It was miserable weather - cold, wet, and windy - but that didn't make two young organisers of an event in Taree give up, they just adapted and switched gears.
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Evie Woods Maguire, 15, and Shiloh Herzberg Nicholls, 13, organised the School Strike 4 Climate that took place in Taree on Friday morning, November 17.
The Taree 'strike' was one of only eight that took place across the country, and one of only four in regional Australia.
Originally the girls planned for the event to take place in Fotheringham Park, however only hours before it was due to start it was decided to hold it at the RiverStage, with a tarp erected to keep attendees dry.
It's not the first time Evie and Shiloh have attended a School Strike 4 Climate; their first foray into public activism was in 2019, when Evie was only 11 years old, and Shiloh 9.
And although the younger of the two, Evie deferred to Shiloh when it came to talking about the strike.
"It is vital to advocate for the future of our planet. No one else is out here doing it. So we are," Shiloh said.
"We need to get the message out there that we need to shift the power away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energies like. It is so important and it's vital.
"There's so much hopelessness around young people toward the future lately, and it's really important that we fight for it and we say, there is still hope because we're out there doing this and we're going to save the planet.
"I personally have experienced a lot of hopelessness. A lot of 'why bother' because there's nothing left and there's not going to be any thing left for me when I grow up.
"I don't want kids because I don't want to subject them to that. There is a lot of hopelessness but honestly, seeing so many people turn out today has really reminded me there's got to be hope, because we've got to save the world, there is no other option.
"Look how many people are here, even though it's absolutely miserable!" Shiloh said.
The weather did keep numbers down compared to previous years' School Strike 4 Climate; around 60 people took part this time.
And although the weather was distinctly unpleasant to be outside in, and there was talk of hopelessness of our youth, the event was made a happy occasion by music performances and other activities.
And not all of those involved were school children - there was a large cohort of the Baby Boomer generation there to support the youth in their activism.
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Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times since 2014. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times since 2014. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings.
