I am still integrating into my new community. I’m learning their interesting Chichewa accent, traditions, and some new foods. But today I would like to share with you something interesting that I observed since the first day I arrived at my site. To be specific I will talk about the vegetation and the lessons I’ve learnt from this observation.
When I look around the surroundings of my community, I observe that it has grass and different tree species like mango, guava, grape, and different acacia. From these trees the people derive many benefits, like getting fruits, firewood, and some trees help to fix nitrogen to their agricultural soils. Of course we do not live in a forest, but there is just an appropriate amount of vegetation that covers the settlement area, and other trees are planted at the farm. Truthfully, when I see this vegetation the environmentalist part in me gets excited. When I look at the mountain that is very close to my site, I see it’s full of natural grass and trees, which is no longer the case with most mountains in Malawi. But all in all, Mchinji is an interesting district when it comes to the presence of vegetation.
As I gotten more integrated into my community I’ve been told that they plant trees every rainy season. This year I am glad to say that I have the privilege to take part in this activity. Mind you my site is an orphanage not a forestry office so this is very exciting. This made me to admire the people here because they took this initiative to contribute to environmental protection by planting trees. These trees are not just here to beautify the environment, but the people can also find different benefits from them. This means that anyone can take part in practicing any environmental friendly activity that can contribute to environmental protection or restoration. Any initiative one decides to take part in that protects the environment, is equally valuable even if they did not study environmental sciences. Below are some pictures so that you may want to take a look at to the beauty of my community for yourself.