Before We Claim a Seat at the Table, We Must Uproot the Roots"

found this video the other day — and I couldn’t scroll past it. Two school kids crossing a muddy stream just to access education.

And I was taken back to my own story.

I remember the day I fell in the water trying to cross just like this. I wasn’t allowed into class. And the worst part wasn’t missing school — it was the laughs. The shame. The silence I had to carry back home.

So while some are sent home because schools have no water…
Others are climbing, crossing, and risking just to reach the classroom gate.

This isn’t just a transport issue.
It’s not just poverty.
It’s climate — and the systems we’ve allowed to break.

I’ve read it before: climate change isn’t a natural disaster, it’s a human one.

We made the scarcity.
We ignored the signs.
And now we see it every day — in burnt-out crops, dry pipes, and children with soaked uniforms.

So before we claim a seat at the table, we must ask:
Have we even faced the roots?

Because it’s not about policy only — it’s about responsibility.
This is our mess.
And it has to end with us.

To those building solutions for youth and climate…
@UNICEF @UNDP @UNFCCC @UNYouthEnvoy @SaveChildrenAfrica
This isn’t just a story. It’s a lived truth.