Climate Action Figures
A safe place for youth to share steps they are taking to mitigate climate change.
Climate Action Figures
Season 2, Episode 30: Patience
In this episode of Climate Action Figures, John interviews Patience, an international student from Ghana. They discuss the importance of planting native species to combat invasive species and promote sustainability. Patience shares her project focused on invasive species removal and restoration using volunteers, as well as her journey in studying sustainability in Canada.
00:00 Introduction and Quick Fix
01:45 Meet Patience: An International Student from Ghana
02:14 Sustainability in Ghana
04:22 Patience's Journey to Canada
05:34 Invasive Species Project
07:25 Challenges and Solutions for Volunteer Recruitment
08:29 Understanding Invasive Species
11:57 Cultural Exchange: Ghana and Canada
14:20 Climate Action and Hope for the Future
18:12 Conclusion and Farewell
https://abinvasives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Weed-Guide-2022-web.pdf
https://grasslands-naturalists.org/
https://www.eddmaps.org/distribution/
climateactionfigures@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures
https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/
https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures
Patience aba. Welcome to Climate Action Figures.
John:Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Climate Action Figures. My name as usual is John Whidden, and this week on the show you get to meet Patience. But first you must have patience because we will talk about this week's quick fix. Now, Linda from Indio, California wrote in a couple weeks ago and mentioned some ideas from the Living Desert magazine and those particular ones were about vegetarian diets, but there were also some other items that she shared from that list of things that we can do: plant native flowers in your garden. They will thrive with the natural climate and they will not require as much water. So thanks very much for sending that in Linda, and welcome Patience.
Patience:Thank you for having me.
John:What? What do you think about that quick fix?
Patience:Oh, really? It is really in line with what I'm actually doing on my projects, which is, uh, invasive species. And then we are trying to fight hard. To, uh, plant native species that will thrive not to destroy the environment. So based on what she's saying, it's really a good idea because if you have those native species there, they will help the environment. As she said, it'll be resilient because it'll help fight droughts and all that, which those invasive species may not be able to do because they are coming from foreign countries. So I really agree with her perfectly for that.
John:Well, we'll come back to your project in a moment, Patience, but first, you are an international student who's, studying here from Ghana, is that correct?
Patience:Yes.
John:Okay, now I have to ask what is happening in Ghana because we, you are the third guest we've had from Ghana, and you are not connected with the other two guests we've talked to from Ghana, but I think you've watched their episodes, right?
Patience:Yes, I did. Yeah.
John:I'm just curious to know what is happening in Ghana that we have three guests from your country this season.
Patience:Yeah, I believe sustainability is now the talk of the town. And, the whole world is seeing it that we need to fight hard. And as you know, sustainability is not just on one issue. It's embodies three pillars, which is the social aspects, the economic aspects, and then the environmental aspects, and people becoming aware of all these things. Knowing that we have to fight hard to help save our planet for the future generation. Hence, probably that's why you are seen us a lot in your podcast because we are thinking sustainable to save our country.
John:Well, we're very happy to hear that. Now, we learned a little bit about your program from Harvir last week, and in your
Patience:I.
John:opinion, what is the most important facet of this sustainable innovation program?
Patience:initially when I took the course, I was thinking it's something of like environmental aspect until I entered the course and I came to realize that it's really a whole big thing on its own. As I said earlier, it encompasses three pillars, which is the, uh, social aspect, which is the economic aspect, and then the environmental aspect. and also I was thinking sustainability is just about maintaining something and then making sure that it stays for a longer period of time, but. Until I entered this course and gave me an eyeopener that it is actually trying to do something for the future generation, not to suffer from what we did previously. All the things that we are doing in our environments should be something that we are doing that will help our future generations not to suffer. So that is one thing. And then in the aspect of the economical aspect, like if you look at what Emmanuel did on, uh, finance. Concerning when you did the podcast with her. That is the aspect of the economic aspect. And as you are concentrating on the environmental aspect, it's all intertwined. You are saving the economy in terms of cost, you are also helping the society because at the end of the day, wherever we are living in the environment, we find ourselves in that environment, so we make sure that we maintain it.
John:now, I'm curious to know how you heard about a program in Canada when you were living in Ghana. How did you get connected to this program? I.
Patience:that was not actually the program I wanted to do in the first place. I wanted to do early, uh, childhood. And so I came to realize that there is this program that is open, but that was the first batch of people who were going to do that course. So I then applied trying to get in, and then my visa delayed and I had to come back again. So now I became the second batch of the group. So this actually like gave me the hope that, oh, if something about sustainability and it's about the environment, why don't I go for it? Because I'm so passionate about the environment, So even if you come to my house, you always see me. My hands are on the ground trying to pick stuff, making things in order, putting things in order, and all that. So that gives me the hope that I'm doing something that will not help me alone, but will also help the future people or the, the people will be leaving behind.
