In a concerted effort to promote virtue development, education for sustainable development and community engagement; the Iveti Zone Curriculum Support Officer (CSO) in Machakos County, in collaboration with the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) and East African Cables (EAC) spearheaded a tree growing drive. The EAC donated 1000 tree seedlings which were planted by teachers and learners in 11 Primary Schools as part of adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.

The ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is a service-learning best practice which is implemented by involving the learners to plant, adopt and tag the trees with virtues which they aim to nurture in life as the trees grow. Through this initiative, learners take on the responsibility of caring for their tree and the development of their chosen virtues as a ‘personal project’ under the guidance of a teacher or staff mentor.

Speaking during the occasion, the Iveti Zone CSO, Margaret Kiprono emphasized on the need of nurturing servant leadership virtues as she urged the Headteachers, teachers and students to internalize, practice and model virtues into their lives. Mr. Peter King’ori, Director of Character Education Programme, elaborated on how servant leadership virtues like noble purpose, gratitude, courage and empowerment shape the character of each student and the culture of the school. He encouraged the learners to practice and model the virtues into their everyday lives, illustrating their profound impact on individual character growth and community wellbeing.

Additionally, Peter Kiiri from East African Cables engaged the pupils in interactive discussion about the significance of trees. The students enthusiastically shared their thoughts, highlighting the crucial role trees play in purifying air, protecting the ozone layer, beautifying mother nature and promoting biodiversity.

The learners showcased their understanding of servant leadership virtues through recitation of poems that reflected their commitment on environment stewardship and individual development of good character.
“Our virtue is empowerment. To empower is to give permission to do something. For example, we are empowered to plant trees in order to curb climate change. So, our virtue is empowerment,” said one of the learners.
“Our virtue is courage. Courage is the ability to do something without fear. For example, we are determined to do away with the effects of global warming in the near future by planting more trees. So, our virtue is courage,” he added.

The launching of the tree growing event was hosted by Mr. Daniel Muthoka, headteacher of Kyamwee Primary School. Over 10 headteachers from Iveti Zone attended the event.

In conclusion, this collaborative effort between CCL, East African Cables, Zone CSO and local educational institutions in Machakos County exemplifies the power of collective action in nurturing virtues and restoring greener spaces in schools. By investing in education for sustainable development and character development, we nurture future generations of responsible citizens, contributing to a better future for our communities and the environment.

The Centre for Character and Leadership in partnership with East African Cables PLC, generously donated over 1000 tree seedings at Ereteti Primary, Ereteti Secondary; and at Enkasiti Primary School during an event that was graced by State House Comptroller, Dr. Hon. Katoo Ole Metito. The trees donation was part of stakeholders’ commitment, including the Member of County Assembly (MCA) towards environment conservation and cultivating virtues in learners through the ‘adopt a tree and tag a virtue’ initiative.

The ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is a service-learning best practice which is implemented by involving the learners to plant, adopt and tag the trees with environmental related virtues which they aim to nurture in life as the trees grow. At Enkasiti Primary School, Dr. Hon. Metito led the learners in a tree growing drive by planting a Thika Palm tree that was tagged the virtue of generosity, inspiring all present especially the students. Additionally, he handed-over a 55-seater school bus that was generously donated by the President, H.E William Ruto.

Speaking during the occasion, he urged the parents to embrace good morals and instill them in their children. “I would like to ask the parents to take good care of these children. Help them to grow up by having good morals, teach them how to respect their teachers, you as parents and themselves. The Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) allows parents to be teachers too,’ said Hon. Metito.

The school community lead by the Headteacher expressed their joy and gratitude as they received the bus since it will ease transport challenges and enhance safety of the pupils. “For a very long time we have suffered while traveling and today our problem has been solved. Our pupils will not be using TukTuk or matatus when coming to school. They will be coming to school early and there will be no lateness any more. It is a big relief to the community,” Abdala said.

In conclusion, modelling generosity exemplifies the transformative impact of collective action in enhancing learner’s safety, fostering character development and restoring greener spaces. Through such endeavors, we sow the seeds of a brighter and more sustainable future for our communities and the environment.

In a concerted effort to promote virtue development, environmental sustainability, and community engagement; the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Sub County Director of Embakasi Central, in collaboration with the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) and East African Cables spearheaded a tree growing drive. The stakeholders donated and engaged learners in Komarock Primary, Komarock South Primary and Busara Primary School to plant and take care of over 400 tree seedlings as part of adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.

The ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is a service-learning best practice which is implemented by involving the learners to plant, adopt and tag the trees with environmental related virtues which they aim to nurture in life as the trees grow. Research shows that nurturing of virtues such as appreciation of beauty, love of learning, bravely, curiosity, spirituality, gratitude, social intelligence, kindness and zest predicts development of positive environmental attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Also, students who are exposed to nature through environmental education tend to experience nature connectedness.

Through the adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative, learners take on the responsibility of caring for their tree and the development of their chosen virtues as a ‘personal project’ under the guidance of a teacher or staff mentor. The trees include both the indigenous and fruit trees.

During the occasion, students received education on tree planting, nurturing of virtues, and environmental conservation. This holistic approach fosters character development alongside environmental awareness. Ms. Pauline, TSC Sub County Director addressed the learners and the teachers and emphasized on the need of taking care of mother nature as she said, “In the Bible, human beings are commanded to take care of God’s Creation.” Mr. Peter King’ori, Director of Character Education Programme, reiterated CCL’s commitment in the cultivation of virtues in learners through experiential learning approach as he said, “we champion development of good character through nurturing of virtues.’

In conclusion, this collaborative effort between CCL, East African Cables, TSC Sub County Office and local educational institutions in Embakasi Central exemplifies the power of collective action in nurturing virtues and restoring greener spaces in schools. By investing in environmental sustainability and character development, we nurture future generations of responsible citizens, contributing to a better future for our communities and the environment.

References
Diessner, R., & Niemiec, R. M. (2022). Can beauty save the world? The character strength of appreciation of beauty predicts proenvironmental behavior and moral elevation better than 23 other major character strengths. Manuscript under review.
Merino, A., Valor, C., & Redondo, R. (2020). Connectedness is in my character: The relationship between nature relatedness and character strengths. Environmental Education Research, 26(12), 1707-1728.

The Centre for Character and Leadership in partnership with the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues was privileged to host the Africa Regional Platform Conference under the theme ‘Global Innovations for Character Development.’ The conference was held from October 4-6, 2023 at Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi.

Sponsored by the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF), the conference brought together delegates who included researchers and practitioners in character development from 9 African countries as well as the USA and Bahamas. Dr. Tracey Farquharson and Andrica Smith-Munroe represented the TWCF and spoke about the commitment of the foundation to fund innovative research in order to build and expand the field of character development.

Global innovations for character development (GICD) was created by TWCF as an initiative that seeks to promote character strengths across the world. Character strengths includes attributes or virtues that enable individuals to lead better lives such as gratitude, compassion, integrity, forgiveness, hard work, humility, empathy, noble purpose and self-control.
Throughout the 3 days conference, delegates had an opportunity to meet, learn and network with each other. The training sessions were facilitated by the GICD platform managers.

Sessions included contextualizing character constructs and measures; Cognitive interviewing for measures development, program and evaluation life cycles and using theories of change to communicate with stakeholders and funders among others. The GICD facilitators were from Montclair University and Tufts University.

The delegates also had an opportunity to participate in a tree planting activity that was being hosted by the Dandora Secondary School. They all planted a giant bamboo seedling with the help of a student and jointly tagged a virtue on the tree. The students committed to nurture and model the virtues as they take care of the trees. The bamboos’ are intended to purify the heavy smoke that emanates from the dumping site which is located next to the school. The activity was part of the Centre’s work of promoting character development and climate smart solutions in learning institutions through the ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.’
“Those of us who value good character, quality of life and human flourishing, we should dare to dream big dreams with the hope that through education and service; the heart, soul and conscience of man can be re – ignited in realizing sustainable development goals,” said Peter Kingori during the tree planting event.
Towards the end of the conference, the delegates committed to establish an association that will bring together different stakeholders working in the field of character development within the horn of Africa.

The Centre for Character and Leadership has collaborated with the East African Cables to donate tree seedlings in various Primary Schools across the country in an effort to scale up the adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.

The ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is a service-learning best practice which is implemented by involving the learners to plant, adopt and tag the trees with positive virtues which they aim to nurture in their life as the tree grows. The trees include both the indigenous and fruit trees. The learners take on the responsibility of caring for their tree and the development of their chosen virtue as a “personal project’ under the guidance of a teacher or staff mentor.

