LÜDERITZ – Students from Lüderitz Junior Secondary School, situated along the west coast of the beautiful Namib Desert in Namibia, have started an environmental club that recently planted trees.
Lüderitz Junior Secondary School consists of 856 learners of which 588 are orphaned and vulnerable.
Factors such as HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, low levels of motivation and poor parental involvement are some of the challenges these learners endure. Grade 9 learners at the school initiated a club through which they could positively engage in extra-mural activities in order to raise environmental awareness among themselves and adapt a positive appreciation for life and to boost self-esteem.
Before they embarked on the environmental club they brainstormed on several ideas that could keep them busy and they unanimously decided to start an Enviro-Techno Club, but they discussed the vision of the club, identified problems in their area and they also incorporated technology which was “cool.” They incorporated different subjects such as Life Skills (respect and culture of care), Life Science, IT and Physical Science.
”Different focus groups were formed in the club, and focused on various problems such as littering, the need for an electronic bill board for advertisements, water quality, renewable energy from the Atlantic ocean and the pre-dominant southwestern winds. Club members investigated the different focus areas,” said Crystar Jantjies, a life skills teacher at the school.
“The idea of involving corporates was to source funds for refuse bags,tshirts and trees for the tree-planting days and be informed about posssible careers eg. scientists, environmentalist and IT technicians amongst others,” stated Jantjies.
The club received 25 palm trees from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and planted the trees two weeks ago at Agate Park residential area. This was a “Go-Green” campaign where the learners planted trees to beautify residential areas, since Lüderitz is situated in the desert and they wanted to add aesthetic value to nearby suburbs.
Local residents are grateful for such initiatives, as “it shows our children taking ownership,” said one of the residents.