When teachers discuss global warming during science lessons, many students assume it is just a theoretical concept confined to the classroom.
However, the recent excessive temperatures are a stark reminder that climate change is a harsh reality.
This phenomenon is a direct result of human activities that harm the environment, leading to increased global temperatures and unbearable weather patterns, like prolonged dry spells.
Having participated in the Green Schools Initiative last year, Iganga Girls Secondary School came third in the project category of the programme aimed at encouraging schools to reduce their carbon footprint by adopting climate-smart innovations.
The school was awarded a cash prize of sh7.5m, which it has to invest in projects aimed at addressing climate change.
Through the Youth Future Farmers of Africa (YOFFA), the students are rolling out climate-smart technologies to combat climate change.
Innovative projects
A signpost at the school gate welcomes visitors to the sites on campus showcasing the innovative projects undertaken by these young minds to save the planet from looming doom.
For those who have not been to the school in the last decade or so, the current impressive tree cover obscures the historical view of far-off buildings.
In fact, in the last years, irrespective of one’s height, you would stand by the gate and count the number of staff houses on the left side of the road stretching up to the administration block, but it is not the case anymore.
Rose Atim, the project manager, says YOFFA engages in setting up tree nurseries with various tree species, including fruit trees like jackfruit, avocado and mangoes.
“We started with our school compound to boost its tree cover. Now, you see lots of trees, and it’s hard to spot a building within the artificial forest,” Atim says.
She adds that plants cool temperatures by providing shade and acting as windbreaks during heavy storms.
The students’ club, comprising 600 members, is involved in various activities outside class hours. The team on duty wears blue overalls with the YOFFA logo and gumboots, and they work together in a jolly mood, punctuated with hilarious jokes.
A club member shows how the tower garden is set up at Iganga Secondary School.
Their dedication to saving nature from the impact of climate change is evident in their work. One of their projects is tower gardening, where they use plastic materials and other waste to create a soil holder.
James Isooba, the patron of the association, says the girls collect plastic materials, like plastic bags (kaveera) abandoned on the compound, and use them to make a tower with several circular levels.
Miria Namwebya, the club’s media relations chief, says the same or different vegetables, including cabbage, sukuma wiki and nakati, can be planted at each level.
The fish pond is another impressive project, made from simple materials like papyrus mats, timber offcuts and eucalyptus poles.
The pond holds 250 catfish and has a carrying capacity of 300. Isooba says the fish are destined for the school kitchen to enhance the menu.
The students also have a vermiculture section, where they grow earthworms for feeding the fish and for commercial purposes. The earthworms are grown in cut-off wood containers and the vermi-compost is sold to local farmers and teachers at sh100,000 per 100kg sack.
The piggery project is another initiative, with 15 animals managed in easily drained shelters filled with sawdust.
The seven piglets are up for sale at sh150,000 each to boost the club’s coffers.
The girls have also set up a quarter-acre vegetable garden using drip irrigation to withstand adverse weather conditions.
The production from this garden is occasionally used to improve the school kitchen and staff menu.
A greenhouse has been constructed to grow tomatoes using greenhouse technology.
Patricia Vanessa Kyakuwaire, the club president, explains that the greenhouse controls temperature and humidity to enable proper crop growth.
The greenhouse is about 20mx 50m and allows members to grow vegetables like tomatoes at any time of the year.
Achievements
The club’s profits from its various climate-smart practices have made it the wealthiest club on the compound.
Last year, the profits enabled the club to purchase a new ice cream-making machine worth sh4m.
The club also enjoys a cordial relationship with the neighbouring community, working together to fight climate change.
They offer free fruit seedlings to the neighbours and persuade them to stop cutting down trees to make charcoal.
Whitney Naigaga, the club manager, says they engage with the nearby community during regular outreaches to persuade them to stop the chronic habit of cutting down trees to make charcoal.
“In fact, we are offering free fruit seedlings to the neighbours to help them plant more trees. Since they like having fruit trees on their compounds, we are certain this will bear good results to save our planet from destruction,” Atim says.
LEAD PHOTO CAPTION: Club members feeding fish at Iganga Secondary School. The fish supplements students’ diet. Photo by George Bita
