Meet the Wild Christian community: Kemi O
Over the last few years, the more I’ve learnt about the looming climate catastrophe, the more I’ve felt compelled to act, but previously that compulsion was stifled by feelings of being too small to make a real difference. But if everyone feels too insignificant to make a change, then nothing will get done!
In 2016, when I became a parent for the first time, I started to think about all the generations to come, and the need for them to be educated – early – about the need to protect God’s creation.
Like many families, we are earnestly trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but this isn’t the most exciting lesson for a three-year-old conservationist in the making! I’ve been trying to think of more engaging and creative ways to get my daughter interested in, and talking about the planet.
In September, my daughter and I planted a tree (she named it Sappy), at a beach not far from where we live. The process of inserting the sapling into the (pre-dug thankfully) hole, covering it with earth and watering it was lots of fun for us both. She often asks to go and visit Sappy so we can see how it is growing; I’m assured therefore that in a small way, she’s interested in conservation, even if, right now, that interest is limited to one tree!
I also invited some of her friends over to the house during October half term and had a tyre painting activity. I procured and washed eight condemned car tyres, bought waterproof paints and 11 pre-schoolers got to work, painting the tyres in an array of bright colours. The goal is to eventually create a colourfultyre garden. The young labourers will be invited back during the upcoming Christmas holidays to plant the garden, and I’m hoping to spark up some conversations around the importance of plants over some Santa biscuits and hot chocolate!
P.S. The Woodland Trust are currently giving away free trees to schools and communities so that everyone in the UK has an opportunity to plant their very own ‘Sappy’! It’s a fantastic resource that I’d recommend as a starting point, if you’d like to plant some trees and engage both young and old in caring for God’s precious earth.
Thanks to Kemi for sharing about how she is educating others about climate change for the Wild Christian ‘Nature and Climate Change’’ email.
