In the outskirts of Kinshasa, DRC, the Director of the secondary school at l'Instut Bobokoli, Br. Édouard Yatha, introduced Br. Brian to a three-year old ecological initiative. Every year, each of the 500+ new students plants a fruit tree from the school's nursery in a nearby 20-hectare property, giving the students a chance to see how the trees grow over the course of their six years. Students thus develop their ecological awareness and sense of personal empowerment while contributing to local food security and work opportunities for nearby villagers. The school will be able to expand the orchard onto adjacent property when it reaches the present capacity of 20,000 trees. Families are also able to purchase trees from the school's nursery so they can bring this environmental action into their own homes.