Through this initiative, learners are engaged in experiential learning activities that foster development of good character. This not only helps in enhancing students character growth and well-being but it’s also becoming a great education innovation towards promoting sustainable development goals such as food security and climate action. Additionally, trees growing in learning institutions is part of “mitigation measure that will see the country grow 15 billion trees consequently increasing the tree cover from the current 12 per cent to 30 percent by the year 2030.”

The recent beneficiaries of the adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative includes Thika Primary School for the visually impaired in Kiambu County; Paranae Primary School and Osimlai gifted hands School in Kajiado County; and St. Michael Primary School, D.E.B Iveche Primary School and Kangaru D.E.B Primary school in Embu County.

In conclusion, the act of engaging learners to understand, internalize, nurture and model the virtues has a positive effect on school culture and climate. “Great improvement in terms of behavior and performance has been noticed in our school since the introduction of character and nurturing of virtues. Every stream in the school has chosen its own virtue and learners keep nurturing and modeling it in their day to day activities within school” said an elated teacher.

The adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative is not only helping in nurturing good character among the students in Primary and Secondary schools but also becoming a great education innovation towards achieving sustainable development goals. The ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is a service-learning best practice which is implemented by involving the students to plant, adopt and tag the trees with positive virtues which they aim to nurture in their life as the tree grows. The trees include both the indigenous and fruit trees. The students take on the responsibility of caring for their tree and the development of their chosen virtue as a “personal project’ under the guidance of a teacher or staff mentor.

A case study example is in Mutira Girls High School where the School Servant Leadership Team (SLT) has collaborated with the school principal to establish a green garden for fruit trees. The SLT received a 4 days training on “Cultivating virtues in Kenyan school leaders (CVIL)“ which was organized by the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) in partnership with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and CViL developers from the Center for Character and Citizenship, University of Missouri-St.Louis. The CViL program seeks to guide educators on a personal and professional development journey. A journey of self-discovery and a deep understanding of servant leadership virtues, character education, and skills necessary to lead school transformation,

With the guidance of the SLT, every class teacher engage their students in interactive discussions with an aim of identifying a virtue which they would like to inculcate and model as a class. The class teacher together with the students’ representatives from each class participate in the launch of the green garden for fruit trees. Each class is then tasked to take care of its fruit tree as they encourage each other to nurture and model the virtue. The virtues tagged on the trees include stewardship by CCL, empathy by Form 1W, respect by Form 1U, considerate by Form 2V, forgiveness by Form 3X and generosity by Form 4W among others.  Currently, the trees are doing well and have started to bear the fruits. In addition, the SLT has reported that as a result of virtue development, “students in the school have become more hospitable, responsible and more determined.”

One of the favorite stories of character transformation from the school include students sacrificing their pocket money in order to raise funds to pay school fees of a needy girl. A form two class prefect mobilized her class, teachers and the whole school to raise money for a student who had been away from school due to illness for three months. A total of sixty-four thousand Kenya shillings was collected to finance the medical bill. This was indeed a kind gesture that showed selflessness and love, reported by the SLT.

Other schools which have embraced the adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative includes Ruai Boys Secondary School, Drumvale Secondary School, Buruburu Girls Secondary School, Kiamutugu Boys’ Secondary School, Ole Tipis Girls’ Secondary School, Kirimari Boys Secondary School and ACK Mukengesya Secondary School. The aforementioned schools received an in-kind donation of indigenous trees from the East African Cables in collaboration with CCL. A total of over 4300 trees have been planted through the adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative in year 2022 with a goal of planting 12000 trees in 2023. These concerted efforts go along way not only on fostering students character development through service learning but also in realizing sustainable development goals such as food security and climate action.

Kajiado Governor H.E. Joseph Ole Lenku has launched a tree planting drive in celebration of Jamhuri day celebrations at the Bare KCB grounds in Kajiado town. The drive will see 200,000 trees planted in its first phase. This is in line with the Kenyan Government appeal for citizen participation in National tree planting initiative as a “mitigation measure that will see the country grow 15 billion trees consequently increasing the tree cover from the current 12 per cent to 30 percent by the year 2030.” The tree seedlings were donated by the East African  Cables in partnership with the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL).

