1st Academy in Bole in the North of Ghana 5.11.2016

The very first academy in Bole took place November 5^th, 2016 at 8:00 am. 80 children from 10 different schools were keenly waiting for the academy to start. The programme was free of charge for all the 80 children aged from 8 to 14.

We acknowledge the support of the parents and teachers of the participating children because they encouraged the children to attend the programme.
Also we want to give thumps up for the team of local organizers. Special thanks go to Plant-for-the-Planet Programme Coordinator Mohammed Rabiu Dannakabu, moderator Mr. Iddrisu Faisal and also to Mr. Sanusi second moderator.
Finally special thanks to the elders of Bole for making our academy run smoothly in Nandom.

A welcome speech was given by Mohammed Rabiu Dannakabu, after which the full attention of the children were turned to the presentation "Now we children save the world!", which was given by Iddrisu Faisal. The presentation also covered a lot of aspects of the climate crisis and after the presentation we quickly discussed the few questions raised by some children.

After the presentation the children were divided into 6 smaller groups to learn about global distribution and justice in the World Game. The children distributed tokens, candy and balloons on the world maps laid out on the floor as symbols of the world’s population, wealth and CO₂ emissions respectively. In the end, the CO₂ emissions and wealth were distributed fairly – everyone has equal rights.

After the World Game session a child of each school group practiced a small part of the morning presentation to improve their public speaking skills. The moderators supported them and gave feedback.

During the World Café, the children had the chance to collect ideas on how to get active after the Academy. After everyone had the opportunity to write down their thoughts, the school groups got to work on the implementation. The ideas and solutions were presented following the questions "What do we want to do at our school; who is responsible for which task and by when do we want to achieve our goals". A child from each school group was selected  to quickly present the ideas and solutions written down by their respective group and it was lovely to hear their wonderful ideas.

Finally it was time for the planting session! The moderators explained how and when to plant trees, and also showed the children how to take care for the trees to make sure they survive.
In total we planted 20 Acacia trees. With the assistance of the teachers and academy moderators, the children placed the trees in prepared holes and planted the trees under our supervision.

An interesting day had come to an end. Apart from the experience and newly found knowledge, all new Ambassadors received a certificate, a Plant-for-the-Planet T-shirt and the book ‘Tree-by-Tree’.  Organizers and guests were very excited by the performance of the children.

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