on-‘CLIMATE CALLS 101’,

A team of 8 delegates, 7 students, and 1 teacher (RS rep) participated to the much-awaited physical, offline Conference on Conservation Education & Sustainability’,  hosted by Maria Public school, from October 26th to 30th, in Guwahati, Assam, INDIA, It was a Conference/Training Camp entitled – ‘Climate Calls 101’. The venues for this program were the Maria’s Public School Campus and the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Guwahati, Assam. The event was inspired by the Educational Principles of the Round Square IDEALS & the RS Discovery Framework and was a perfect follow-up of the Collaborative – ‘Glides & Dives: Soaring to the End of the World’, the project which became a grand success, with the support of the students and teachers. VDJS, Hisar, and other leading schools of India

During this Programme, students were:-

· Exposed & Trained to the current Conservation Education & Sustainability Educational Paradigms.

· Students got the opportunity for the participants to experience a unique Bio-Geographical Hotspot of India, the PABITORA wildlife sanctuary, having the highest density of the One-Horned Rhino and

· They got an opportunity to experience the Early Migratory Bird Season and saw the   One-Horned Rhino, wild boars, and many other animals. in one of their most iconic habitats.

· Learned from some of the giants of Conservation President awardee Ms. Purnima Devi, a wildlife biologist from Assam who is prominently known for her conservation work with the Greater Adjutant Stork, known locally as the Hargila bird. Mr. Kaushik Barua Despite being an elephant person, Mr. Baruah presented a very articulate session on Rhino conservation and his role in controlling the incessant poaching of One Horned Rhinos in Assam for their horn. He explained how Rhinos are translocated from one habitat to another to ensure better living and health conditions as well as safety. He also presented a few clips with some eye-opening and visually pleasing videos on the day-to-day life of the Rhinos.

. Students learned to find out the latitude and longitude of given species of flora by using GSI. They collected dry twigs, leaves, and roots and designed beautiful herbariums in the most creative ways.

.  Dr.Sheila Bora, a historian from Howard University, told about the history and origin of magic for which Mayong is known all around the world. Prof. Bora laid the foundation stone for Mayong Museum, which is a storehouse of copious manuscripts, and body parts of animals such as owl’s heart, snakes’ skin, etc. which substantiate the practice of black magic back in the day by the people of this village. Students visited the mystical Mayong Museum to see the antiques that were gathered and revived from thousands of years.

. Also, students got to listen to two experts on the topics of leadership and poem writing. DM of the area also visited and addressed students.

After the closing ceremony of the Ceremony, our delegates visited Shillong, Cherapunjee, and Sohra, in the beautiful state of the northeast, Meghalaya. They studied and explored Indigenous and a few endemic species of flora and fauna. Visiting Prehistoric caves known as Arwah Lumshynna caves and observing fossils of the Crustacean era, watching Stalagmites & Stalactites was a next-level experience. Dain-Thlen Falls was another

Finally, students explored The Garden of Caves also known as “Ka Bri Synrang” a natural habitat that has been created by seasonal waterfalls that are fed by rain. 

Overall these 7 days were full of new experiences, lots of learning in the lap of nature, and of endless inspiration to take steps to conserve our climate and biodiversity.