Hello Kids. Welcome to #Climatestory4kids!

Today’s story is about a boy from Morocco, in the city of Salé, named Azam.
Azam was a very kind and outgoing boy. He loved meeting new people and helping people whenever and however he could.

He was so kind that he would join communities aimed at helping the destitute in the city and he would also volunteer for causes that were aimed at caring for sick children, especially asthmatic children like himself. Everybody in Salé loved Azam because of his benevolence and kind-heartedness.

Azam was so passionate about helping that people did not suspect that he had asthma. His energy was unmatched.

One fateful day, as Azam was preparing for school, his eye caught the news on the small television that was on the shelf just by the window. A journalist was reporting a story about a group of boys called “The Climate Burners”.

Apparently, The Climate Burners were a group of boys that were going from city to city, burning trees to weaken them before carting them off as coal to sell at the central market. Coal was in high demand because many people depended on it for cooking as well as heating and illuminating their homes.

Salé turned off the television, troubled about the development. How could young boys be burning down trees and causing such air pollution in the cities, just for personal gain? Worse still, no one was doing anything about it!

The President had put clean energy initiatives in place to discourage the use of fossil fuels but there has been a huge implementation problem because people assumed it was expensive.

Azam’s wandering mind came back to reality and as he realized that he was running late, he quickly finished up with his dressing, grabbed his lunchbox, and ran out of the house. He heard his mum call after him, “Stop running, Azam! You’ll lose your breath!”

Azam smiled at his mother’s words and kept running. He would never limit himself because of his condition, he thought. He was positive that he could get better if he continued to exercise.

After school hours, Azam went to the hall where a team from one of the non-profit groups he volunteered at, “BREATHE NGO “, was handing out inhalers and medicine to children with asthma. So, he joined them. He observed that most of the kids there were younger than him.

Just as Azam was about to hand another kid an inhaler, he caught a whiff of smoke. He knew immediately that this was not good. All of these children, including himself, were very sensitive to smoke.

Within a few minutes, the smoke hung in the air like thick clouds, causing the children to start coughing.

At that point, Azam knew he had to investigate the cause of the smoke. So, he went outside and that was when he saw that the smoke outside was so thick that he could hardly make out objects. It was black and heavy in the evening air, angry flames lapping at the base of whatever it was that was burning in the forest.

Azam’s eyes widened in horror as he watched the scene before him. He ran back to the hall, bursting through the door, and shouting, “Move the children to the bus! There’s huge smoke outside!”

Everyone in the hall suddenly became alarmed and there was a lot of confusion but Azam did not let it last. He sprung into action and started helping the children move onto the long bus. When the others saw what he was doing, they did the same.

The driver joined Azam in putting the kids on the bus and the other team members started making calls to alert the authorities about what was going on, and then everyone got to work like that until all the children were safe in the bus and on their way out of that environment.

The people that were left there called for another bus and while they were waiting for the bus to arrive, Azam decided that he needed to get to the root of the fire in the forest. So, he tied his jacket around his nose and left the others at the front of the hall. He ran towards the direction of the smoke, bearing in mind the implication of his venture on his health.

But Azam was not deterred. His passion for those kids that almost died from smoke was all the motivation he needed.

When he got to the forest, he observed that flames had already caught on several trees and he could make out the sound of wood being chopped. The temperature of that part of the forest was really hot, and it was not easy for Azam to get to the side where the sound was coming from, but when he finally did, he saw a group of boys. It was then it all made sense to Azam – it was the Climate Burners!

From where he stood, Azam observed they were a group of about 9 boys and some of them looked like they were in their early teenage years. They were scattered around that area of the forest, doing different things to pull the weakened trees down – some of them were setting more fires, others were adding fuel to the flames, some were chopping the fallen wood, and a few others were moving sliced wood into a big truck.

Suddenly, one of the boys raised his head and spotted Azam. Oh, no! Muttered Azam. He must have heard his footsteps.

The boy looked shocked because he did not expect to see anyone else there. He got on his feet and faced Azam squarely. “Who are you?!” He asked sharply.
Azam noticed that the boy was searching the floor as though he was looking for something. Azam pulled down the cloth he had on his nose as he gathered the courage to speak.

“My name is Azam, I am a member of BREATHE NGO. It’s a program for kids who have different kinds of respiratory issues.” He paused for a moment to study the boy who was now looking restless. He seemed to be the leader of the group because he had been supervising the activities of the other boys.

Azam continued, “Today, about sixty-three of those kids were gathered in the hall just across this forest so that they could get learn in a conducive environment but those poor kids could not even get that because you came here to burn trees, causing them great discomfort. Do you realize that they could have died?” he continued, ”Why are you doing this?”

Azam could see that the boy was quite touched by his words but he quickly concealed his emotions said, “Well this is our job. This is how we survive and it’s nobody’s business! Now, leave this place before you get in trouble.”

“No, it’s everyone’s business. Anything that affects the environment affects everyone, including you and every person you care about. The more trees you burn, the less pure oxygen we get in our cities. The more smoke you create, the more harmful toxins you put in the air. Don’t you see that?” Azam finished in one breath.

Just then smoke started to fill Azam’s nose and mouth. He coughed very hard and soon started finding it hard to breathe. It was an asthma attack! He tried to reach for his inhaler, but he was too weak. He fell to the ground, struggling for breath.

The leader of the group saw what was happening to Azam and ran towards him. Then he knelt beside him. “What’s wrong with you?” He asked.

Azam could barely speak, but he struggled to say, “I am one of those children whom the smoke you create could easily kill.”

The boy started looking for Azam’s inhaler desperately. He found it in the pocket of his trousers and quickly inserted the tube in his mouth so that he could start breathing again. Azam had almost lost consciousness, but through blurry eyes, he could still see the leader of The Climate Burners shouting at the other boys, “Come help me! A boy is down!”

As some of the other boys rushed towards them, Azam smiled to himself a little and thought in his heart, ‘So humanity is still alive, even in these boys?”

They carried Azam out of the forest as discreetly as they could and took him to the front of the nearest hospital they could find and alerted a nurse. Just before the nurse came out from the hospital with one of the other boys, the leader tried to leave Azam in front of the hospital and go back into hiding but Azam grabbed his shirt as firmly as he could.

He could see the desperation in the boy’s eyes to leave. The leader probably assumed that he was trying to put him in trouble, thought Azam.

“Thank you for not leaving me there,” Azam said in the boy’s ear. “Thank you for saving me but don’t forget to save the environment too. Stop burning trees.”

A sad expression washed over the boy’s face as Azam slowly let his shirt go.

“You’re very smart, Azam. I have no idea how you did not get caught in any of the traps we set for invaders. You’re one lucky boy. Goodbye.” He looked Azam in the eyes and nodded once before bolting back towards the forest.

The nurses came and took Azam to the hospital. His family arrived a few hours later to see him. Azam could see tears of worry in his mother’s eyes as she stared at him, and he solemnly swore in his heart to never make her get this worried again.

Many months passed after that incident and Azam would dress up for school in front of the television every morning so he could catch the daily news. To his surprise, not once did he hear about the Climate Burners nor any strange news about the forest.

He hoped to see that boy again someday but in a different place and a better situation.

The people in the city still cooked with coal but Azam knew that it would take time before it would finally phase out. He would see to that even if it was the last thing he did.