by Sandy Youngkrantz (GVI volunteer)
From the 1-7 September 2006 the Augrabies Falls National Park celebrated Arbor Week. This commemoration was two-fold; on the one hand the park was visited by the Sentraal Primary School Kakamas as well as the Keimoes High School and on the other hand the park led a tree-planting ceremony held on Wednesday 6 September in the community of Langverwag, Kakamas.
The importance of planting trees has been emphasised through these events. This historical tree-planting ceremony held at Kakamas was supported by community members from Langverwag, Kakamas, the Municipaltiy Kai Garib, Community Development Workers, the Department of Social Development, the South African Police Services, Kakamas, the Department of Health, the Department of Tourism, Environment and Conservation (Upington), Representatives of Churches, Emmanuel School for the Disabled, Langverwag Creche, Oranje-Suid Primary School, Kakamas High School and local Youth Groups who took part in the planting of 6 trees as a symbol of human life.
Each of the 6 trees planted was provided by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (Upington) and represented a sector of the community. Everyone present enthusiastically participated in the tree-planting project, with the long term aim being to establish a garden of remembrance whereby these “new lives” communicates a strong message against the abuse of women and children.
The essence of Arbor Week and the planting of trees was addressed by Angela Isaks (Augrabies Falls National Park). This was followed by a strong message delivered by Pastor Louis Schwartz which really stirred the crowd. The Program Director, Pastor Markus Isaks professionally took this occasion to its deserved heights. Councillor Ms Perpetua Swartz motivated the community in her opening address to take charge of their environment and emphasised their current and future roles in such projects. The sweet voices of the little ones of the local creche singing “Here Lei My” were much appreciated and underlined the uniqueness of this event.
On behalf of the Augrabies Falls National Park we would like to extend our gratitude towards all role-players who contributed towards this historical event, especially the Municipality Kai Garib for their support in a project well done. We hope that this event wil be celebrated annually, with a positive sustainable outcome, towards the enhancement of our environment and communities adjacent to our national parks.