"He who plants a tree, plants a Hope..."

Last month, as the world celebrated Earth Day, we reflected on our work over the last few years to combat deforestation. Along those lines, this week’s email comes from Elida Banda, our Projects Officer, who has been working with communities to plant trees for four years now. Thank you, Elida!

“He who plants a tree, plants a Hope.”

-- Lucy Larcom

A hope to see a greener environment, a reduction of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, a slow climate change and restored degraded forests are some of the many reasons Impact Network decided to introduce the tree planting program at all its schools and in communities where its schools are being operated. In 2020, we started a tree planting program with the aim of promoting environmental care through tree planting and tree planting sensitization. The main source for the plants being planted was a greenhouse that is maintained at our head office. After a realization that more trees were needed to be planted, we partnered with Farmers Training Centre (FTC) under Unique Lands Use in 2023 to help in empowering the communities and schools with skills for planting, plant care, compost and bokashi making, budding and grafting.

 Through FTC, communities surrounding our Katete schools were encouraged to setup tree nurseries. A total of 1,500 assorted tree seeds including gricidia, mubaba, lemons and moringa were given for the nurseries. Tree nurseries were set up in communities, community gardens and school gardens.  Some of these nurseries were very successful and others had challenges such as water sourcing, wandering animals, and tempering plants on the nurseries. Successful trees from the nurseries were later transplanted and shared between community members and the schools for planting.

Nkhunga Community School and community is one of the schools we work in, and also a beneficiary of the Impact Network- FTC tree planting program. About 500 assorted tree seeds were planted on the nursery, 400 trees grew and were successfully transplanted and shared. From the 400 trees that successfully grew,70 trees were given and planted at the school and 330 trees were given to the community members.

 We are always excited to see how our tree planting program is slowly changing and beautifying the faces of our schools across our school sites. For example, Nkhunga was one of the schools that was built on a bare land with almost no trees but now the school has a thriving little tree farm, which are going to help break the wind, provide shade, and give fruits.

 On the other hand, some schools like Kayowozi have shared how staff and pupils have already started enjoying the pawpaw fruits produced from the trees that were planted in early days of the tree planting project in 2021!

 We hope to create more nurseries and plant more and more trees in our schools and school communities for more benefits and for a greener world!

-Elida