Led by Ms. Margaret Kiprono, Adopt a Tree Ambassador at CCL, the governor planted an indigenous Pondo tree which was tagged with an inspiration virtue as he aims to build and strengthen his lasting legacy at the County’s leadership “Legacies define success of leadership, separates leaders from politicians.” The governor was accompanied by the First Lady, H.E. Edna Lenku who planted a tree which was tagged “Serving Communities is Serving God.” Also, the Deputy Governor, H.E. Martin Moshisho planted a tree which was tagged “great Leaders start small, and grow in humility.” These concerted and coordinated efforts in planting and growing trees goes a long way towards building servant leadership and inculcating the National tree planting culture across the country. CCL aims to inspire a generation of loving citizens who are environmental conscious and dedicated in mitigating the effects of climate change, global warming and enhanced food security.

Other dignitaries who planted the trees included the County Commissioner, Speaker of the County Assembly, and County Woman Representative among others.

In an effort to enhance the 10% forest cover and mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming, Centre for character and leadership (CCL) in collaboration with environmental actors planted 400 indigenous tree seedlings at KBC Police Station. The occasion was graced by Evans Mose, Deputy Sub-County Police Commander, Matungulu Sub-County. The tree seedlings were donated by the East African Cables.

Speaking during the occasion, Mr. Japheth Ouda, Director of Environment and Service Program (EASP) at CCL, emphasized the need for individual responsibility towards environment conservation. “Environmental conservation is a responsibility of each individual. We should therefore take responsibility of our environment by growing more trees,” he said. Driven by the motto ‘Plant a Tree, Save the Future’, CCL aims to inspire a generation of loving citizens who are environmental conscious and dedicated in mitigating the effects of climate change, global warming and enhanced food security.

Although the primary responsibility of the Kenya Administration Police is law enforcement, CCL collaboration with the KBC Police station in tree growing initiative will have a long-lasting impact on the community wellbeing. The Police station is located in a semi-arid area and its surrounding community have very few trees compared with the desired goal of 10% forest cover as stipulated in the blue print Kenya Vision 2030 and the Constitution. “I like planting trees; we shall join hands together to ensure that our environment and country as a whole is very green” said Bernard Mugasia, Officer Commanding KBC Police Station as he led the stakeholders and police in planting the trees.

Towards the end, Joyce Mbugua, Procurement Manager at East African Cables urged the police to take care of the trees. “We usually donate our personal time to make sure that the tree growing project does not fail. So, take care of the trees,” she said. Other partners who participated in the tree growing initiative included Restore Man’s Integrity Foundation and Kenya Forestry Research Institute.

On 21 st September 2021, the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) commemorated the International Day of Peace themed “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable World’ through planting trees and offering  students mentorship. The day is purposed to promote the ideals of peace to the human race by providing opportunities to build a peaceful world where all humanity can live together without enmity regardless of their skin color, religion, nationality and ethnicity. Throughout human history, the yearning for lasting peace has remained to be a universal dream. However, true peace can only be realized by raising individuals of outstanding character. It is in this  background that CCL inspired the students of Highway Manyatta Mixed Secondary School to strive to be peace loving citizens and environmental stewards.

The 2021 peace theme aimed to inspire humanity from across the world to think creatively and collectively about how to transform our world into one that is more inclusive, sustainable and healthier.

Speaking during the tree planting activity, the School Principal urged the students to be agents of peace as he said, “always strive in developing peace within the self as a foundation of your character growth and harmonious existence within the school.”

The school leadership together with the students has committed in planting and taking care of trees as part of their environment responsibility. The activity was exciting as students, parents’ representatives and teachers took turns to plant the trees and water them. Students were also urged to each adopt a tree, tag a virtue and nurture the virtue within self as the tree grows. During the mentorship session, students were engaged on an interactive learning lesson with a focus on helping them to develop a positive attitude, reading culture and goal setting as they prepare to sit for the end of term exams. Guided by the school motto which says ‘Education is Power’ the students were encouraged to pursue their dreams and keep trusting in God. Also, students were challenged to believe in the self, manage their time well, set SMART goals, avoid the dream killers, love their teachers and school, complete assignments and submit for marking, develop personal time table, use of peer teaching and possess a winners’ spirits among others.

