Plant-for-the-Planet Academy Naaga, Ghana

Once again the Plant-for-the-planet team stopped in Naaga, a suburb of Navrongo, for our academy. We finally arrived around 7:50 a.m. and met the children kennly awaiting us at the venue. We had an arrangement with 10 schools to participate in the academy with each school bringing 8 children. So there were 80 children participating the academy in Naaga. The program was free of charge for all the children, who were aged 8-14.

We appreciate the support of the parents and teachers. Also we want to give thumps up to the team of local organizers: to Plant-for-the-Planet program coordinator Mohammed Rabiu Dannakabu and also to the moderators Mr. Iddrisu Faisal and Mr. Sanusi.

The academy began with a welcome speech by Mohammed Rabiu Dannakabu, after which the participants full attention was turned to the presentation "Now we children save the world!" given by Iddrisu Faisal. The presentation covered a lot of aspects like the greenhouse effect and how it works, the effects of climate crisis and the work of Plant-for-the-Planet.

After the presentation the children were divided into 6 smaller groups to learn about global distribution and justice in a “World Game”. The children distributed playing figures, candy and balloons on the world maps as symbols of the world’s population, wealth and CO2 emissions respectively. The children didn’t need to be told twice to distribute the balloons and sweets among the playing figures. Eventually, the CO2 emissions and wealth were distributed fairly – everyone has equal rights.

After the “World Game” session, one child from each school was chosen to do the rhetoric training module. They were given the printed slides to practice a short presentation that they had seen at the start of the day. The moderators guided them on how to improve their presentations in the future.

After that everyone had the opportunity to write down their thoughts to the question: "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?", then the school groups worked on the solutions. Each school group presented the ideas and solutions.

After that the children were asked to move to the field for the planting session! This module was very interactive. The moderator explained how and when to plant trees, and also showed the children how to care for them to make sure they survive and absorb as much CO2 as possible. In total we planted 10 Acacia trees. With the assistance of the teachers and academy moderators the children placed the trees in pre-prepared holes.

The long, eventful, and enjoyable day had come to an end. Apart from the new experience and knowledge, all  new Ambassadors took with them the Plant-for-the-Planet T-shirt, a copy of “Tree-by-Tree” book, and of course a participation certificate.  Organizers were very excited by the performance of the children.

The Plant-for-the-Planet team would like to thank all those involved for this wonderful Academy day.

Click here to find more pictures of the day!