she says, have given her the impetus to dare and roar in the forest, where so many people hide and destroy nature.
Denisse is not new to publicity. In June 2020, she was featured on Kenya’s Citizen TV news during the marking of the Day of the African Child.
In October 2021, she virtually opened the 4th National Early Childhood Development Conference, where she gave a keynote speech.
Having taken part in Pre-COP 28 conversations, Denisse looks forward to securing an opportunity to attend the COP-28 Conference in Dubai, which starts later this month.
“I am making a passionate appeal to environment lovers to facilitate my travel to Dubai. The voices of children are often stifled just because they are children.
The conference will expose me to climate change matters and enable me to educate my peers about the same,” adds Denisse.
On where she sees herself in 5 years, the composed climate change crusader says, “I will be 17 and completing Senior School education.
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I hope to ensure children’s voices are heard in climate change matters. I hope the internet will also be safe for children, with clear and strong policies in place.”
