Children Plant Trees

In Sudan, very few schools have cleaners or caretakers. Instead, the children themselves must keep the school tidy.

They cut the grass to drive away snakes and mosquitoes, sweep the classrooms, and even clean the toilets. However, last week JEN came up with a slightly more interesting way to make over the schools that JEN has nearly finished constructing: to plant trees. Each child was given a seedling that they themselves could plant in the school garden. There are eight different kinds of trees to choose from and 120 were planted at each school.
The idea is to have each pupil keep a pet tree to look after and watch it grow. Every year as they prepare for exams, they can look out of the classroom window and see their own personal trees enjoying the sunshine and growing taller every month. Perhaps one day they will be able to sit with their friends in the shade of their tree during lunch break. If they are really lucky, in a couple of years they might even be able to feast on mangos from their own trees!

Nonetheless, as people struggle to cultivate a  peaceful future, there are many reminders of the difficult history that the previous generations have endured. At one school, as we dug a hole to plant a mahogany seedling, we unearthed an empty AK-47 magazine.　
Philip, Project Officer
In cooperation with the UNHCR, JEN  is constructing three elementary schools in Juba.