Use your voice: 'Where you live'

An email just in from Kaluluma Community Day Secondary School in Kasungu in Malawi:

"At our school, we do not have clean piped water and we use a borehole. Many girls do not go to school because the villages are away from school and they have to walk a long distance. Since most of the youth do not have enough access to information, some drop out from school."

Kelsey from Waid Academy in Fife, UK writes:

"I live on a farm in a semi-detached house, the farm doesn't run but the farmer uses the fields for crops and he also rents them out to a cow farmer and a big vegetable company. The barns on the farm are derelict.

"The goods things are wildlife like deer, butterflies, rabbits, weasels etc. The bad things are that it smells when the farmer is muck spreading."

In response to Upton-by-Chester High School pupils talking about underage drinking in the UK, pupils from Nkanda Primary School and Chambe Secondary School in Malawi share their concerns:

Peacewell says, "The issue of drinking is also very common in Malawi, and our village is no exception. Very young people are usually found in drinking places."

Maria adds, "This is in most cases a result of the frustrations that these children have from their homes."

More from India.

KIIT World School in Delhi, India tell us: "We have reached a conclusion that knowing or identifying our problems is just the first step, now lies ahead the greater task and that is to find ways to seek a solution and understanding our individual roles in it. No matter how small a start, every step counts."

Khaitan Public School in Sahibabad, India have shared more comments with us!

Roma writes: "Safety of women is a major issue in her area, after 8pm even her parents do not let her go out as it is not safe. Even teasing, pick pocketing, robbery are very common in the market areas even when you are accompanied by male members of your family."

Pritam writes: "The bad condition of the pot holed ridden roads is very disappointing to traverse on a daily basis to school, local market especially for the senior citizens and pregnant women. It can be very dangerous and accidents are a common sight. Traffic police are not a regular sight on the road so road violations are plenty."

St Mary's CEP School in Folkestone, UK, have sent in this picture to show you the famous white cliffs near their school (1159):

The white cliffs visible from St Mary's!

Pupils at Chitedze CDSS in Malawi write about problems they face, and what they have done to try and fight back:

"During rainy season when the rivers are flooded students are not able to go to school or when coming back from school they are not able to cross the rivers hence leads to high school dropout rate and early marriages because students spend most of the times at home during this period.

Global warming has led to the destruction of Ozone layer this has resulted to diseases like cancer.

Action - During climate change project implementation, so many trees have been planted and neighbouring schools and the communities are emulating from us."

Prithvi from Sri Venkateshwar International School in India writes:

"I want to share my experience about the huge monstrosities like poverty and malnutrition in India.

Most of the people are below the poverty line because they face the problem of malnutrition and unemployment/under-employment. Since nutrition is lacking they cannot even perform unskilled jobs moreover the most important sector of economy i.e the agriculture is all ready facing the problem of disguised unemployment.

"In India we have ration shops where food is being provided to these poor people at a very nominal price. Free food grains are also being provided where this problem has reached to a very dangerous level."

Stella, Laura, Beth and Rachel at Upton-by-Chester High School in Chester, UK, write:

"To the people in Fife (1201) - We see your thinking, and it's a good point, but poverty is on the rise in Britain. While it isn't nearly as bad as other parts of the world, it's still a problem, because it's sucking up our country's money in the form of benefits and provisions.

This is a real problem here because people are discriminated against for a lack of money and wherever you live that isn't nice. Also there is a belief that you have to be rich and go to a private school to get a good education, and this is ripping a hole between the rich and the poor.

"Also the poorer people have to pay more tax at the moment - to fund a tax CUT for millionaires! That's unfair wherever you live!"

Apeejay School in Delhi, India, have emailed in to talk about, "A plethora of activities, such as traffic jams, that are most common problems faced by every Delhite.

"Also, the increasing population has been adding many aggravations to our daily routine lives. This list is accompanied by unemployment, global warming, profligate cutting of trees which is increasing the adverse effects on climate changes."

Worry from Chitedze CDSS in Malawi responds to Sri Venkateshwar International School's question (1108):

"Yes we are concerned with rapid population growth in our country because:

High population growth lead to scrabling for the limited resources that is [in the] Education sector there are few classroom blocks, teaching and learning materials, which leads to learners learning under the tree hence low education standards.

