WHEN A SAPLING IS PLANTED

WHEN A SAPLING IS PLANTED This lesson is a speech delivered by the well-known African environmentalist Wangari maathai after accepting the Nobel Prize for peace in 2004. In this lesson she advises us to have a sensitive and reverential love for nature. MAIN POINTS: • Expresses the sensitive and reverential love for nature • Dedicates the Nobel Prize to the women and children of Kenya • Encourages the women and children of Kenya to take up leadership. • Speaks about the damages and changes caused by deforestation • Remarks the danger of introducing commercial farming to the environment. • Price of export is controlled by International trade. It affects the income of the people. • Local people suffer so much and they can’t meet their basic needs. • Thus the quality of life is disturbed when the environment is destroyed. • Speaks of the importance of planting trees as a remedy for this. • Wangari Mathaai planted 30 million trees together with the members of the Green Belt Movement. • As a result of Green Belt Movement employment opportunities were created . • In Kenya the tree became a symbol of peace. • She speaks of the urgency to heal the wounds of mother earth. • Underlines the importance of sustainable management of environment. • Exhorts the young generation to bring back the biodiversity of the past. • It will ensure our children to enjoy the world of beauty and wonder. POSSIBLE QUESTIONS:- 1. Imagine that you are selected as the best NSS Activist by the NSS cell of Higher Secondary Education. You would be honoured by the Education Minister in the presence of the director, HigherSecondary Education and other dignitaries. You are supposed to deliver a speech that you would deliver. A) Honourable Chief guests on the dias, Respected teachers and my dear friends, A warm good morning to one and all…. Today I am very much honoured by standing here to receive the prize for the best NSS activist. As I stand here my memories go back to the past. I recall the day when I expressed my views about conserving nature and save mother Earth to my loving parents by joining in the NSS organization. I am very much thankful to God and my loving parents for the kind of support rendered on me. As a NSS Activist, my priority was to conserve and save nature by retaining its beauty for the upcoming generation. We should always think of our fore-fathers who sacrificed their valuable time for the conservation of nature. NSS has helped me a lot to conserve the rich natural heritage. I take this auspices occasion as a time to inspire others. Let it be an inspiration to many to come for the protection of nature. I believe in the power of youth to do great wonder. I wish all the youngsters to devote their valuable time to bring the best in conserving our motherland and ourselves. “Let’s not nip the buds, let it bossom”. Let’s stand together, join our hands to bring out the best and protect environment. 2. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect,’’ says Aldo Leopold. How far do you agree with this view? Prepare a write-up in not more than 50 words in the light of your understanding of the speech ‘When a Sapling is Planted’ by Wangari Maathai. LOVE OUR MOTHER EARTH TO LIVE LONGER It is the need of the hour to conserve our indigenous nature. In the Nobel prize acceptance speech, Wangari Maathai insists youth and others to save our homeland and restore the world of tadpoles. I do agree with the statement of Aldo Leopold completely. Since present day society sees land as a commodity to buy and sell, the above advice assumes so much importance. We always try to abuse nature. We have lost the love our ancestors had to the nature. Aldo rightly puts it in his words. As Wangari Maathai stated, the green belt movement was started for the restoration of plants. But it has has been branched up to other fields like democracy, politics and so on. She speaks about the loss, this generation would face. We would not be able to give our next generation what we have already received from our fore-fathers. We should try to consider nature as a social sphere to live as a community. Here the speech is mainly addressed to the children and women of Kenya because women are the most vulnerable persons in any community. She adds that our environment is a part of our culture. She cites an example to support this view. The elders of the Kikuyu carried a staff from the thigi tree. Placing a branch of thigi tree is mean to stop the dispute between two conflicts. Such practices are really conserving nature and they even promote peace. Wangari Maathai took the challenge of planting thirty millions of trees for achieving this dream. She invites everyone to take the challenge of restoring the homes of tadpoles and gift the future generation its beauty and wonder. 3. You are greatly honoured by the activities of the Green Belt Movement but you decide on to launch a similar movement in your School to ensure a green campus. In order to collect more information regarding their activities, you decide to write a letter to the head of the Green Belt Movement. Prepare the letter of enquiry. ( Hints: Their activities-websites/ books giving details-support given to local units) FROM NAME MEDICAL LINE ERNAKULAM TO THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT GREEN BELT MOVEMENT ERNAKULAM Sir, sargaprasad@gmail.com . Sub:- TO COLLECT MORE INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF GREEN BELT MOVEMENT I am a Plus Two student studying in Florida School in Chennai. I am planning to launch a movement named “Ever Green earth” I am very much inspired by your activities on Green Belt Movement. I know your organization focuses on planting trees, environment conservation and women’s rights. I also want to implement a green Campus in our School by collecting more information about your activities. I would like to know about the websites of Green Belt Movement and the books on it. I am also interested to know the kind of support given by your organization to local units. I hope you would forward us all the information to my E mail id 4.A seminar was conducted in your School on the topic ‘Maintaining the ecological balance in the modern world’ as per the following programme. Read it carefully and prepare a report of the seminar. REPORT OF THE SEMINAR A wonderful and enlightening seminar was conducted in our School on the topic “Maintaining the ecological balance in the modern world” on 20th June 2016 at 10 am in the School auditorium. The programme was started with a prayer by the School choir. It was followed by the welcome speech by Sri Joshy Thomas, the Principal of the School. The presidential address was done by Sri.Mohankumar, the President of the Local Body. After the Presidential Address the seminar was officially inaugurated by the famous Environmental activist Smt. Radha Menon. It was followed by the Paper Presentation. First Paper was presented by Master Amal Dev. He presented the paper in a clear manner highlighting the importance of maintaining the ecological balance in the modern world. After his presentation, Kumari. Shanit Thomas, Master Basheer K and Kum. Daisy Koshy also presented their papers in an effective manner. Then there was an interactive session for ten minutes. Some of the students actively participated in this session by asking questions and clearing their doubts. Finally vote of thanks was done by the Chairman of the School Master Francis Cyriac and the School Choir did the National Anthem.