In commemoration of the World Earth Day, FlexiSAF Foundation marched gallantly into the Disabled Colony located in Karon Majigi Community in the outskirts of Abuja to plant trees and flowers with the beneficiaries of its signature Accelerated Learning Programme. It is no news that following the success of the Organization’s first Accelerated Learning Project in Rugga community which saw over 40 beneficiaries enrolled into formal schooling systems, the foundation has moved into the disabled community of Karon Majigi to implement same with a renewed vigor and the state of the art technological innovation of a MOBILE CLASSROOM.

The celebration of the World earth day initiated by the foundation aims to plant numbers of flowers and trees round the mobile classroom site and to teach the young beneficiaries, the core knowledge of persevering our environment and keeping our surroundings clean at all times. The event which started with a comprehensive energizer by the Programs team of the foundation and the beneficiaries, saw the beneficiaries blooming with joy and ecstasy as they prepared to beautify their classroom and their environment with what would literally become shades and beauty reference points in the future. The energizers led to the foundation’s team members breaking into groups with delineated numbers of beneficiaries with waste baskets in their hands to pick visible dirt around the community. The areas that were kept clean by these actions include the mobile classroom area, the field, the palace and the community’s dusty pathways. The activity was more fun for the kids than a chore as they sang their rhymes while at it. This is the message the foundation intends to spread abroad that learning and teaching should not be a mere physical activity, as beneficiaries and students can learn effectively in a serene, healthy and fun environment. The planting activity was ably led by the Executive Director of the Foundation,-Amina Abubakar who was joined by the kids in her group to commit the plant to earth and nurture the same to grow into life!. Amidst the shouts of “Mu’tafa”, everyone clapped ecstatically as the other groups, led by an adult from the team planted theirs in the already provided spots. The highlight of the day was the presence of the community leader (“Mai- Angwa”) and his Council of Chiefs who came to plant one tree symbolically, at the top right corner of the mobile classroom. The visibly elated chief thanked the foundation for bringing this intervention to the community and promised their continued cooperation.

One will be overstating the obvious by saying,-teaching kids about trees and plants is a great way to create an Earth-friendly demography of young persons. The best way to inspire a love for nature is to start teaching it at a young age. By having children learn every aspect of tree planting and care, from picking a species to putting it in the ground and everything in between, it becomes second nature to them. Also, one of the most intriguing parts of the event was that, even though the project was about education, no one had to teach the beneficiaries to be happy about planting trees. They understood this albeit by the examples laid. Watching them sing and take part in the activities was delightful and to bear witness that kind of joy and appreciation was the best part of the whole experience.

FlexiSAF Foundation is changing the narrative practically and systematically, as it progresses with its numerous projects in the Educational sector to ultimately reduce the numbers of out of school children in Nigeria, and with activities like this, the foundation is on its way to fulfilling this mandate.