Climate Action in Education: Planting 10,000 Trees

Dear GlobalGiving Family,

As we approach the final stretch of the year, we’re proud to share the progress you have helped make through our Climate Action Project. Despite a challenging fundraising landscape, this programme has continued to move forward, thanks to the dedication of our team and the generosity of supporters who stepped in when it mattered most.

From hands-on climate workshops to tree-planting activities, mural painting and the young climate champions we’re nurturing along the way, this report captures both the progress achieved and the seeds of hope being planted in schools across Kisumu. 

Impact Summary: January’25 - Present

Thanks to your support and the commitment of our community, we have continued to grow this project’s reach:

• 18 Climate Action workshops conducted
• 280 students trained in environmental stewardship, sustainability practices, and climate awareness
• 280 seedlings were distributed, giving each student a living reminder of their role in caring for the environment

Many of these students come from communities that feel the effects of climate change year after year; flooding, crop losses, and extreme weather. For them, climate education is no longer optional; it builds understanding, resilience, and the confidence to take action.

At the end of each workshop, students recap creatively, through songs, poems, or quotes - often revealing just how deeply they connect with what they’ve learned. One student shared a powerful quote: 

“We shouldn’t have a plan B because we don’t have Planet B.”

 A simple yet profound message that reflects the urgency their communities live with every day, and the hope these workshops help nurture.

Tree Planting at Korwana Primary School

At Korwana Primary School, our team led a tree-planting activity alongside teachers, students, and community members, resulting in 120 tree seedlings planted on the school grounds.

Beyond restoring greenery, the activity strengthened students’ practical understanding of long-term environmental responsibility. One teacher described the seedlings as “babies”- living things the school had committed to nurture and protect as they grow.

That sense of ownership was evident as students proudly planted, watered, and pledged to care for each tree, embedding climate responsibility into daily school life.

A Mural Inspired by Community Identity

We also completed a community-inspired mural at Central Primary School, celebrating the school’s identity and reflecting the garden we established there last year. The mural now serves as a colourful reminder that student-led environmental change can begin with creativity, belonging, and collective action.

As Teacher Kamiruka beautifully shared: “The new mural at the school gives life to the environment and blends beautifully with the greenery.”

Climate Action Within a Holistic Education Model

As we share this update, we are encouraged by the interconnected progress being made across RKF’s other education-focused programmes.

In 2025, RKF’s Meals Program expanded to four schools: Odienya, Korwana, Nduru, and Bwanda, ensuring students receive two nutritious meals every school day. A warm cup of uji each morning and a wholesome lunch in the afternoon have become routine and reassuring for children living with uncertainty. 

So far this year, 273,417 meals have been served, bringing the cumulative total to nearly 1.3 million meals since 2016. These meals ease hunger, support concentration and help children stay in school. Beyond the classroom, the program strengthens local economies by creating livelihoods for 15 single mothers and widows, supporting local farmers, and providing seven youth internships.

Alongside this, RKF’s Girls’ Empowerment Program reached 773 girls and their mothers across five communities in Kisumu County in 2025, culminating in a collective celebration during the International Day of the Girl Child. Through culturally grounded empowerment workshops, mothers and daughters engaged in open conversations on menstrual and sexual reproductive health, safety, confidence, and communication, strengthening critical support systems around girls’ education.

Each participating girl received a reusable sanitary kit lasting 12–18 months, enabling uninterrupted school attendance, easing financial strain on households led largely by single mothers, and reducing period-related absenteeism. Beyond tangible resources, the program fostered spaces of healing and connection, where silence was broken, trust was rebuilt, and generational cycles of shame began to shift, laying the foundation for sustained educational access and long-term empowerment.

When a child is fed, empowered, and taught to protect the world around them, learning becomes an act of hope. 

Your support is shaping resilient young leaders, grounded in purpose, strengthened by knowledge, and ready to care for both their futures and the planet they call home.

Let’s Grow Tomorrow Together

As we look ahead at our Climate Action Project, we want to reach more students, build more school gardens, and make climate education a consistent, year-round opportunity for children across Kisumu.

Your donation of $200 or Kshs. 26,000/- will make that possible for 100 young learners - giving them access to a comprehensive 2 hour Climate Action Workshop. 

Donate Now. 

Thank you for planting seeds of hope with us: in the soil, in classrooms and in the hearts of our children. Together, we can make climate education possible and powerful.

Links:

• Become a Monthly Donor
• Make Climate Education Accessible
• Read More Stories of Change