Hundreds of girls from Narok West Sub County have participated in a tree planting exercise that aims at keeping them busy during this long school holiday.
The initiative dubbed ‘Tree for girls’ is pioneered by Tarento Africa club with an intention of bringing young girls, who live near the Maasai Mara National Reserve, together to do meaningful jobs that will help the society.
Narok Governor’s wife Agnes Ntutu, who launched the programme at Nkoilale primary school today lauded the project saying it would keep the girls engaged during this holiday as they were expected to plant many tree seedlings in the locality.
Ntutu said during the tree planting forums, the girls would be educated on various life skill topics like hygiene, health, career choice, education among others.
She called upon parents to help in guiding and counseling their daughters during this long holiday season warning that those who would subject their daughters to retrogressive cultural practices like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriages would be arrested and prosecuted in court of law.
The clergy who attended the event led by Bishop Simon Simpai asked girls to be principled and report any adult who attempted to subject them to illegal traditions.
He thanked them for planting trees and asked all churches to encourage the youths and children to plant trees during this rainy season.
“Even in our churches, we are encouraging the congregation to plant trees. We want everybody to know the importance of trees as climate change is affecting all of us,” he said.
The founder Tarento Africa Club Leshan Kereto called on girls to engage in productive business during this holiday season and warned them against peer pressure that could ruin their morals.
During the event, many girls were awarded for their great contribution to the society among them, planting trees and performing well in school.
By Ann Salaton