John:So you did not get your first choice of program, but now that you've almost completed the program, you're, you're happy with the one that you ended up in.
Patience:I'm really, really happy there. Like there is nothing I would've done without that.
John:Well, let's talk about the, the project you completed. Each of you has completed a big project, Harvir's- last week she talked about cosmetics. What was the focus of your project?
Patience:my focus, uh, on this project was on invasive species. what made me focused on this was that we were given, an assignment, which was an environmental challenge to go out to the, uh, community to verify some of the things that are stressors to the environment. we had a, a talk with, one guy on invasive species, like a presentation in class. I was like, oh, why don't I focus on that? So I had to go to the Police Point park here in Medicine Hat to do an interview with one lady called Genevieve. And through her interview she came out by saying that. yes, I like the topic you are taking: invasive species. we have three controls for these invasive species. One is the biological one where we, we introduce animals to take these species. Two: the use of chemicals to kill these plants. And then the third one is volunteer. And she was like, volunteer is actually the best choice, but unfortunately we don't have people to volunteer. So this really touched my heart and it was like, what can I do? To be able to help solve this problem. So then I came up with a project topic by proposing that if we can get volunteers to do the removal, and not just removing these species but restore. Because if you leave it there, the invasive species will take over. So if we should be able to remove them, then we can restore it with those native species that we have in this country. So that actually geared me to, to do this project on invasive species removal then restoration. Using the volunteer base
John:Great. And do you have, uh, a plan to get more volunteers involved? How, how do you expect to be able to do that?
Patience:Yeah, it's actually not easy here in Canada at all. I was telling, uh, my supervisor, who is Martha, that if it is in Ghana just ask I will get a lot of people and they will go. But, here there are a lot of bureaucracies or like a lot of steps to follow before you can get it. So, but um, I've, with the help of Martha and her connections, I've been able to liaise with uh, some schools who are willing to let us come on board even before then we'll do a presentation for them to understand what we are all talking about. Then from there, we can recruit from the schools. There is this adage that in my country that says that, catch them young and they shall be yours forever. So we are intending to catch them in their early stages of life. So we are using grade 4, 5, 6 for now. And then I managed to get a hold of some teachers too, in the high schools, we are still talking about with them to come to consensus so that we can recruit them.
John:That's great that you've been able to use your educational background to mesh those two things together. A lot of people listening in or viewing this program will not know a lot about invasive species. How do they generally arrive in an area? You know, we might look around and see a certain weed that's growing everywhere. How does it usually get to our area?
Patience:My concentration is on the plant species, though we have the plant species in the oceans or the aquatic plant species or in the lakes, but mine is concentration is on the land. So the plant that you see on the land, so these are species which are not from originally from that country that, but they find themselves in that country then they are taking over uh, plant species that are in that country. So those plant species that are in that country are known as the native species. And so those that are coming from other foreign countries and find themselves here are known as the invasive species. So that is what I'm talking about. Then. How do they come into the country? So they come into the country by means of people traveling with them. So somebody may go to Asia and see a flower that she feels like, oh, this flower is so beautiful. I can't live with Asia on my way coming to Canada, let me just carry it so that I can plant it here. Some of them are very toxic because when you plant them in as much that they spread so fast and take their species plant species here, also, some of them are very toxic in nature that can have, allergy to human body as well as animals. Another thing that, uh, helps the spread here, if it finds itself in the country that you are in, is through people walking in, like on the trail. They use their shoes to pick them. Animals use their furs and feathers to pick them. So it's spread out. And then you see them taking all over the land, which is spoiling the, flora of. Uh, a particular country. So you don't see that beauty nature of their own plants or flowers, but they are being taken over by those other country's plants and flowers. So that is what this invasive species is all about. Yeah.
John:So I'm going to guess you're gonna tell us don't bring species from other places. Like when you go to Ghana, you will not take a flower and plant it there. But What can we do to avoid spreading it around our area? You said often it's on animals, fur or our boots. So how do we, uh, how do we act responsibly to avoid that?
Patience:one of the things that we can do, which it is, I don't know whether everybody would take it up, is we can have a mechanism whereby when people walk at a point, they can dip their feet in let's say disinfectants or something to clear their boots or water to wash away all what they've picked from the way through to entering the park maybe our first concentration will be the parks because these are the places that we find species that belongs to the country and people learn about it. So if it has been taken over by invasives at the end of the day, it, it means it has destroyed the nation's, uh, beauty as well as its history.
John:On some of the trails I've hiked, I've seen at the beginning there's a brush, a boot brush where it says, you know, clean your boots off when you start and clean your boots off when you finish. So you don't bring anything onto the trail and you don't take anything home off of the trail. So there's another possibility too. when you're finished your program here, are you going to go back to Ghana?
Patience:Well, I may, I may or may not, But I would wish to, uh, send back some of this information home to help because there is no place like home though.
John:When you came to Canada from Ghana, I'm curious to know, now that you've spent some time here, are there things that Canadians could learn from the culture in Ghana?
