On October 4, 2008 Envi-Saviors, a Upper Banjar Valley-based NGO, held its first Environmental Mela. It was part of Himachal Pradesh Wildlife and Environmental Week. The event was held at the Jibhi government school and included 1-10th classes with 460 students in the audience.
A contest was held in which 53 girl and boy students from the school participated. Each student had 10 minutes to read or recite an essay or speech on the environment. There were three winners in two groups: 6th-8th class and 9-10th class. One of the presentations included a kala jatha/street theater skit by 13-14 year old students. Topics included water pollution, forest protection, protecting nature, and global warming.
The six winners received English-Hindi dictionaries and ten consolation prizes which were donated by My Himchal.
My Himachal Advisory Board member Payson R. Stevens gave a short talk on global warming and the impacts that will affect HP. He also showed images of the Earth from space from his book, Embracing Earth: New Views of Our Changing Planet.
