Planting trees in the name of Climate Justice

Altogether 83 students from 10 schools attended the academy in Government Upper Primary School, SadhuNagar, India.

The academy was made possible with the dedicative commitment of Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation, GUPS Sadhunagar and NSS and YCSG members. 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 Muskan Dhariyal and Priyanka Chand for all their hard work and efforts to make this academy successful.  I would also like to thank Mr Kaman Samant for helping us contact all schools and for providing us venue and 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: Introduction of Plant-for-the-Planet, sources of CO2,greenhouse effect, global warming, photosynthesis,  climate crisis, climate change and global justice. These topics were explained in a very simple language and easy way. After the presentation, children had the opportunity to clear their questions through an interactive Q&A session.

After a short break, the children were divided into 6 groups to learn about global distribution and justice in the “World Game”. The children distributed playing figures, candy and balloons on the world maps laying on the floor as symbols for the world’s population, wealth and CO2 emissions respectively.  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 and later on corrected by the moderator wherever needed. Eventually, the CO2 emissions and wealth were distributed fairly – everyone has equal rights

Then the children formed 6 public speaking groups and 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 and a short session on How to Give a Good Presentation was conducted by Miss Priyanka Chand and Muskan Dhariyal.

The children then broke for lunch and were able to relax a little and to discuss the topics covered so far with each other. 

After lunch was over, the afternoon kicked off with the short introductive videos on Plant-for-the-Planet and how Plant-for-the-Planet plant 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 in charge Mr. Kamal Rawat. 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 15 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 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, 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, fruitful, and enjoyable day, all 83 participants received their certificates from Mr. Kaman Samant and Dharmendra Kapri, 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 Tree-by-Tree, and of course the Plant-for-the-Planet T-shirt they collected at the start of the day.

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

Donate now to plant more trees or fund new academies! Every donation counts.

View the pictures here