Members of the Rotary Club of Kigali Karisimbi, led by President Satish Kumar Prajapti, joined hands on Sunday, October 13 in a tree planting initiative at GS Apace School in Nyakabanda Sector, Nyarugenge District.
The initiative, which began in 2024, aims to contribute to a sustainable and greener environment by planting of 500 trees by 2025.
Joined by sector officials, GS Apace students, and a representative of the Indian High Commission in Kigali, the Rotarians planted 100 fruit trees in the GS Apace and the neighbouring Ecole Primaire Gakasunzu.
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Shaffy Kubwimana, a representative from Nyakabanda Sector highlighted the importance of planting trees in schools.
"We chose to plant these trees in a school for two main reasons. First, we can get manpower to easily care for trees, rather than planting them on roads, and second, the fruits will primarily be consumed by school students,” Kubwimana said.
He also spoke of the interest the heads of the schools expressed for the tree planting.
"When we were identifying where to plant the trees, we spoke to the authorities of the institutions and found that they were very interested in this initiative. They explained how they had wanted tree planting to be an activity in their school, but lacked the budget for it,” he said.
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The trees planted included mangoes, avocados, with the goal of them adding nutritional value to the diet of the students&039; once fully grown.
"Rwanda is a green country, but we should complement this by planting more trees,” Singh Hardeep, Second Secretary of the Indian High Commission, said.
"If we want the natural benefits of trees to be provided to our next generations, we have to teach the children the importance of planting trees.”
This tree planting initiative aligns with one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus, namely environment. With these efforts, the Rotary Club of Kigali Karisimbi renewed its commitment to a sustainable and green environment.