Patience:In terms of the social aspects, I feel like one thing that Canada can learn from my country is communalism, where people come together and help each other, just to help each other. For instance, in Ghana, if you have a baby, you don't mind leaving it with a neighbor and then going to do whatever you want to do, and they are willing to help you with that. But one thing I learned here in Canada, you can't do that. Yeah. And even if you do that, there is the need for you to make payments, which not everybody will be able to do that because maybe financially they are not really good like in that area. And then also in terms of, um. People reaching out to people. I feel like it is there, but it is really in the minimal because everybody, like here, everybody is to himself and to herself. You can be in a neighborhood and you may not know your neighbor, who is your neighbor, but if it is my country, people walk in and find and then just check on you. How are you? Even though he or she doesn't know you, once he sees you walked in the neighborhood for the first time, oh, are you living here? Where are you living? Yeah, that brings about like unity, that brings about togetherness, you are part of the society and it makes it feel happy because if not, if, if normally if you're, groomed in such way, when you come to Canada, it's a little bit difficult because of that culture shock that you have because you feel like nobody cares. That's one thing that I would wish if we would all be able to learn.
John:let me flip that question around and say whether you go back to Ghana or not, what is something from Canada that you would like to take back to Ghana?
Patience:Yes. One of the things that I will strongly advocate for in my country is the system working. When I made the system working, one thing that I have known in this country is whatever they put in place, they make sure it works. And it works for their people. It's not like we are, we are coming up with a policy or rule or rules and regulations, but it favors some group of people and leaves some group of people no, and that is one thing I came to learn here. Whatever that system that they've put in place is to everybody irrespective of your status or your whatever in the society.
John:Well, that's good to hear. Now, before we let you go, Patience we need to ask you about your climate action today. What have you chosen?
Patience:So what I have chosen for my climate action is: trying as much as possible to embark on the removal of my invasive species. So anytime I go for a walk, I try my best. If I see it, even though it's not allowed in this country, when I see it, I try to remove it.
John:Great, and since we've talked about it, I should ask you if someone is walking, you know, down a path in a park, how did they know what is invasive and what is not? Could you give us some resource that we could put in our show notes so that people would have a way to be able to tell what's invasive and what's not?
Patience:Okay, so, um, one of the things that I will advocate for and which I'm doing is, um, there is a small book on invasive species which was made by Alberta Invasive Species, which can be gotten in Police Point Park or Grassland Naturalists or even SEAWA. When you read them, you can, there are descriptions of the plants, how they come up, how they are flowering is like, and then through that you can be able to identify them. From there, if you see them, you can actually pick them up. Yeah.
John:Okay.
Patience:uh, that will help our community so that we'll have a better safe and nice environment so that we will be able to enjoy our nature. Yeah. That's it.
John:So we can put links to that in the show notes. And that covers Southern Alberta or Southeastern Alberta. But are, are there other resources online people can look up if they want to know what the invasive species are in their area?
Patience:Yes. there are other apps that are trying to capture these invasive species, and these reports are being done by individuals like you and I, not necessarily a specialist. So what they do is that. You'll go to the area which you feel is an invasive, and then you take a photo, then you upload it. Yeah. it's known as the EDD maps you can go there, check it, and then you can see how people have reported some of the species. And And what happens is that when you go and then you take the photo and then upload it, and it's not an invasive, they will just verify if it's a, not an invasive, it'll not be recorded in the distribution map. But if it's an invasive, then it'll be recorded there.
John:Okay, great. And that's a free app people can download for their phone.
Patience:download. Yeah. It's a free app.
John:Great. Well, we will definitely put a link to that in the show notes. Last question for you today, Patience, what gives you hope?
Patience:So what gives me hope is what you are doing terms of this podcast that you are doing. It gives me a lot of hope because when I started watching some of the people you are interviewing. It gives me hope that young people of today are now coming to understand what we need to do so that we can save our future. one thing that makes me so happy and gives me hope is that it is not in one area. If you look at Emmanuella, she was in the finance aspect of the sustainability. If you look at the doctor you invited from uh, India, which I forgot the name, she was actually doing the social aspects. sustainability, which is under the health. Yeah. Harshita. And then currently I and Harvir are talking about the environmental aspect. So you can see how sustainability is brought, and the hope that I'm getting is that youngsters are getting up to take the bull by the horn and fight for their future. That gives me hope.
John:thank you for sharing that today, and it gives me hope as well. I love doing what I do because I get new, fresh hope every week. So thank you for joining us today and sharing some of that hope through your actions Patience,
Patience:Thank you for having me. I'm really grateful for giving me this opportunity to express my thoughts in your podcast. Yeah.
John:And thank you viewer or listener, please feel free to share this hopeful message you've heard today with someone you think might be interested. We will be back again next week, same time, same place to hear from another climate action figure. Until then
Patience:Go figures!