Facing the Heat: A Call for Environmental Consciousness

As I meditate over the heat shocks, I suddenly remember the “rainmaker, Majek Fashek,” now resting with the Lord. I have been praying and asking God for another rainmaker because the nights are getting hotter, and insomnia is setting in. I now ask God to please be merciful to His children who are roasting and getting dehydrated to send us another rainmaker.

My people are sweating and awake because of the heat that never ends. Ordinarily, the fans would have been at least helpful, but there is no energy to power them as the national grid keeps collapsing.

The people who have money to buy rechargeable fans have no respite because there is no power to charge them. The solar-powered fans have used up the in-built power and are now waiting for a new dawn of sunlight to recharge.

Our pains are compounded by singing mosquitoes, which are having a field day singing irritating songs into our ears to further deprive us of sleep. Meanwhile, Insecticides, treated nets, and anti-malaria medications are no longer cheap.

We need water to rehydrate, but water is no longer cheap. Even pure water is now out of the reach of the poor. So, drinking water is also becoming a luxury. Now is the time to ask, “Where do we go?”

Before readers ascribe this to the government or a political party, let me remind us that the calamity we face today is our own making. We destroyed the forests and trees that would have taken our carbon dioxide and given back to us the oxygen we need.

We created the technologies that emit so much carbon into the atmosphere, and today, we are like a bird perched on a line, with both dangling without rest.

We build houses without spaces for gardens or trees to circulate oxygen to maximize our land. We destroy urban and regional planning without spaces for green areas—all because we are chasing money. Now, we have money, but our health is facing a catastrophic future because of the hazards of the impurities in the air we breathe.

We consume but cannot manage our waste products. We graze cattle and cows and yet allow the products of enteric fermentation to pollute the atmosphere without capturing the methane residue and turning it into wealth. Even the pipes from our soak-away are becoming sources of danger to us.

Now is the time to return to nature, rethink how we manage our forest reserves, and plant trees to earn carbon credits.

The cleaner atmosphere we deserve is in our hands. We can begin rebuilding it today or go to sleep and pay dearly for our inaction very soon.

Grace and peace!!!