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Caring for Creation
16 May 2008
Getachew Assefa manages the EKHC environmental projects
Getachew Assefa manages the
EKHC environmental projects

Massive erosion has depleted the soil in many formerly lush and fertile areas of Ethiopia. Trees have been cut down over several decades to provide cooking fuel and to clear land for farming. The resulting loss of food crops has brought unbelievable poverty and suffering. The Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church (EKHC) is seeking to apply Christ’s compassion to the problem through educational projects in villages most affected by environmental degradation.

Reaching Out Through the Schools

School children have a remarkable ability not only to accept new ideas, but also to act as ambassadors for those ideas in their homes and communities. So the church developed an environmental care curriculum, incorporating feedback from the teachers who were planning to use it. At every point, the EKHC project managers engaged the community and governmental units (the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Rural Development) in their planning.

Eleven schools have been involved in the pilot project. Creation care topics are integrated into the schools’ general curriculum. After-school environmental clubs plant gardens to demonstrate agricultural practices that don’t deplete the soil. The clubs also plant tree seedlings for reforestation, as growing trees may be the best long-term hope for reclaiming damaged land.

Immediate Benefits

Each school has installed solar panels and solar cookers to demonstrate environmentally-friendly technology to the community. The benefits are immediately obvious. Solar power enables the school to recharge radio batteries so they can listen to the standardized lessons that are broadcast over national radio. Electric lights at night, thanks to solar power, transform the formerly inconsequential school building into prominence as a community center—the only lighted meeting space in the village. Community leaders also use the power to recharge their mobile phones, enabling them to keep up with commodity prices and thus compete equitably in the marketplace.

As this program moves out of the pilot phase, administrators at other schools are asking to participate in the ongoing program of educating school children to be change agents for creation care in their communities.
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