Sheikh Iraj     

Human beings have been living on this Earth for millions of years. Our actions, choices and how we live our lives all have impacts on this world. Climate change is for real and sooner or later, we or our next generation will have to face dreadful consequences if we do not take a stand against it. Now the question is how do we face the challenge?
To find out the right answers, students from over 90 schools, colleges and universities participated in the First National Earth Carnival 2016, organised by Viqarunnisa Noon Earth Club (VNEC) from March 3 to 5. Students displayed some amazing cultural performances at the opening ceremony, held on the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College premises at Shiddeswari in the capital.
The carnival was full of interesting activities and competitions, such as nature science project, quiz, nature olympiad, extempore speech, essay writing, posters and wall magazine, multimedia presentation, ‘green brain’ contest and photography. Students from 45 schools, 26 colleges and 20 universities from across the country participated in the three-day event. The participants were divided into three groups _ level-1 was from class 8 to 10, level-2 for college level and level-3 university level.
‘Green brain’ was a unique contest where university students had to solve a case which was entirely based on creating a clean environment. The ‘Water Bugs’ team from North South University came first in the event.
Wall magazine and poster displays left judges impressed by the efforts of the students. A team from Noor Mohammad Public College won for nature science project with ‘Recycling Death into Life’.
Considering the number of schools and colleges taking part, the quizzes and olympiads were very competitive. The quiz competition had three parts, preliminary round, 2nd round and the final round. ‘NDC Rouges’ from Notre Dame College was the winner in level-2 and ‘Terra Nova’ from Dhaka Medical College won level-3.
The nature olympiad was an ingenious way to inspire young minds to work and step up for a greener world. The winners of this event were Nishat Tasnim Anita of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (level-2) and Md Mimshed Khan of Noakhali Science and Technology University (level-3).
The multimedia presentation was a level-2 competition in which college students presented their ideas about ‘environment activism’, which means to promote protection of the natural environment. The participants presented their excellent ideas and views in front of an enthusiastic audience and judges. The winner of the event was Tasnuva, from BAF Shaheen College.
The photography competition was in one word -- intense. A tent was built to display photographs by the competitors. The photos were extraordinary and clearly showed the skills of the young photographers. Sabbir Ahmed Abir of Government Science College won the competition at college level for his picture ‘Face to Face’, while at university level, the winner was Shaquat Ameen of Bangladesh University of Professionals for the picture, ‘A Mother’.
With the projects open to everyone on the final day, Viqarunnisa Noon Earth Club managed a few stunning stage performances and displays. They screened about 13 powerful short films with amazing concepts and exciting visualisation. Some videos showed a contrast between the past and the present. Numerous solutions were advised. Then a ‘shadow dance’ act on Mother Earth and her people was performed. The performance was simply magnificent.
Through a price-giving ceremony and few speeches from the teachers, the programme, sponsored by Berger Paints Bangladesh, finally came to an end.
The carnival successfully achieved its objective by inspiring the future generation to work together for a better, greener world. It also opened a new field where young minds could brainstorm and exchange ideas and explore other points of view from which they could find solutions to everyday environmental problems, as well as map out their part in mitigating climate change issues. 

Comments

Tamanna Rahman
vice president (administration), VNEC

We arranged this carnival in order to promote nature among youngsters. It was an initiative taken by Viqarunnisa Noon Earth Club to inspire the young brains to get closer to earth. I am thankful to all who appreciated our efforts and supported us to make this carnival successful.
 

Nazifa Ahmed
student of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology

Some of the projects were superb, and also hats off to the management. They really hit it off. It’s really tremendous to see junior students excelling so much in all sectors.  

Shafkat Samin Anowar
St Joseph Higher Secondary School

I was a participant in the photography competition. It was a pretty proud moment for me to compete nationwide and be in the top 40. The whole school and college campus were decorated with lots of innovative stuff, particularly the exhibition hall was lightened up, making an alluring environment for all to enjoy. There were lots of competitions at different level. In whole, the fest was huge, nicely arranged. I hope to attend more carnivals like this in future.
 Zeba Farah Haque
vice president (events), VNEC

It was very difficult for us to organise everything within this short span of time, but we tried our best. We are thankful to everyone who appreciated our efforts and made this carnival successful.

 
Sabir Ahmed
Team WaterBugs, North South University

The competition was a great platform to prove ourselves and learn what we need to do better in this competitive world. Thanks to VNEC for pulling off such an event, which allows students like us to learn and utilise our knowledge in real life. We need more events like this. More importantly, the competition signifies the value of a green environment and it has shown us many ways to live without harming the environment.  

Ayman Sadiq (judge)
founder, 10 Minute School

If this competition took place when I was a student, I would have never participated because I had so little confidence in my presentation skills. The level of confidence in the participants has amazed me beyond words. I was really surprised to see the kind of knowledge school and college students brought to the table. Even for university students, this level of skill is no easy feat, but I was truly impressed by their skills and knowledge.
 Zaima Hamid Zoa
president, Viqarunnisa Noon English Language Club

When we were in VNSC, our teachers always taught us how we have to protect our Mother Earth from pollution. We were always encouraged to arrange and participate in various programmes on the environment. Planting trees on our campus never needed an occasion. Earth carnival is a greater and more festive version of those practices, it reflects what our teachers taught us. And it feels really great to be here among my seniors, friends and so many young minds.

Md Mimshed Khan
Noakhali Science and Technology University

The earth carnival was a superb initiative by Viqarunnisa Noon Earth Club. It was a carnival worth attending. Every segment of it was up to the mark.

Momtaz Begum
moderator, VNEC

Our intention was to convey the message that our environment needs more attention. I hope we have successfully delivered that message.
Tashfiq Bin Maksud contributed to this report.