NO MORE VIEWS FROM MY WINDOW

When I look back at when I was growing up I loved the view from my bedroom window, there were so many trees and I could hear the birds chirping in the morning, the grass and leaves all covered in dew a sign of freshness. I would always sneak a peek through the curtain to appreciate the view of the trees. The rose flowers in my mum’s garden at the far end of the compound, always brought a smile to my face. I remember playing hide and seek and discovering new places to hide as Mother Nature was always close by.

The shade from the trees was always so refreshing and cool when we went out to play in the afternoon sun. We always knew if the sun was too much to bear we could sit underneath the oak tree and it would give us plenty of shade. The trees always brought a cool breeze blowing through my upstairs window and it was just refreshing to take a glance of the trees swaying as I did my homework.

I visited home after a few years and all this was gone, a concrete jungle all around as I looked through the same bedroom window I sat next to almost every day after school to do my studies two decades ago while in junior high school. The lush green bushes and trees that covered the beautiful landscape is now a highway with cars speeding up and down; the beautiful, peaceful and serene neighborhood is all gone! The rose garden is gone, the leaves on the hedge of the compound are covered in soot from the exhaust fumes that constantly pollute what was once a beautiful landscape. I sometimes wonder if in the future I was to tell my grandchildren that their great grandfathers’ home was once surrounded by beautiful lush green landscape with plenty of trees would they believe me? It has changed so much! A homely neighborhood turned into a concrete jungle even the playground we used to spend most of our afternoon and weekends with friends and family has since been grabbed by a private developer and turned into a housing complex; where did it all go wrong?

If this is allowed to continue, the next generation will miss out on the good old outdoor play time. We all have a role to play by sensitizing our generation on the importance of conserving the environment that we live in. The most present environmental threat is development, and this is directly affecting our natural resources our play parks, trees, rivers and changing our landscape in a negative way.

Development is happening rapidly in this century and this is all good but it needs to be done within predefined controls i.e. in every new development, the developers will need to factor in a natural playground with trees, gardens etc. We all need to be sensitive to our eco-system through conservation initiatives is schools, communities and countries at large. We can all join hands in concert to help manage and improve our water bodies, our forests and our wildlife. Only then, will we be assured that the next generation can also experience and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.

My hope is that we all can have a view from the window a connection with Mother Nature and less of the concrete jungle.