Shortage of land for farming which has led to food shortages and this has resulted to malnutrition and high school drop out rate."

A big World Class welcome to Baltasound JH School in Shetland, UK who have written in to share their 3 issues. They write:

"Our council, Shetland Islands Council are having to make big cuts as they are running out of money and this is causing a lot of discussion.

Ferries - The SIC are thinking to run less ferries then there are now meaning that it would be harder to get from islands of Unst or Fetlar to Lerwick on the main island, this could affect young people and adults.

School closures - On Unst our secondary is not being closed just now but we don't know what will happen in the future.

Personal travel issues - Taking part in any sporting activities and training, social events and entertainment will be very difficult if the ferries are fewer and expensive if they put up the fares and it doesn't seem fair compared to what other young people in Shetland can access."

Colegio Newland in Queretaro, Mexico, agree with Our Lady's Primary, UK (1248). "We are very fortunate as well, because we don't have a lot of that type of problems in Queretaro.

We live in a very safety zone, clean one. And we must say, very beatiful area. Sadly, this is not the same in the whole country.

The problems that we have in Mexico are:

• Lack of money and therefore many children do not have education
• One-parent families
• Delinquency

But we hope this change with a little good will and hard work.

Pupils from the Newland debating team!

KIIT World School in Delhi, India, have sent us this great pic of their visit to the USA! (See 1251)

Pupils from KIIT outside The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Shipra from Apeejay School in New Delhi, India writes:

"India... a nation known for diverse communities, known for accumulating people of various religion, various race, etc., witnessing many core problems.

"Be it small or big, India scrutinizes every kind of problems. From terrorism to corruption, from unemployment to overpopulation, from pollution to traffic jams, Indian citizens have experienced every sort of nuisance."

Harmeen from KIIT World School in Delhi, India writes:

"During our recent visit to USA, we learned so much from a different culture and society and hope few changes incorporated in ourselves will help us reduce pollution level in our city, like avoid honking, more walking and pooling of cars. Isn't life about learning from each other?"

A response to Colegio Newland (1216) from Chitedze CDSS in Malawi:

"Unemployment is also a big problem in Malawi. This has resulted in alot of qualified people having no jobs hence high crime rates such as theft.

Sophie in Year 3 at Our Lady's Primary in Fenton, UK writes, "I like living in Fenton because we have a lovely school and homes," and Nathan writes, "I like school I have a right to learn."

Thanks for your emails, Our Lady's pupils!

Here's a great picture from Chitedze Community Day Secondary School from the Lilongwe district, Malawi, who have been taking part in today's debate.

Several of the schools taking part today, including all the schools emailing from Malawi, are part of the "Make the Link: Climate exChange" project, run by Plan UK and the Citizenship Foundation.

Thanks to Plan UK for helping to get those schools involved today!

Heated debate at Chitedze!

Christ Church C of E Primary School in Surrey, UK have a question for everyone, they write:

"I'd like our pupils to think about children in other parts of the world - what unites us? What is different about us? What pressures do other children face?"

Year 4 from Our Lady's Primary in UK write:

"We have had a lengthy discussion about the issues raised in the video clips. We talked about our local community, we decided that we are very lucky because we have somewhere to live, clean water and electricity. Some areas of our city can be affected by flooding, but this does not cause any major disruption.

Some children discussed the fact that their parents have jobs, but they do not have to live away from home to work. We also have a very famous football club on our doorstep.

Ethan and Katie commented that we live in a safe place without fear of war."

Upton-by-Chester High School in Cheshire, UK write:

"We have just read the comment by Nkanda Primary School and Chambe Secondary School in Mulanje PA Malawi, we have discussed how lucky we are to have the NHS and how we want to do as much as we can to help other countries who are not as lucky as we are."

"Greetings from Chad Varah School, Lincolnshire, UK!", reads our email.

"We used to have a problem with speeding cars in our community which has two schools down one road. The problem was dealt with by the council putting in speed bumps.

"Now the cars have to slow down else they will damage their car! Since the speed bumps have been put in we have noticed there are much less speeding cars and we feel much safer. It is less dangerous for us when we are crossing the road."

Some really interesting comments from St. Stephen's RC Primary School in Longbenton, UK, who have been following the overall themes of this debate.

