Africa is getting to work on climate change on the 10th of October! Across the continent, a multitude of communities are joining 350.org’s Global Work Party 10/10/10 campaign, and are planning a wonderfully creative and diverse array of work projects to tackle  climate change at a local level, and send our leaders the message that if we can get to work, they can get to work too — on the climate legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.

Many groups in Burundi, Kenya, Mauritius, Togo, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and South Africa are using bicycles in various creative ways to bring attention to the need for transport alternatives to cars, and how riding bicycles can reduce climate-damaging emissions. Two groups in different parts of Cameroon are organising clean ups in slum areas and will educate locals about hygiene, environment and waste management issues,
while in South Africa, one group is spending the weekend hacking down alien invasive vegetation to restore natural ecosystems, reduce wildfire risks and improve water access.

In Bungoma, Kenya, youth and women’s groups will learn about vermiculture (worm farming) and how they can even generate income from this! And in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ghana, people are using art, theatre, essays and music to raise awareness about climate change, from a large-scale children’s painting competition to guerrilla art activism to ‘edutainment’.

Following our wonderful World Cup energy, communities in the DRC, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia are using soccer games to get people’s attention and then educate them about climate change. In many countries, communities are gathering for exhibitions, seminars and presentations to raise awareness, share information and demonstrate sustainable, low-carbon living alternatives, including energy conservation methods. Some groups are even holding ‘hearings’ where local people can speak about how they are being affected by damaging climate change.

Lots of people are hosting climate dinner parties or street parties, where food will be prepared on solar cookers and people are encouraged to bring home-grown vegetables. And in Nanyuki, Kenya, a new windmill will be handed over to the local community, while in Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ten schools will receive huge tanks for rain water  harvesting.

And a popular activity is tree planting – in Somalia, Gabon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Cameroon, Burundi, DRC and Congo-Brazzaville – where communities are planting trees to reduce erosion, protect hills from landslides during the worsening storm rains, restore local forests, grow shade gardens at local schools, and in general help reduce carbon emissions.

Some faith communities, in Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa, are planting trees and indigenous gardens, while also learning more about how climate change is linked to their religious teachings. And some brave activists in Nigeria and Uganda are organising marches to their leaders’ assemblies to raise awareness about climate issues and encourage them to formulate legislation that will reduce environmental damage.