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A visit to Solomon Islands has transformed former Kingsway School student, Asher Harkness’ view on climate change as he came face-to-face with the reality of rising sea levels for young people growing up in the small Pacific nation.
The sports and music-mad student is now a Youth Ambassador for the World Vision 40 Hour Challenge and is calling on the nation’s youth to raise funds for children in Solomon Islands who are going hungry due to climate change.
Asher travelled to the Solomon Islands with World Vision and witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking reality of food insecurity.
“Growing up in Aotearoa, I took clean water and full cupboards for granted,” he says. “But for many children in Solomon Islands, getting a proper meal is a daily struggle. It really highlighted for me that climate change isn’t about politics – it’s about people, especially children.”
Asher says one of the children who will stay with him is nine-year-old Polyne, who dreams of becoming a nurse or teacher, but for now, her days are filled with farming and fishing to help feed her family.
“What hit me hardest was the fear in her eyes when she spoke about her future. She didn’t know if she would still have a home due to rising sea levels or if the warming sea would still provide fish for her and her family to eat.”
Twenty-year-old Asher toured schools in the upper North Island with World Vision to inspire students to get behind the 40 Hour Challenge which, this year, is encouraging participants to go 40 hours completely offline.
Asher went offline for 40 hours while he took on a 40km kayak challenge, paddling from Shakespear Regional Park along the eastern edge of Whangaparāoa Peninsula then across the Waitematā Harbour to Devonport as his personal commitment to experience the daily form of transport for children like Polyne.
“A 40-hour sacrifice can make a life-changing difference for kids like Polyne,” he says. “Every child deserves a safe home, enough food, and a chance to just be a kid. This challenge is about loving our neighbours –whether they’re next door or across the ocean – which is why I’m going all in.”
The World Vision 40 Hour Challenge ran from Friday June 13 to Sunday June 15, and donations can be made until June 27.
To sign up or to donate visit: www.40hour.org.nz
