Johnry Teric almost did not apply to the NextGen Climate Bootcamp.

When he first saw the application on Facebook, he was hesitant enough to joke: “Legit ba ’to? Baka kulto o scam lang?” (Is this legitimate? What if it is a cult or a scam?)

He applied anyway. A task tied to World Environment Day became the beginning of a journey that would change how the 20-year-old education student from Surigao understood climate storytelling. 

Before NextGen, Johnry largely understood climate change through environmental problems: pollution, global warming and disasters. Over the following weeks, that definition expanded.

Climate stories, he realized, were also about people: their struggles, cultures, resilience and hopes. They could investigate problems without losing sight of the people trying to respond to them. 

That realization brought Johnry back to Surigao.

Looking closer to home

For his NextGen project, Johnry began working on a story about young people from the Sama Bajau Indigenous community in Barangay Lipata, Surigao City, in the southern Philippines.

His story looks at their lives before and after Super Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, which struck the Philippines in December 2021. He wants to explore how the typhoon affected their homes, livelihoods, education and relationship with the sea, while also looking at how the community has rebuilt and adapted in the years since. 

Johnry also wants to ask whether local climate programs are reaching the community and to bring forward voices he believes are too often missing from climate conversations.

Listening before becoming an expert

NextGen also changed Johnry’s idea of who gets to tell these stories.

“Before NextGen, I thought I need to be an expert to tell a meaningful story,” he says.

Now, his starting point is simpler: “I think I just need to listen closely to what is happening in my own community.” 

For Johnry, listening also means connecting people’s experiences with the decisions that shape their lives. He came to see community experiences, data and policy not as separate pieces, but as parts of the same story. Journalism can show how policies are experienced on the ground, while young people can bring local knowledge and evidence into conversations about decisions affecting their communities. 

He began NextGen as one of the quieter fellows. Over time, he opened up, found friends among the cohort and became more confident in the stories he wanted to pursue.

His commitment now brings him back to where he started: his community.