MALAWI: Bishop Pleads for Tree Planting in the Country
Bishop Chaima speaking to people during the donation of maize
By Luke Bisani
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Zomba in Malawi, Rt. Rev. Alfred Chaima has pleaded with Christians in the country to plant trees as one way of restoring mother nature.
Speaking during the donation of maize flour and maize seeds at Lingoni Parish in Machinga under Zomba Diocese on Wednesday, January 3, Bishop Chaima said people need to plant trees to conserve the environment.
“I also urge you to plant trees and look after them to conserve forests and so curb the biting climatic changes and global warming trends that are grossly affecting the rain patterns and the global weather,” said Bishop.
He further advised the citizenry to consider the diversification of crops amid the erratic rains experienced in many parts of the country.
Through Missio Austria, the Diocese of Zomba has reached out to 500 households affected by hunger in Lingoni.
The beneficiaries have since expressed gratitude to Missio Austria through the diocese for the timely support, saying many of them are going to bed with an empty stomach.
Through his second encyclical letter, Laudato si’, the Catholic Church leader Pope Francis urges all people in the world to take care of the environment for the common good of man.
Pope Francis critiques consumerism and irresponsible development and laments environmental degradation and global warming.
Established in 1959, the Diocese of Zomba has twenty parishes where most people were affected by Cyclone Freddy, which hit the country earlier last year.
Cyclone Freddy, which hit most of the southern part of Malawi, claimed the lives of people and livestock. The heavy downpours further caused floods that washed away crops and destroyed the infrastructure.
