ON Friday 29th June 2020, the long-awaited Birthday Tree planting Campaign was launched at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Lang’ata. The event was graced by students from three partner schools namely; Huruma Girls and Our Lady of Mercy. Others that graced the event were school administrators, Sisters, and Brothers. The event held in CUEA’s Missio Hall kicked off at 10:30 am with a word of prayer from Sr. Mary Sebastian of JPIC-FA.
Another guest speaker Fr Hermann Borg, Chairman, Mother Earth Network said that the alarming rate at which deforestation is being carried out in Kenya is truly shocking because of the climate change it has brought about and its adverse impacts such as drought, prolonged flooding, and displacement of wild animals. Further emphasizing the need to plant more trees, he said that we not only need to plant trees but as well as caring for them until maturity to ensure sustained growth.
On her part, Sr. Rose Macharia from the Sisters of Mercy said that she was happy about the campaign and appreciated the participating students for their attendance in large numbers. In her speech, she said that our careless actions bring about natural disasters that arise out of deforestation and implored the students to deeply reflect on the kind of earth they would want to live in and to leave behind for future generations. Sr. Rose added that the earth is God’s gift towards us and so we should take good care of it. She also gave an example of Rwanda and how it is taking the lead in greening Africa and challenged the participants to emulate them.
The campaign coordinator Mr. Steven Kezamutima warmly welcomed the participants to the campaign launch and he asked them to join him in this cause by encouraging their peers to do the same. He challenged them to a tree planting contest by taking photographs of trees they have planted and sharing them on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Birthday celebrants were called out to the stage and a birthday song was sung to them by the audience led by Sr. Mary Sebastian. Later on, a birthday cake was cut and served by the celebrants as a sign of celebrating the gift of life. Afterward, the participants engaged in tree planting activities by planting more than 50 tree seedlings. Some tree seedlings were offered to participants to take and plant them at their schools and homes.
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