Green Apple Day of Service in Kenya: Creating a Cleaner Environment for Children

Green Apple Day of Service in Kenya: Creating a Cleaner Environment for Children

Students and volunteers march through Korogocho promoting green messages. 
In recognition of Green Apple Day of Service, Global Communities Kenya supported two schools in the informal settlement of Korogocho (one of the largest slum neighborhoods of Nairobi)—Ngunyumu Primary School and Our Lady of Fatma Secondary School—to clean up the schools and surrounding areas, plant trees within the school yards to provide a greener space for children, and deliver messages on the importance of having a clean environment for children to develop and thrive.
The overall goal of the Green Apple Day of Service in Korogocho was to provide an opportunity for the community to come together and work to provide a cleaner, healthier environment for its children. The specific objectives of the day were to:

Sensitize young people importance of living in a healthy environment

Promote spirit of volunteerism among the communities

Mobilize the community on cleaning the environment

Plant trees in Ngunyumu and Our Lady of Fatma schools to ensure schools have greener spaces
More than 700 people volunteered to help clean and participate in the day’s events including Global Communities’ staff, its partners, local government, teachers, parents, students and local businesses.
Throughout the week leading up to Green Apple Day of Service, the two schools delivered messages on the importance of keeping the environment clean. The activities were led by the environmental, wildlife, health and Girl Guide clubs within the schools. The students created their own drawings, songs and poems highlight key environmental messages.

Volunteers clean out a drainage ditch which had been a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The Green Apple Day of Service day kicked off with a meeting at the chief’s camp and continued with a parade through the community with volunteers cleaning up along the way. The clean up included included opening drainage trenches clogged with plastic bags and other trash that had created stagnant pools of water, a conducive breeding ground for mosquitoes. 
Once the clean up of the community and schools were complete, the groups congregated at the Ngunyumu Primary School grounds for entertainment and speeches. Various student groups performed and a puppet group presented a show highlighting the importance of waste management.
Guest speakers included  the Ruaraka Constituency Environmental Officer (under which Korogocho falls); a representative from the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) who spoke on the benefits of a healthy environment and the role of NEMA in environmental management; the former mayor of Nairob;, the Director of UNHABITAT’s Safer Cities program; the Kasarani District Public Health Officer; and the CEO of a local corporation House of Manji. 
While Global Communities led the planning effort, the Ngunyumu Primary School established a committee comprising of teachers in charge of the Girl Guides, Boy Scouts, environmental and health clubs and student representatives for planning at the school and community level. This helped to ensure that the day truly reflected the hopes and expectations of the schools. Other organizations that assisted in the planning included Kenya Girl Guides, National Organization for Peer Education (NOPE), Saint Johns Community Center, Support for Addictions Prevention and Treatment in Africa, and local cohesion champions from the USAID-funded Kenya Tuna Uwezo program. 
Global Communities was able to raise $3,455 from local corporations and small businesses in support of the event including contributions from Price Waterhouse Coopers, the Kenya Forest Service which donated 100 tree seedlings, West Ambulance which provided free first aid services on site, Brookside Dairy, AON Insurance Brokers and other business and individual donors. 
View more photos from the Green Apple Day of Service in Kenya on our Facebook page.