On developing a positive attitude, the speaker emphasized that “embrace a positive attitude since it’s the most important factor in determining success or failure.”

Towards the end of the lesson the students chanted that “I believe in myself because I know I am the best.” CCL appreciates the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for the donations of trees and the school for taking ownership in environment conservation.

The Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) is collaborating with the East African Cables in planting trees in secondary schools across the  country. The pre-selected secondary schools are involved in the Implementation of the Cultivating Virtues in Leaders (CViL) Project. The CViL program seeks to guide the school principals and teachers on a personal and professional development journey. A journey of self-discovery and appreciation, a deep understanding of servant leadership virtues, character education, and skills necessary to lead school transformation.

Students are benefitting from the CViL project by getting coaching and mentorship from adult teachers who model and teach the virtues. Also, the CViL model gives an opportunity to the students to practice leadership skills such as being good communicators, resource builders, visionaries, problem solvers and role models to their peers.

For instance, students are engaged in the implementation of ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.’ This is a service-learning best practice that involves the students to plant, adopt and tag the trees with positive virtues which they aim to nurture in their life as the tree grows.

The ‘adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ has a potential of helping students to mold their character through virtue development and as well address the issue of climate change. Climate change poses a serious challenge in Kenya. A key measure that has been adopted by the Kenyan government to mitigate the effects of climate change is to increase the forest cover by 10%.  With this background, CCL collaborated with the East African Cables in planting 400 indigenous trees at Kiamutugu Boys High school in Kirinyaga county.

“At East African Cables, we connect lives and endeavor to give back to the society through tree planting,” said Dr. Gatitu Gitau as he offered the tree donations to the school administrator.

The ‘adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is being spearhead by the school Moral club – a students’ peer group that is committed in modelling virtues and offering mentorship to other students’ peers. “If I don’t provide water to my tree, I feel like my character is fading,” said a Moral Club student as he urged the form one students to take care of their adopted trees.

During the tree planting, students tagged their trees with virtues such hard work, love, respect, obedience and joy. “Don’t just practice the virtue that you have tagged on your tree, practice other virtues as well,” said Millicent Diang’a , CViL Project Officer as she urged the students to become good role models and ambassadors of the school.

While protecting the environment and planting trees is a global responsibility, it is even more personal and requires collaborative effort to take the action. Wangari Maathai in her autobiography ‘Unbowed’ states that “the future of the planet concerns us all, and all of us should do what we can to protect it.”

Similar projects have been carried out at Drumvale secondary school and Ruai Boys Secondary School in Nairobi County. CCL appreciates the East African Cables for the donation of trees and the schools for taking ownership in environmental conservation and virtue development.

The Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) has been collaborating with the East African Cables in planting trees in secondary schools across the country. The pre-selected secondary schools are involved in the implementation of the Cultivating Virtues in Leaders (CViL) Project. The CViL program seeks to guide the school principals and teachers on a personal and professional development journey. A journey of  self-discovery and appreciation, a deep understanding of servant leadership virtues, character education, and skills necessary to lead school transformation. Students are benefitting from the CViL project by getting coaching and mentorship from adult teachers who model and teach the virtues. Also, the CViL model gives an opportunity to the students to practice leadership skills such as being good communicators, resource builders, visionaries, problem solvers and role models to their peers.

For instance, students are engaged in the implementation of ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.’ This is a service-learning best practice that involves the students to plant, adopt and tag the trees with positive virtues which they aim to nurture in their life as the tree grows. The ‘adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ has a potential of helping students to mold their character through virtue development and as well address the issue of climate change.

Climate change poses a serious challenge in Kenya. A key measure that has been adopted by the Kenyan government to mitigate the effects of climate change is to increase the forest cover by 10%. With this background, CCL collaborated with the East African Cables in planting 400 indigenous trees at Kiamutugu Boys High school in Kirinyaga county.

“At East African Cables, we connect lives and endeavor to give back to the society through tree planting,” said Dr. Gatitu Gitau as he offered the trees donation to the school administrator.
‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative’ is being spearhead by the school Moral club – a students’ peer group that is committed in modelling virtues and offering mentorship to other students’ peers.

“If I don’t provide water to my tree, I feel like my character is fading,” said a Moral Club student as he urged the form one students to take care of their adopted trees.