"Our class has noticed a growing trend in the comments being sent into the debate. We have noticed that all of the schools in the UK are complaining about issues in society that are mainly caused by people making poor choices about their lives and their actions e.g. littering and vandalism.

"We have also noticed that the schools e-mailing from Asia and Africa are being affected by much more serious and life-threatening problems e.g. homelessness, disease and civil wars.

Taking part in this debate today has opened our eyes to how lucky we should feel and to appreciate our own situation as there are millions of other people around the world with much more serious problems than vandalism to worry about.

"Our situations in the UK are ones that can be easily changed. We should be working together to make that change and encourage others to do the same."

Morgan from Waid Academy in Fife, UK writes:

"I live in a small village called Colinsburgh, it is a very old village and has been through different changes. It has had many shops in the village but now there are only two shops, one of them I live above in a old house. It used to be an old pie kitchen and the best pies in the world were made to be sold for the corner shop. The oven were the pies had been made is still in our kitchen but we don't use it any more."

Thanks very much Morgan. Do you think that changes in your village are good, or bad, or neither?

Peacewell (16), Maria (16), Henry (10) and Thoko (14) from Nkanda Primary School and Chambe Secondary School have responded to points made by Icknield High School (1139).

Peacewell says: "One of the ways of dealing with littering is by reusing", and Maria Kaulunga, adds that "At her home, worn out shoes, plastic pails are sold out in order to reuse them in factories to make new ones".

Thoko also comments that the issue of unemployment "can be dealt with by self employment - this can be done by doing some small businesses".

The issue of under age drinking can be dealt with by having awareness campaign on dangers of such bad behavior. "For example, at our school, if any student has been found drunk, he/she is there and then suspended with immediate effect," says Henry.

The Chambe team following the live schools debate

Washwood Heath Technology College, Birmingham UK have got in touch to let us know that they experience similar problems to a lot of other schools involved in the debate:

"As Icknield High School said, our school is currently trying to launch a new project by making a sustainable vegetable garden which also will use recycled materials.

In reply to St Joseph's Primary School (1143) the graffiti is also a problem here. We think to help clear graffiti we should set up a consequence for example, a fine...as well as this, graffiti is a way some people express their feelings so we could run a graffiti projects, this is where there is a wall that you can graffiti on. What do you think?"

Chitedze CDSS in Malawi have a response to the comment from Sri Venkateshwar International School (1108).

"Malawi as a developing country is facing a lot of problems - one of these problems is rapid population growth.

"This problem has negative impacts on the lives of people such, as shortage of land for farming since we depend on agriculture, and inadequate education facilities and health facilities."

Interesting to hear population growth - is this an issue that concerns a lot of you out there?

A big World Class welcome to Divina Pastora School Monovar in Alicante, Spain. They write:

"We are disscusing the topic and we think that the most worrying question for us now is Unemployment in our country.

We are really worried because most of our families are without a job and the situation is not getting better."

Thanks very much Davina Pastora School.

And hello to Molly, Emily and Laura, also from Upton-by-Chester High School

"Around where we live in Cheshire, England, there are many people problems involving teen drinking and binge drinking. If you listen into a conversation in our area there is a good chance the word 'booze' or 'alcohol' will come up.

"Statistics show that Britain is the fourth highest under-15 binge drinking country and in our area it really shows. As we live near two major cities, Liverpool and Manchester, we witness the affects of alcohol a lot.

"There is a lot of peer pressure to fit in and people make it seem like it's not a big deal but long term drinking can have some very serious effects."

Some great comments from Molly, Emily and Laura!

Kristy, Elinor, Holly and Alex from Upton-by-Chester High School in Chester, UK write:

"We are feeling a lot of pressure to become an eco country and are constantly being reminded of the consequences we are having. Our country is coming up with many solutions and tactics however the issue carries on, it is very worrying and taking over many lives.

We understand the effect we have on the environment and many of our subjects are focusing on this issue and being the younger generation, the job falls on us to correct humanities previous mistakes. We feel an enormous amount of pressure."

A big hello to Sandwick Junior High School from the Shetland Islands, UK. Sandwick pupils say:

"We feel that very high prices for essentials are our main issue here. Petrol for the cars is a lot more expensive than on the mainland even though we are actually closer to all the oil in the North Sea and Sullom Voe (here on Shetland) is the biggest oil terminal in Europe.

