SEGA Celebrates Earth Day
An update from SEGA on its organic garden and anti-poaching efforts.
Along with people all over the world, SEGA students and staff celebrated Earth Day last Saturday! In honor of Earth Day, we asked SEGA staff to tell us about some of the things SEGA does to promote environmental awareness and sustainability.-
SEGA students work in SEGA’s organic garden.
SEGA has an organic garden, sustained entirely by SEGA students. Students in Form 1 are in charge of maintaining the garden. Four girls are assigned to each garden bed, and they must take care of their part of the garden for the entire school year. In addition to building teamwork skills and responsibility, the girls learn the practical skills of working with the earth and growing food! The girls grow vegetables like Chinese lettuce, which are then used in the school kitchens to cook meals. SEGA girls also water and care for trees around the entire school property every day. SEGA recently planted new trees and is planning to plant more trees in the next few months, including fruit trees, which will bring even more sustainable food sources to the school!
SEGA also has a student-run anti-ivory club called Tembo Club.
Students learn about elephant preservation in Tembo Club.
Tembo means “elephant” in English. In Tanzania, the elephant population has declined by more than 60% in the past six years due to large-scale poaching. This poaching occurs largely because of global demand for their ivory tusks. The girls in this club advocate for Tanzania’s elephants and educate other students at local schools about the problem of illegal poaching, and how it impacts Tanzania’s animals and environment. Students in Tembo Club are preparing plays and poems as part of this community outreach to raise awareness about the importance of elephant preservation. They are also planning to do an outing to a game reserve to visit the elephants and learn more about this important issue.
Last year, SEGA received a grant from the New England Biolabs Foundation that supports both the organic garden and the Tembo Club. We thank them and all our supporters for helping SEGA improve our planet!