From the beginning, our culture has been centred around nature. Trees have been revered as sacred by us and over time, we have developed a strong bond with them. So, to recognise the value of our forests, the annual tree planting festival, Van Mahotsav, is celebrated in India every year during the first week of July.
On Friday, 6 July 2023, we at St. Stanislaus International School organised a day filled with activities and competitions to not only celebrate, but also to make students aware about the importance of trees in our ecosystem.
In the primary section, a fancy dress competition was held where students dressed up as a tree or plant that best represented their personality. The creativity and effort taken to make their remarkable costumes showed as our students blossomed as little trees and plants. We were glad to see that many participated with a lot of enthusiasm.
In the secondary section a special assembly was organised. Our students were given a preassembly activity by our guest speaker, Fr. Suren Abreu. Fr. Suren being a passionate environmentalist amongst other things, asked our students to measure the girth of two trees and the length of the soil around them in and around their locality. They also had to collect a leaf, preferably a fallen one which was the size of the palm of their hand.
The assembly involved an introduction followed by a prayer and a song. Fr Suren went on to then give our students valuable information on trees. He related the two activities to how much soil a tree will need depending upon its girth and how much is available in Mumbai. How we humans and trees have similarities. He explained that, despite all this, trees are being cut down. He quoted statistics in regards to this, from across the world and in Mumbai as well. He then ended with a video with a part of a quote by Harrison Ford, ‘Nature does not need people, people need nature’ and spoke about the importance of trees to us.
All in all, the students enjoyed themselves and it was truly a day to remember.