"Groceries, clothes, restaurants and everything else is more expensive here."

They sign off with a question for other schools: "What do you all think?"

Josep replies to Washwood Heath Technology College's question (1150):

"Hola Washowood Heath!

We have these loan shops but interests are very high. They are difficult to obtain and more difficult to return. Conditions are very strong. Easy money sometimes but with lots of problems if you forget to pay back one month."

Chambe Secondary School in Malawi have this to say about KITT World School's comment at 1146.

Innocent, 15 years old, says: "I agree that pollution really affects people. Once the environment is polluted, say by factories, the air is full of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and this may lead global warming which later affects rainfall and in the long run leading to drought and hunger due to lack of yields."

Lets hear more from today's Radio Scotland school, Dairsie Primary in Fife, UK:

"A negative issue for our local area is the traffic. Our village is quite small and has a main road running through it. Our speed limit is 30mph or 20mph during school hours. We have run a big campaign in the last couple of years to try and stop traffic from speeding in our village. We have had a 'slow down' sign put up in our village."

Thanks very much for sharing that with us Dairsie Primary!

Do you have similar issues where you live?

We're joined by Colegio Newland in Querétaro. México, they write:

"In Mexico we have a big problem and it is a lack of job opportunities for the young people and for the old ones.

There is not many jobs for the students who finished university as they do not have experience they do not have a chance and if they do not have a chance, they can not get experience. It is tricky.

And the old people cannot get a job because there is the wrong idea they can not work properly.

How is the job opportunities in your country?"

Let's hear more from The Khaitan Public School in Sahibabad, India.

Roma says, "Safety of women is a major issue in my area. After 8pm even my parents do not let me go out as it is not safe. Even teasing, pick pocketing and robbery are very common in the market areas even when you are accompanied by male members of your family."

Pritam says, "The bad condition of the pot holed ridden roads is very disappointing to traverse on a daily basis to school. It can be very dangerous and accidents are a common sight."

Khaitan also sent in this great picture from a recent assembly they held about unity in the local community!

Khaitan Public School in their unity assembly

Rubbish has got you talking. Aashira from KIIT World School in Delhi, India writes:

"Littering is a big concern in India too. Every morning when I go to school I see heaps of garbage at every street corner. If we like to keep our houses clean, how can we make our own streets filthy. We have a special drive in our school where the class generating zero litter during the day, gets applauded in the next day's assembly."

St. Stephen's Primary in Longbenton, UK write:

"If there is something that we could change about our area it would be making everybody feel safe. We would like to stay healthy by playing out in the dark because it gets very dark early on after school. We could have better street lights and our parents could watch us as we play. The police could do more patrols in our area to make it safer place to live.

Many people litter, but we don't live in a dirty place. We have bins and rubbish collectors to help us."

Chitedze CDSS in Malawi have a question for Washwood Health Technology College, UK.

"What does the government do to promote sanitation in the city?

"Environmental problems we face in Malawi are floods, drought and global warming."

Ruislip High School in West London, UK write:

"One of our environmental problems at the moment is the HS2 - High speed train. They are planning on building a train track through Ruislip which will affect a lot of our houses and shops. They may be knocking down our Sainsburys (local supermarket) and even some people's houses. If they also build a tunnel the train will come out just by our school and this will create a lot of noise. It will also create pollution when they are building the train tracks - especially noise pollution."

Ruislip High School ask others: "What are the environmental issues in your area?"

A warm World Class welcome to Nkanda Primary School and Chambe Secondary School in Mulanje PA Malawi. They write about a very serious issue in Malawi: HIV/AIDS.

"HIV/AIDS Impacts - most families in the community we live in have been hit by illnesses and death due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A great number of orphans present in our communities is a result of the death of their parents due to AIDS. Peacewell Muhone, a form 4 student lamented that unless enormous efforts are directed towards the reduction of the prevalence rate at which the HIV/AIDS is accelerating, our communities are going to experience a great number of orphans as well as reduced man power in development programs."

Nikanda Primary School join 'Use your voice' debates

Icknield High School have a reply to Washwood Heath Technology College! (See 1109).

"We have several enviromental problems within our community which we believe are to do with the amount of CO2 produced from the cars around us.

