Noorderland learner wins big at Asia-Pacific Youth Summit
Chuene Phaleng (17), a Noorderland High learner was selected for the Asia-Pacific Youth Summit.
Chuene couldn't attend in person due to passport issues and joined virtually.
He won second place for best speaker among 50 international participants.
His team won Best Youth Summit Idea, now under policy review.
Chuene is now a UN-accredited climate ambassador, teaching local learners about climate action.
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POLOKWANE – Chuene Henry Phaleng is a Gr 11 learner at Noorderland High School who was selected to be part of the Asia Pacific Youth Summit, which he was supposed to attend in Indonesia at the beginning of May.
He was the only one selected from the country to attend; however, he was unable to go due to passport issues.
'I joined virtually, and it was a three-day summit. I gave a speech about the summit, and I obtained second position for best speaker,' he told Review.
He is passionate about children's rights and an activist in his own right. He found out about the summit through research. He regularly does research and looks for competitions he can take part in. He applied to be part of the summit, was shortlisted, and went through interviews.
He was one of 50 learners from around the world to be selected for the summit.
He said the interview process was difficult and focused on the impact he made in his own community, 'and they wanted to know what plans I had to fight climate change'.
Phaleng added that although he was heartbroken about not being able to physically attend, he had to look beyond the disappointment and focus on his participation in the summit, especially since he was the only one in the country to take part.
'It still had the same impact, and our team won the Best Asia Youth Summit Idea, which is being evaluated and taken to policymakers to turn into a policy,' he added.
He is now a UN-accredited climate change ambassador and goes to schools around his community to teach learners about climate change, how to come up with solutions, and to plant trees.
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