Educator: Patrick Kirkby back home in Jan Juc.
ERIN PEARSON
JAN JUC’s Patrick Kirkby is a world away from a typical 24-year-old.
He recently returned from Sri Lanka where he educated communities on caring for the environment.
During his journey along the Kelani River he trained Sri Lankan youths to “inspire action” on climate change and other environmental issues.
Mr Kirkby said many communities were unsure how to make sustainable changes.
“A lot of people over there get frustrated because they want to know the solution to their environmental problems,” he said.
“My job was to educate them on how to make these changes. This included things like reducing reliance on plastic, buying less packaged products, not dumping rubbish in streets or water sources and avoiding harmful chemicals.”
Sri Lankan environmental organisation ECO-V’s River Journey also involved the country’s environment minister and other officials.
Mr Kirkby said dealing with government and citizens on the mission was reassuring.
“It was amazing to be immersed in such a rich and beautiful culture with such great potential to be world leaders in environmental care and conservation,” he said.
“It was an experience that you really can’t pay for. I got to learn a lot about their different approaches and philosophies to things as well.
“It was a really beautiful country with great people.”
Mr Kirkby said he hoped to travel again to educate more areas of the world on the benefits of sustainable communities.