"In our community over half the families own one if not two cars. Another point is that we believe that we should have more bins in our residential areas as there are not enough bins too suit our large community.

"As a result of us taking part of this discussion we have decided to host a year 7 lesson and teach them about the problems in our community."

Great stuff!

Geography students from Waid Academy in Anstruther, Fife have shared their comments about 'Where they live', The Eco Schools Committee writes:

"Many of us don't appreciate how lucky we are and don't seem to realise how well off we are and how much we have. We, as children, cannot directly help others people in developing countries but we can stop moaning and think about how they have to live compared to us."

Hello to St Mary's CEP Primary School in Folkestone, UK! Reece, Kane, Jack and Max had a very long discussion this morning about "Where we live" and have sent in their 3 things - they write:

"We have a great new Coastal Park, which is an adventure place for kids as well as having walks along the sea and lovely tropical gardens.

We also have several beaches, pebbles as well as a sandy one.

We have small fishing harbour and on the Leas there is huge Victorian building called the Leas Cliff Hall, which has shows, plays, Rock Bands, music and dance competitions.

Folkestone is also known for being 'Haunted'."

Hello to Shipra from Apeejay School, Pitampura, India, who tells us:

"From terrorism to corruption, from unemployment to overpopulation, from pollution to traffic jams, Indian citizens have experienced every sort of nuisance.

"One steps out of the house...and the first thing noticed is the garbage left over just infront of house. It's not that the person had noticed this dirt that is lying in front of his eyes for the first time.

"But due to the great governance of our esteemed Municipal Corporation Department, his complaint is lying under some file which might have been covered under several layers of dust in some corner of the office..."

Hard-hitting words from Shipra there!

And a tie-in to the grafitti post [1154] comes from Mr Kelly and Year 4 from St. Stephen's RC Primary School Longbenton in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. They write:

"After our discussion this morning, our Year 4 class has decided that one of the main issues affecting our area is Vandalism. We think that it is very unfair that there are people out there who have no respect for other people's property and damage it, even though someone has spent their hard-earned money on buying something. It is very important that our community work together and learn how to respect each other and their property."

Our latest email begins: "Hola again from class 3 at Sagrada Familia!"

They have a response to St Joseph's Primary School (see 1143).

"We should try to reduce the number of graffitis in our towns. Reading this has given us an idea to create a team to find a way to study how to clean them or help others who do it.

"We could clean or paint the bench in front of our school."

Sounds good! Great to see you are getting inspired by the live debates!

The Sagrada Familia team discuss the big issues!

Hello again to Dairsie Primary School in Fife, UK! Dairsie Primary are talking on Radio Scotland today, as well as taking part in our live debate [1120]. They write:

"Our local park has been refurbished. We have lots of lovely new play equipment and it has made the park a nicer place to go to with our friends and family.

Flooding is also a big issue for our local area in Fife. Many areas are flooded and it has caused roads which our pupils use to travel to school being shut down and parents/carers having to find alternative routes to our village."

Thanks Dairsie Primary and thanks also to Alex in P7 for typing that all up! We'll be hearing more from them shortly.

The team at Washwood Heath Technology College, Birmingham, UK, have a reply to Collegi Sagrada Familia (1117).

"You have bankruptcy whilst we have recession. In the UK it is now becoming very difficult to get a job even if you have the qualifications. We have loan shops here, to get a loan for a specific amount of time, do you have the same sort of thing?"

KIIT World School in Delhi, India, are also concerned about the environment at a time of year traditionally associated with festivals in India. See Washwood Heath [1109].

"Happy Diwali, as India is in festive mood, celebrating Diwali - a day when we light candles and burn crackers, celebration itself is a major problem.

"Delhi is under a cover of haze due to pollution and winter chill, called smog. We wonder if we burn crakers this Diwali what it will do to Delhi environment?"

Hello to class 4G from St Joseph's Primary School in Harrow, UK.

They tell us: "The issues that we have been discussing in our area are about graffiti, littering and dangerous roads.

"Some people do graffiti near schools and in car parks and train stations. Recently when the children were in year 3, a project was completed to brighten up a walkway near our school with bright pictures and now they are covered in graffiti.

"With littering we have noticed that teenagers drop litter around roads, walkways and parks on purpose and then pretend that they didn't do it.

