Billion Tree CampaignOn Saturday the 6th of March 2010 the Billion Tree Planting Campaign took place at Dlangeni which is situated along the outskirts of Mbabane, the meeting place was Ensukumbili High School, unfortunately for us the school children could not participate in the event as they were preparing for their test week, the school did provide us with the required materials (shovels and pickaxes) so we were good to go.
The recent rains as precious as they were had managed to erode the Donga further this was not good news, we were now faced with the daunting task of offloading the trees into the Donga, the whole process had it’s comedic moments with members slipping and sliding but that’s the price we pay for helping the environment.
Members were divided into two groups the first group would assist with filling sacks with sand, this was done to help trap the soil when it rained and with the addition of the Gabion cages the trees would have the required soil for the roots to become more stable which would lead to the elimination of the crack caused by erosion, the second group planted the trees each member was tasked with planting at least five trees each, we had an assortment of trees mostly being indigenous and some Waterberry trees.
The trees and the sand bags were firmly in place we then had to go and plant more trees along the road side right next to the high school to our second tree planting site, this proved to be very difficult as the area was barren and the soil was hard, the hot sun wasn’t helping matters either, but we did manage to make a difference and we are now hoping that the local residents will be able to take care of the area by distancing their livestock long enough for our trees to grow.
ParticipantsThe clubs should be applauded for their attendance as this years campaign was hugely supported even though some members were in the process of writing their final examinations they still found time to accompany us. The clubs that were present on the day and the number of their participating members were as follows:
Rotaract Club of Manzini: 5 members
Rotaract Club of Mbabane-Mbuluzi: 13 (incl. 5 Interact Club of St Marks)
Rotaract Club of Malkerns-Valley: 16 (incl. 10 Interact Club of St Christophers)
Rotaract Club of Uniswa: 16
Swaziland Environmental Authority: 10
Uniswa Geography & Environmental Planning: 22
Members of the local community:
The clubs managed to plant 1500 trees on the day, which meant that we had exceeded last years target by 500 trees which is a good achievement considering that it only took us one day as opposed to last years two day event.
Gabion cagesThe cages will be constructed by Steel and Wire and should not take more than 7 to 10 working days; we have ordered 6 cages and are glad to say that Nedbank will be sponsoring us with regards to the cages, we hope that they will be present when we will be putting in the cages. The community is still sourcing the rocks needed to fill the cages, the proposed return date to Dlangeni is still not finalized but we are hoping that it’ll be soon.
The NurseryThe next step with regards to Rotaract environmental projects is the completion of the nursery in Manzini, clubs are urged to support and commit themselves to this project, the contact person is Cel’musa Dlamini from the Manzini club he can be contacted on the following number 6310251 or e-mail him at cd310251@hotmail.co.uk.
The Rotaract clubs of district 9250 in Swaziland would like to thank the SEA, Nedbank and Ensukumblili High School as well as all those who contributed to making this campaign possible, the work is not yet complete next year awaits us.
LET’S ALL MAKE IT WORTHWHILE.Compiled by: Qiniso Sibiya
On 20th February, The Rotaract Club of Maputo organized a football tournament whose purpose was to raise funds to assist the earthquake victims of Haiti. Around 3000 Rands was raised thanks to the 25 friends and 6 members that participated in the tournament and the companies that donated funds directly to the cause. The event was publicized in a local paper and 3 members of the club where invited to an 90 minute long televisioofficially donate the funds and taln program to k about Rotaract a week later..
