MALAWI: Animators Trained to Help Children to Actively Participate in Reforestation Campaign
Benedict Kuipakuombola
The Archdiocese of Lilongwe through the office of Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) is in a campaign to counter the environmental degradation in Malawi. This is being done through planting of different types of trees, including fruit trees.
PMS is carrying out the exercise by involving children assisted by their animators, with funding from the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood.
Recently, PMS office organised a seminar for Holy Childhood animators from 20 parishes participating in the project to equip them with the knowledge on how to take care of the environment with particular emphasis on planting and taking care of trees. The animators are supposed to engage children in their parishes in the implementation of the project.
Opening the seminar, the Archdiocesan PMS Director Rev Fr. Francis Lekaleka said the project is a response to “Laudato Si” in which Pope Francis appeals to humankind to care for the environment. “It is the duty of the Church to take care of ‘our Mother Earth’; in doing so, we need not to leave children behind, because children are the future of the Church, so they have to be trained now. On the other hand, planting trees only is not the solution, we must take good care of the trees so that they survive and produce the desired results, hence the importance of this training,” Fr. Lekaleka emphasised.
The seminar was facilitated by Mr. Noel Kafera, a young passionate horticulturist from HOPEMAC.
“The Catholic Church in Malawi is capable of producing a lot of fruits using the small pieces of land we have in our parishes,” Kafera said during his presentation.
While acknowledging the small scale production of fruits in our localities, he bemoaned the fact that they don’t produce much because many do not follow the recommended tree farming procedures. He therefore pledged to work with the PMS office following up the implementation of the project and monitoring afterwards.
One of the animators, Henry Luwanya, from St. John’s – Msamba Parish was very appreciative of the training as he said, “Not only will the training benefit the children in my parish, it is a life time opportunity for me personally, my family and the community where I live.”
The animators are expected to apply what they learnt through the training seminar in their respective parishes, by engaging the children. This is the second time in three years for the Archdiocese of Lilongwe to engage in the environmental program with the support from Society of the Holy Childhood in Rome, PMS.