"With dangerous roads we have noticed that cars are going very fast and breaking just in time to stop at traffic lights which is dangerous for people crossing the roads."

Thanks for those thoughts! Littering seems to concern a number of UK schools taking part today. Is this a problem for any schools from other countries reading this?

Hello and welcome to Khaitan Public School in Sahibabad, India.

Sunidhi writes : "A badly laid drainage system is a major issue with open drains that are major carrier of diseases. The water supply is not of good quality being hard water & undrinkable. Drinking water has to be purchased on a daily basis which just adds to the expenses of a house hold."

Tejaswini writes: "I live in a society where in one building there are a number of flats. People from different communities, religions live there so all festivals are celebrated together and there is a lot of harmony amongst every one."

Aisha, Iqra, Megan, James, Taaher, Adam, Yosron, Sumaya, Medi and Luqman are all from Icknield High School in Luton, UK - hello to them!

They tell us: "We've been discussing the issues we are most concerned with in Luton and have decided these are the most important:

1. Pollution & Litter

2. Underage drinking & smoking

3. Unemployment & gangs

"We'd like to ask other schools how they dispose of waste (bin waste and recycling)?"

Nkanda Primary School and Chambe Secondary School are both from the Mulanje district in Malawi, and for them, today's live debate is a joint effort. A big World Class hello to them!

Their first issue where they live is climate change. "Our communities are being affected by the wanton cutting down of trees which later affected the hydrological cycle, thereby negatively affecting rainfall patterns."

Lucy, a form 3 student at Chambe Secondary School, says: "The issue of climate change is a matter of social injustice because the most vulnerable families in the poorest communities like ours, who have done least to contribute to the problem of deforestation and greenhouse gases, will bear the negative side of the impacts."

Pupils from Chambe Secondary School discuss what matters where they live

Hello to Chitedze Community Day Secondary School in Lilongwe district, Malawi!

One of the issues where they live is health, they write:

"Floods - Floods have led to water borne diseases like cholera, malaria hence high death rate.

Action - With the introduction of climate change project people [in the] area are able to plant trees in their respective areas because of awareness that is done to mitigate the effects."

The latest email in the World Class inbox begins: "Hi from St Mary's School in Folkestone in the UK".

Hi!

"Reece, Kane, Jack and Max (all aged 10-11) had a very long discussion this morning about 'Where we live'.

"We live by the sea and on a clear day can see France, as Folkestone is near the famous 'White Cliffs'. When it's summer you can go to the beach.

"We have loads of seagulls which make a lot of noise which some of us like and some don't.

"Max reckons it is pretty safe place to live in...but it would not have been so good in or safe during World War Two."

A big World Class welcome to Dairsie Primary in Fife, UK who are live on BBC Scotland talking about World Class right now!

Today Dairsie Primary School are not only taking part in our live debate but also raising money for their partner school Mgungani Primary School in Tanzania by putting on a talent show!

We'll be hearing more from them shortly.

Let's hear from Collegi Sagrada Familia who hail from Barcelona, Spain - hello to them!

They tell us: "This is happening in Spain: banks remove people from their homes if mortgages cannot be paid, because if people (unemployed, poor people) are removed from their homes, where would they go?

"They do not want people to be in the street but, people haven't got other alternatives. It is difficult to get a job in Spain now. The houses would be empty!

"Banks have to agree with the people who cannot pay to find an alternative to return the loan."

Interesting thoughts there on a big News story in Europe. They've also sent in some nice pics from their class - thanks for that!

Sagrada Familia pupils discuss what matters where they live

Hello to Washwood Heath Technology College in Birmingham, UK!

They say: "In our community the most common problem we have would be environmental issues such as pollution and littering.

"Because we are the second biggest city in UK, we attract a lot of tourists which brings pollution due to the large amount of travel."

And we have a question from Washwood Heath pupils to the rest of the world. They ask: "What sort of environmental problems do you have in your community?"

A warm World Class welcome to Sri Venkateshwar International School in India.

Mohit writes about the difficulties finding work: "India is a country with many religions and a large population which leads to many problems in the country such as unemployment.

"Due to such a large population, people who are qualified enough to do jobs aren't able to find a job so that they can earn for their family.

"This leads to unemployment and they are willing to do any work any work. This is one of the greatest problems that the people of India face."

What are the issues where you live?