St Mark's Sr.Sec. School, Meera Bagh, New Delhi, India

Our Green Ambassadors in the Lap of Nature

Eco Club members of St Mark’s Senior Secondary Public School Meera Bagh were taken for aDay’s trip to Navdanya (literally means nine grains) at Mehpa Village, near Meerut 3 November 2012. The Day started with the tour of the fields where crops are grown using organic methods only. The Students enjoyed seeing various vegetables in the fields and were delighted to pluck chillies, brinjals (eggplant or aubergine), amlas (Indian gooseberry), guavas, to name a few. While taking a tour of the fields, students learned innovative methods of crop production like mixed cropping, crop rotation, irrigation methods, and adding manure. They also saw how jaggery was being made. The students got a taste of village life and food too. They also experienced the difference between rural and urban life.

Finally they were told about the importance of seeds and seed banks and why Navdanya is working towards seed sovereignty. 

The declaration given below was read by every student and teacher  of the school in every class via Educomp Smart boards.

DECLARATION ON SEED FREEDOM

• Seed is the source of life; it is the self urge of life to express itself, to renew itself, to multiply, to evolve in perpetuity in freedom.
• Seed is the embodiment of bio cultural diversity. It contains millions of years of biological and cultural evolution of the past, and the potential of millennia of a future unfolding.
• Seed Freedom is the birth right of every form of life and is the basis for the protection of biodiversity.
• Seed Freedom is the birth right of every farmer and food producer. Farmer’s rights to save, exchange, evolve, breed, sell seed is at the heart of Seed Freedom. When this freedom is taken away farmers get trapped in debt and in extreme cases commit suicide.
• Seed Freedom is the basis of Food Freedom, since seed is the first link in the food chain.
• Seed Freedom is threatened by patents on seed, which create seed monopolies and make it illegal for farmers to save and exchange seed. Patents on seed are ethically and ecologically unjustified because patents are exclusive rights granted for an invention. Seed is not an invention. Life is not an invention.
• Seed Freedom of diverse cultures is threatened by Bio piracy and the patenting of indigenous knowledge and biodiversity. Bio piracy is not innovation – it is theft.
• Seed Freedom is threatened by genetically engineered seeds, which are contaminating our farms, thus closing the option for GMO-free food for all. Seed Freedom of farmers is threatened when after contaminating our crops, corporations sue farmer for “stealing their property”.
• Seed Freedom is threatened by the deliberate transformation of the seed from a renewable self generative resource to a non renewable patented commodity. The most extreme case of non renewable seed is the “Terminator Technology” developed with aim to create sterile seed.
• We commit ourselves to defending seed freedom as the freedom of diverse species to evolve.

WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Aquaguard Machines installed in Govt. Schools - (2012)

Availability of clean, drinking water is a major issue in most of the Govt. run schools. Students of St. Mark’s Sr. Sec. Public School, Meera Bagh, felt that water is a dire necessity of survival. Translating this thought into action, the students of class VI, VII and VIII initiated a project wherein they collected money from their classmates and teachers and installed Aquaguard Water Purifiers in three schools namely :

Govt. Sr. Sec. School for Girls, Ambica Vihar
Govt. Sr. Sec. School for Boys, Ambica Vihar
Govt. Sr. Sec. School for Boys, Jwala Puri

The students not only funded the project but were also involved and present at the time of installation of these machines. The efforts of the students and their sensitivity was acknowledged and appreciated by the students and Principals of these stated schools. The group leaders were Manav Prabhakar, VII-C, Sabyasachi Chand, VII-C,Siddhant Malhotra, VIII-D, Radhika Aggarwal, VIII-D and Aastha Nagpal, VIII-D.

Anti-Fire cracker Campaign

Earth Saviours Club of St Mark’s Senior Secondary Public School Meera Bagh once again spread the message of celebrating an Eco-friendly Diwali. The members  made Power point presentations which were shown to the students through Smart Class Boards. They talked about the perils of bursting fire crackers and suggested the idea of celebrating Diwali online (virtual fire crackers). A street play was staged along with the Diwali rally in the neighbouring areas as part of the anti-cracker campaign

ANIMAL ACTIVIST ADDRESSES COMPANIMALS CLUB

 Ms.Aakriti, an animal activist visited St. Mark's Sr. Sec. Public School, Meera Bagh, on 09.11.2012 and addressed the members of Companimals Club of the school.  She emphasized on anti cracker Diwali as animals get scared and injured due to bursting of crackers.  She gave a presentation and emphasized upon the measures to be taken duringDiwali to help animals.

COMPANIMALS CLUB MEMBERS VISIT ANIMAL SHELTER

Members of the Companimals Club (VI-VIII) of St. Mark's Sr. Sec. Public School, Meera Bagh, went to Sonadi Animal Shelter on 20.12.12 where they were welcomed by Ms.Vandana Sen, Caretaker of Sonadi Charitable Trust, and Ms.Sita, a young lady with a selfless caring attitude.  They gave students a detailed account about the functioning of the shelter.  Students were inspired and motivated for the noble cause of valuing life in various forms.  It was an enriching experience.

Contributed by Lakshmi Srinivas,  Teacher at St. Marks