During the tree planting, students tagged their trees with virtues such hard work, love, respect, obedience and joy.

“Don’t just practice the virtue that you  have tagged on your tree, practice other virtues as well,” said Millicent Diang’a , CViL Project Officer as she urged the students to become good role models and ambassadors of the school.
While protecting the environment and planting trees is a global responsibility, it is even more personal and requires collaborative effort to take the action. Wangari Maathai in her autobiography ‘Unbowed’ states that “the future of the planet concerns us all, and all of us should do what we can to protect it.”
Similar projects have been carried out at Drumvale secondary school and Ruai Boys Secondary School in Nairobi County. CCL appreciates the East African Cables for the donation of trees and the schools for taking ownership in environmental conservation and virtue development.

Education is mainly regarded as the passport for the future. No society which can progress positively without investing its resources in educating for ‘character and intelligence’ to its younger generation. Global economics are propelled to greater heights by educated, committed and hardworking citizens. Teachers are therefore trusted with the responsibility of molding the learners from a very tender age to grownup adolescents and mature adults who are able to make independent moral decisions and contribute positively to the workforce.

Teachers are the best reflection of the society; they have a sole responsibility of making a positive change in the life of students. While doing so, every teacher would love to horn and craft his or her teaching skills for higher accomplishment hence improving the learner’s behavior, academic performance and achievement. Students on the other hand, they do bring their life to school and some tend to be dull, angry, distressed, unforgiving and stubborn. No wonder the saying, “You can’t teach them unless you reach them.” In order to be successful towards imparting knowledge, values and excellence; a great teacher should be a caring teacher. A caring teacher embraces special qualities of attraction that are appealing to learners such as love, care, understanding and enthusiasm among others. For example, a caring teacher makes students feel connected to each other, cared for, understood, and worthwhile within the classroom or school community.

A caring teacher strives to nurture enduring positive relationships with the colleagues, learners, parents and the surrounding community. Positive relationships across the board are essential in reinforcing discipline, enhancing a reading culture and building a sense of community. The caring teachers usually go an extra mile by greeting and welcoming the learners with a smile to school every morning; motivating learners; and helping them to approach the difficult subjects positively. In addition, caring teachers ought to develop new models of teaching techniques grounded by morals, values, mission statements and golden rules. The statement/ golden rule serves as a reminder to the learners to commit themselves in respecting the self and others as well as working towards achieving high standards of expectations.

Lastly, caring teachers protect and safeguard children from toxic environment, toxic words and mishandling by their fellow learners. They do so by urging learners to embrace positive attitude; appreciate each other through use of kind words; be good listeners; care for each other; and practice good habits. Good habits are the basis of good character development and academic achievement within the school community. And so the BIG question is: Are you a caring teacher? Are you a caring Parent? Are you a caring adult?

On November 19, 2020, the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) celebrated the World Toilet Day by planting 1000 indigenous tree seedlings in partnership with Ruai Boys Secondary School, Highway Manyatta Secondary School and KBC Malaa Police station. The tree seedlings were donated by the Kenya Forest Service. The World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. The World Toilet Day 2020 was celebrated under the theme ‘Sustainable Sanitation and Climate Change.” Globally, climate change is accelerating and its devastating effects are affecting humanity. In the real sense, things like drought, flood and rising sea levels are threatening the sanitation systems.CCL efforts and partnership in growing trees aims at promoting reforestation and support of the 10% forest cover hence mitigating the effects of climate change.

“Environment conservation is a responsibility of each individual. We should take responsibility of our environment by growing more trees,” said Japheth Ouda, Director, Environment and Service Program as he delivered the tree seedlings at Ruia Boys Secondary School.

The form four students together with the teachers being led by the school principal each planted a tree along the school fence.

“We are so grateful to our stakeholders. We will plant and take care of the trees,” said Mr. Thiong’o, School Principal.

Speaking during the tree planting, the CCL representatives encouraged the stakeholders on the need of scaling up ‘own a tree’ initiative – an environment best practice that challenges every citizen to take personal responsibility by planting a tree during his/her birthday. Students were encouraged to strive to nurture virtues such as hard work, determination, and generosity in their lives as they nurture and take care of the trees. The act of restoring the glory of our devastated ecosystem requires mutual collaboration and ownership. CCL will continue to champion collaborations in environment conservation through growing 10,000 trees.