URDT Girls are preparing for the participation of the URDTGS in the 10^th anniversary of the Earth Charter (EC). Its motto is: It starts with one.   Amongst others, it aims to create a vision for the future and inspire all to take action. 

The event will take place in the PeacePalace in the Hague, the Netherlands on the 29^th of June. The guest of Honor is HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands who has a keen interest in this theme.  The concept of sustainable development, as elaborated in the Earth Charter and its expressed vision, fit very well in URDT's philosophy and programmes that aim at transforming rural homes and developing sustainably healthy, happy, peaceful and prosperous communities in Uganda.  We feel honored that the URDT girls have been asked to be the voice of children in Africa. The Comenius school  from the Hague is our sister school in the event. These young people will get a chance to perform 'life' for HM and all other invited guests.  We have selected our Primary 6 class to represent the school. So far they have participated in workshops to understand the EC. On the 29th they are going to present 4 live animations through skype as part of the conference programme.  Each live animation will highlight the girls' views on one of the 4 EC principles:

1.     respect and care for everything that lives;

2.     protect nature and the environment;

3.     everyone has a right to what they need;

4.     live fair, open, and at peace with each other.

It has been a hug technical challenge to get a video conference mechanism up and running in Kagadi. Thanks to efforts of all parties involved, both in Uganda and the Netherlands, we are positive it is going to work out next week Tuesday June 29.  If all goes well, the 4 one minute videos will be posted on Youtube.  The girls made wonderful items from waste materials for the live animations. Waste recycling in underlying theme of the event. It has been an eye opener for those involved that even in Kagadi, we have hug challenges ahead.  We see this project as an opportunity to rekindle URDT's environment programme's fire and reaffirm our commitment to take responsibility for our planet and its people.

We would like to mobilize the entire URDT family, its communities and partners through this email to work hand in hand to deal with issues of climate change, waste and other hazards that impact on human life on this planet through a multi-sector approach.  We hope you get energized by this report and the pictures we took earlier this week during the testing.

Any ideas and support on the above are very welcome.