We closed out the year with our last school climate workshop at Bimbe Primary School in Chongwe where we also planted 81 Musiniga Trees (Sizygium cumin).

We spoke to more than 150 students from Grade 3 to Grade 6 classes about climate change and how planting trees helps mitigate it. We also taught them the benefits of the musiniga tree, which is used for food as well as medicinal purposes.

We proceeded to plant 81 Musiniga trees. Students were divided into groups and each group was given a tree to plant and take care of when they come back next term.

Miss Mulenga, a grade 5 teacher said she was happy that Green Gold Social had chosen Bimbe Primary among the schools to plant trees and raise awareness about climate change. She said the students will grow up with the knowledge of nature conservation and carry it with them even after they leave school.

In the initial meeting when we went to Bimbe Primary School, the head teacher Mr Simukonda indicated that Bimbe is one of the villages that has been affected by deforestation because of unsustainable tree cutting for charcoal. He requested that we should come to Bimbe at a later date so that we can talk to the parents of the students about the scorge of charcoal burning and how they can help preserve nature.

The School climate workshops and tree planting are part of the Green Gold Social’s ‘Chongwe Reforestation Project’ where we are planting 20,000 native trees in three villages in Chongwe and educating villagers about the importance of trees to fighting climate change.