Trees for Kathima

Altogether 79 students from 10 schools attended the academy in City Convent School, Khatima, India.

The academy was made possible with the dedicative commitment of Plant-for-the-Planet foundation, City Convent School Khatima and Eco Club members of City Convent. The event was free of charge for all the attending children, who were aged 10-14. Special thanks goes to Plant-for-the-Planet academy staff Adelya for helping me throughout the academy and to Rohit Bisht and Muskan Dhariyal for all their hard work and effort to make this academy successful.  I would also like to thank Mr. Narendra Rautela and Mr. Mayank Negi for helping me contact all schools, also Mr. Ramyesh (Head Teacher of City Convent) for providing us venue and all other basic facilities for the academy. Not to be forgotten are the many helpers and supporters, without whom the implementation of the Academy, venue, technology, tree-planting event and much more would not have been possible.

After a brief welcome and registration process the full attention of the children turned to the presentation "Now we children save the world!" which was held by Plant-for-the-Planet Coordinator Dharmendra Kapri and former global board Vice-president Muskan Dhariyal.  The presentation covered topics like the introduction of Plant-for-the-Planet, sources of CO2, greenhouse effect, global warming, photosynthesis, climate change, climate crisis and climate justice. These topics were explained in a very simple language and easy way. After the presentation, children had the opportunity to ask all of their pressing questions through a question and answer session.

After a short break, the children were divided into six groups to learn about global distribution and justice in the “World Game”. The kids distributed playing figures, candy and balloons on the world maps as symbols of the world’s population, wealth and CO2 emissions.  Each group had one Moderator from our academy team to help them understand the rules and the process. The children were first asked to distribute the balloons, candy and tokens as per as their knowledge. Later on they were corrected by the moderator wherever needed. Eventually, the CO2 emissions and wealth were distributed fairly – everyone has equal rights

After playing the “World Game” the children formed six public speaking groups in which they prepared and presented short passages from the opening presentation that they had seen at the start of the day. They gave each other tips on how to improve their presentations in the future followed by a short session on how to hold a good presentation was conducted by Dharmendra Kapri and Muskan Dhariyal.

In their lunch break the children were able to relax a little and to discuss the topics covered so far with each other. 

After lunch was over, the afternoon started with short Introductive videos on Plant-for-the-Planet and on how Plant-for-the-Planet plants trees in Mexico as children during the presentation session were very curious to know more about the plant-for-the-planet and how we plant trees all over the world.

Rested, and feeling energized, the children relocated to the schoolyard to plant their own trees! Before the planting commenced, the children listened intently to the advice of the Eco club member in charge Mr. Ramesh Singh. He explained how and when to plant trees and also showed the children how to care for them to make sure they survive. In total they planted 18 trees (Azadirachta indica, Cassia fistula, Magnifera Indica, Indian Gooseberry, Psidium guajava) in just 45 minutes with the assistance of the Eco Club Members and NSS members.

After a short break it was back to the program. The children started the "World Café" module. The children worked on the following questions as at four stations questions: "How do we ensure that the media reports about us?", "How do we motivate the adults?", "How do we motivate friends and classmates?" and "How do we organize a planting party?"

After everyone had the opportunity to write down their thoughts to each question, the children were asked to present their thoughts and future plans in front of other students and teachers.

After the World Café children were asked to give shortened version of morning presentations, their future plans and outcomes of the school groups and group discussions.

After a long, productive, and enjoyable day, all 79 participants received their certificates from Mr. Ramyesh and Mr. Ramesh Singh, which recognized them as a Climate Justice Ambassador.  An interesting day had come to an end. Apart from the experience and newly found knowledge, all new ambassadors took with them a copy of the Tree-by-Tree book, and of course the Plant-for-the-Planet T-shirt they collected at the start of the day.

Thank you to the organizing team of Plant-for-the-Planet academy Khatima would like to thank all those involved for their help and support to make this academy possible.

If you are interested in becoming an ambassador yourself write an email to [email protected] or visit our website.

All photos taken can be downloaded here.