CHRISTIAN AID NEWS

Last November, Christian Aid’s Africa communications
officer Alexander Carnwath joined a campaigning ‘caravan
of hope’ as it travelled through 10 African countries,
carrying an urgent climate change message to the United
Nations summit in Durban, South Africa. The talks may
have ended in compromise, but the caravan helped
strengthen African voices calling for action
First came a police car, clearing a
path through the busy streets of
Bujumbura, Burundi. Next, a crowd of 50
bicycle taxis, their riders hooting their
horns and stretching out to hand leaflets
to passers-by. last of all came the bus
itself, a giant banner advertising our
journey covering one side.
For those who stopped on the
pavements to watch our colourful,
chaotic lap of the city centre on 9
November, this was africa’s first glimpse
of the caravan of Hope: a 7,000km
campaigning road trip, organised by
christian aid partner pan african climate
Justice alliance (pacJa).
and for those inside the bus –
Burundian activists, a handful of east
african journalists and myself – it was a
chance to find our seats, buckle up and
settle in for what would be a very long
ride indeed.
the journey had been organised by
pacJa with two main objectives. the
first was to raise awareness of the
impact of climate change in africa. and
the second was to transport activists
from 10 african countries to Durban,
south africa, to campaign at the UN
climate change negotiations, cop17.
‘in africa, there is a need to demystify
climate change so that people can see
what the link is to their lives,’ explains
mithika mwenda, head of pacJa. ‘We
wanted to think of a massive activity that
would unite the people of africa with the
UN process.’
Suffering the effects
When we left Bujumbura, we were one
bus of about 30 people. By the time we
reached Durban, there were three buses
packed with more than 150 caravanners.
these included young people, women’s
rights campaigners and farmers, many
of whom were already suffering the
impact of changing weather patterns.
Janet mussa, a malawian farmer and
mother of seven, explains how
unpredictable rainfall had severely
reduced her harvests and forced her
family to leave their home.
‘the rains start late and finish early, so
hunger comes now,’ she says. ‘and we
have been displaced from our homeland
by floods. i am worried because i don’t
see any future for my children.’
though data on climate change is
lacking in africa, her account of variable
rains is consistent with what scientists
expect to see in the region. and all along
the route we heard stories like these,
from those on the bus and from the
thousands of people who attended
caravan ceremonies in each of the 10
countries we passed through.
No two events were quite the same. in
Burundi bicycle taxis took the lead, in
Nairobi we were led through the streets
by a marching band, and in Zimbabwe
we processed right to the edge of
Victoria Falls, whose waters are thought
by local people to be drying up due to
temperature rises. But each one was a
chance for people to share experiences,
express solidarity and gather signatures
of politicians (including the vicepresidents
of Burundi, Uganda, tanzania
and malawi) on an african people’s
petition calling for climate justice.
Strengthening solidarity
When we arrived in Durban just before
the start of the talks, there were high
hopes among us that progress would be
made on a fair climate deal. at one of the
campaigning events in Durban, my fellow
travellers were told by mary robinson,
the former president of ireland: ‘it’s your
voices that should be heard at this
conference. i have heard more urgency
from you than in the big hall.’
at this campaigning rally Desmond
tutu was presented with a global petition
of messages calling for climate justice,
before addressing the crowds.
But alongside the optimism, there was
also an understanding that the caravan’s
demands would not be met overnight. its
greatest success has been in laying the
foundations for a unified position on
climate change among africans and
strengthening the campaign movement
for the long struggle ahead.
‘climate change is not going to be
defeated by one individual, one country
or one region [and] cop17 won’t be the
end of the struggle,’ says mwenda. ‘it’s
the beginning and i like to think that we
will be able to continue this solidarity.’
• You can see and listen to video and
audio interviews, at christianaid.org.uk/
ActNow/climate-justice/
Far left: Mithika Mwenda, head of PACJA,
addresses farmers, politicians and
campaigners in Kigali. Left: drumming up
support. Above: families come out to support
the caravan launch in Bujumbura, Burundi
Christian Aid News 15