UMW Green Team in Copenhagen

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Caption: Left to right - Esmeralda Brown, Tupou Kelemeni, Pamela Sparr and Pat Watkins

Hi UMW members and friends. This past few days have been historic and UMW has played a role. Four representatives of United Methodist Women are now ( Dec. 6 through 18) in Copenhagen. They are: Tupou Kelemeni, Pat Watkins, Esmeralda Brown, Pamela Sparr.

Tupou Kelemeni, Women's Divison Director from Hawaii said, " I am here in Copenhagen because I care about people, especially women, children and youth. I must learn all that I can, go home and share all that I have learned here, and advocate in every possible way that I can". You can read her whole statement here, Reflections from Copenhagen on the UMWmission.org site.

Pamela Sparr, UMW Consultant said, "I am listening especially for examples of how climate change is affecting women and girls and stories of what women and girls are doing to address this challenge. I heard my first “good news” story in line about a biofuel cooking stove than could run on sugarcane pulp. This new technology has many advantages: it reduces indoor air pollution which kills nearly two million people each year – primarily women and children." You can read her whole statement here, Reflections from Copenhagen on the UMWmission.org site.

Pat Watkin's UMW Green Team member said, "From the beginning of my first day, I have been so impressed by the diversity of folks here, especially young women from all over the world. They will make a very positive difference in the world and it gives me such great hope!" He goes on to say, "Lots of people are talking about lots of different things around here, but I’m here to talk about God’s creation and God’s kingdom. My contribution, I pray, will be to enable God’s kingdom to become just a little more of a reality. Please pray that prayer with me." You can read his whole statement here, Reflections from Copenhagen on the UMWmission.org site.

Esmeradla Brown, Women's Division staff, said, " We began our busy schedule on Saturday, December 5th, where Tupou and I attended an all day Orientation and Strategy Meeting by the Ecumenical Climate Secretariat held at the Danish Church Aid premises. The meeting was very helpful since it provided important information as to the history of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change and the Kyoto Protocol and its implication, particularly for the Global South and the issue of Climate Justice for poor nations been affected by climate change and climate migration. The issue of mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and capacity building and the long term goal for emission reductions. You can read her whole statement here, Reflections from Copenhagen on the UMWmission.org site.