Campbell Kids Plant Trees - in Tanzania!

Campbell Christian School made a donation this morning that will help plant trees in the Klimanjaro region of Tanzania, Africa. But, why trees? Why not donations of food or clothing?  “People of East Africa are suffering from lack of food due to drought caused by deforestation and climate change,“ says Jeremy Lowney, who gave a science lesson to the third through sixth grades at CCS this morning on the effect of trees on the environment and climate. Lacking any other source of fuel, the people of Tanzania, many of whom are in Masai tribes, cut down trees for firewood. But decades of de-forestation have had a devastating effect on the local climate. Jeremy was inspired by a story from an old man when the question was asked, "Was the rainfall always so low?" "No" the man replied. "Back in the day we had so much rainfall that we would harvest 2-3 times per year. Now we are lucky to harvest once." Jeremy explains, "In simple terms, trees increase moisture in the atmosphere. A mature tree pumps about 400 gallons of water per day through it's vascular tissue, then evaporates most of that into the air. This moisture contributes to cloud formation and precipitation." 

Trees also decrease air temperatures by intercepting ultraviolet light, shade, and evaporative-cooling.  Since 2001, Jeremy, his wife Trisha, and two children Levi and Meleah, have spent at least three months out of each year living in Tanzania and working on the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) base near Klimanjaro. Jeremy, a certified arborist with a degree in forestry from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, formed a non-profit called Trees4Kili with the purpose of educating the local community about the importance of trees, and creating tree nurseries for local villages and schools. Trees4Kli has already planted 10,000 tress in the region, with the ambition to plant 50 million in total. “Our goal is to educate and empower Tanzanian people to reforest their homeland after decades of fuel wood cutting and overgrazing which has caused a steep decline in rainfall, increased temperatures, and subsequent glacial decline.” This morning, the Lowney family, along with their special guest from Tanzania, Yohana Ole-Tiamongoi, a Masai tribesman visiting the United States for the first time, made a presentation to the entire student body and many parents at Campbell Christian Schools. The group performed a short and extremely entertaining skit in which Yohana demonstrated how the Masai's pastoralist lifestyle involves herding bush cattle and protecting them from wild animals, including lions. Afterwards, Jeremy explained to the students how trees play an important role in our climate, and that education is the key to the restoration of the environment in the Kilimanjaro region. He also shared photos from their work in Tanzania showing how trees grown at the Kilimanjaro nursery are given as gifts to local villages, such as the Masai village of Bomang'ombe, Hai, Tanzania, as well as schools along with classes to educate local kids on the importance of trees in their community.  CCS plans to continue to raise money to support Trees4Kili and this important goal!  Learn more about the work of Tres4Kili - follow on Facebook. About CCS: Campbell Christian Schools is a community-based school focused on providing a caring, nurturing environment where children feel comfortable, families are welcome, social and academic goals are prioritized, and Christ is honored. We take pride in educating the whole child, offering families an opportunity to be involved in the school and fostering a spiritual community.  About Adelle: Local writer, boy-mom, lover of shoes. Follow on Twitter or Facebook.