‘Here comes the Sun’ and the Youth Summit
Saturday 1 Dec 2007
by Razceljan SG-Philippines
Early today, everyone was looking forward to go to Kuta Beach for the Solar Festival, but I left earlier together with Ivy and Agnes to attend the International Youth Summit on Climate Change at Harris Hotel; a walking distance to where the festival was located.
I was glad to meet with friends I got acquainted with way back in 2005 at the 11th UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal. It was nostalgic; we brought back the times when we had daily art performances at the lobby of Palais de Congres – the most remembered of all was the “Bed-in for the Climate” – I impersonated John Lennon – where it got a very wide media mileage.
It was a diverse youth culture as the delegates came from different parts of the world – Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Canada, US, India, Germany, among others. All the youth representatives were given a short period to share update on domestic issues on climate change and how the country’s government step up to help “save the climate”.
Just like back in 2005, I joined again the creative group that was tasked to come up with creative campaigns to convey the message of challenge to negotiators to accomplish a positive outcome in the two-week conference.
Photograph by Razcel Jan Luiz Salvarita
Ivy and I left a bit earlier and walked together with Greenpeace campaigners to the Solar Festival. It was a hot afternoon. I can feel the heat pricking my skin. Beachcombers stroll along the wide Kuta beach while surfers ride on top of the waves. I met Woon and Hong, with advertisement boards hanging on the front and the back of their bodies, handed flyers of announcements.
At around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, a jimbe drum circle led the opening of the festival followed with an art performance dance and a traditional, theatrical Balinese dance – both dances were fantastic that it stunned the audience.
The main highlight of the festival was the launching of SolarGeneration-Indonesia. A brief introduction of the group was given by Indonesia SG coordinator Galih. We later joined him on the stage as he sounded the gong for several times as a symbol of welcome and resonated the global call for the youth and everyone to ‘act now’.
The festival had several creative and interactive activities like the Solar Bar – powered by solar energy – where freshly-blended fruit shake were given free to visitors as refreshment in a 30ºC atmosphere. Another activity was the stamping of hands with paint on the strip of cloth as a symbol of commitment and pledge to ‘become part of the solution’.
The sun cast long shadows, the low tide made the local young people happy playing football while some were taking an afternoon run. We left the festival suspended in a state of last-song-syndrome in our heads – the reggae tune “Welcome to my paradise.”