The Man who Planted a Tree

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3 AUDIOBOOK COLLECTIONS
6 BOOK COLLECTIONS

Acknowledgement:

The day I wrote this story for our school was when NJA had
planted 100 trees on Chipembere Highway. It is derived from
a Hadith my mother-in-law once told me about. A simple
message about the benefits of taking care of the Earth
while we still have the opportunity to do so. The children
thoroughly enjoyed the story and we decided to share it.

The benefits of tree planting contribute to the environment in many
ways and it would be good to see today's youth get actively involved
in activities that would heal mother earth.

The first publication was a joint effort with illustrations done by the
students. In the second publication we were blessed to have
Vitumbiko’s creative mind at work. Thank you for the beautiful
illustrations.
I would like to thank the NJA staff and students for their support and
encouragement. I could not have done it without you.

For my mother in law, Fatima Hajat

for the love, kindness and guidance that she gives me - for the
strength and positive attitude she always has towards the trials and
tribulations that life throws in our direction.

©Rubina Hajat

First published – October 2011

Designed and typeset by Graviton FX
Cover Page: Oliver White
Illustrations: Vitumbiko Luhanga

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Note from the Author

My love for children and education goes
back to my childhood.

I was born in Nairobi and being the
youngest of a family of eight has its
advantages and disadvantages. I ended
up taking care of my many nieces and
nephews and worked relentlessly to keep
them happy and occupied. This is what
brought out my teaching skills, even
though I felt like the unfortunate one at the
time.
My parents gave me an education that I will cherish forever. They
taught me to be humble and courteous to others. To do something
good each day and make a difference. My late father’s unshakable
honesty, commitment and generosity is a memory I treasure. I feel
proud to be recognized as his child. His hard work brought wealth to the
family and my late mother always taught us to appreciate what we had.

In 1980, I was shot by Cupid’s arrow and married a charming young
man who convinced me that Malawi was heaven on earth. In 1982, my
second year in Malawi, I opened my first school, Loth-Lorien
Montessori. My love for the environment goes back to this very time as
some of my first students still remembered the butterfly funeral which
we held when a child had accidentally stepped on one.

In 2005, Nyasa Junior Academy started and one of the values that we
endeavoured to instil was to ‘respect the environment’. Our first
environmental school concert idea for “The second chance” came about

after my disheartening experience of going back to Nairobi and finding

that the animals we had seen as children on the road to Mombasa have

now disappeared due to poaching. This concert was followed by a
sequel “The aliens are back!” which focused on the issue of

deforestation in Malawi.

I hope that this book will reach out to the children with the

message that it’s still not too late. Let’s join hands and heal the

environment.

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It was a bright sunny day when the man passed
away and very soon he felt as though he was being
lifted up into the sky.

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He was gently placed on a bed of clouds where a group
of people were sitting and waiting to enter a large
white room.
There was a lot of talk and confusion. Soon it was his
turn to go into the shrine.

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He entered the shrine where God’s presence was felt
and angels were fluttering all around him.

One angel gave him a chair to sit on while
his deeds were about to be read out.
There was a large scale next to a book labelled
“Records”. Two words were on the scale: “GOOD”
and “BAD”.

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An angel opened the book of records and
read out aloud,
“When he was five years old, he pushed his baby
sister while she was taking her first step.”

* BAD*

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“When he was seven, he snatched a pencil from
his friend.”
*BAD *
One angel continued to read while
another placed weights on the scale…

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“When he was eight years old, he looked after his
mum when she was ill. He made her breakfast and
took care of all her needs.
* GOOD *
* GOOD *
The balance on the scale was starting to look
better

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“However, when he was twelve he used a catapult
to kill birds.
* BAD *

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“He was very good to his parents and teachers. He
always respected his elders.
* GOOD *

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“Sometimes he left the tap on while he brushed his
teeth and therefore a lot of water
was wasted…”
*BAD*

God keeps an account of every drop
of water wasted. You should have
been more careful!

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“When he turned eighteen he was given a car for

his birthday which made him arrogant and selfish.
He drove around showing off to his friends.”

* BAD * God feels sad to see arrogance in
* BAD *
* BAD * people. He loves people who are
humble.

The man felt sad and ashamed. His scale was not
looking good at all!

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“Not only was he showing off she continued, “he
used to splash water on people walking on the
pavement during the rainy season. He did not care
about their clothes or how ill they would get if they
stayed wet all day long.”

God DISLIKES people who are selfish and
belittle those who have less

* BAD *
* BAD *

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His scale had tilted completely to the bad end!

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Just when he was losing all hope,
an angel rushed in…
“WAIT!” said the Angel. A message has come
from planet earth. Did you plant a tree when you
were a teenager?” she asked.
The man nodded his head, wondering what
would happen now - was that going to be
good or bad?
*GOOD* You contributed to the planet’s oxygen

God likes people who
look after the
environment!

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“Well, your tree has now grown and has delicious
fruits! School children enjoy these fruits every day.”
“Even birds have been eating fruits from your tree
for the past seven years.
* GOOD *
* GOOD *
* GOOD *

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“Some birds have used your tree to make their
homes.”
*GOOD*
*GOOD*
The scale had started to tip the other way!
The man could not believe his eyes!

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“Not only that, people enjoy the shade from your
tree!”

* GOOD *
* GOOD *

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“Your blessings are still coming in and
will do so as long as the tree is
alive.”
“Now go relax and wait for the day of
judgment - you never know, maybe planting a tree
might just be the best thing you ever did!”

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The man felt a little better when he walked out of
the shrine, but he had only one regret…

I wish that I had planted more trees when I had the
chance! ☹

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NJA GOES GREEN!

At Nyasa Junior Academy, our students are very aware of the
importance of caring for the environment, the dangers of pollution
and the negative impact of the destruction of our natural
environment.
All students are involved in a weekly environmental awareness
exercise during which they are introduced to environmental terms,
they consider ways to reduce their ecological footprint, they create art
using both natural and recycled materials and they discuss ways to
decrease air and water pollution at an individual level.
We have several ongoing projects and activities which are part of
the school programme. Here we reinforce environmental issues
and encourage sustainable practices such as; the recycling of
glass, paper and plastic, individual and community tree planting
projects, harvesting rainwater, composting and “upcycling” activities
where they are taught to turn trash into treasure.
Nyasa Junior Academy was founded by Mrs. Rubina Hajat in 1982 and
we are hoping to continue to make other schools to “go green”.

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Food for thought…
If each one of us were to plant the seed of the fruit we eat - how
many fruit trees would we have in the world?
More than enough!
An experiment at NJA was conducted with a Papaya.

1 Papaya
(approx 100 seeds)
Average 10% grew 10 Papaya trees grew
Each tree had 5 Papayas

We ran out of space when we tried to make the spider web of
Papaya trees. Imagine that! We would have “fruits for Africa” and
more to share!
All of life is a cycle. Let’s put the seed back in the ground and watch
it bear fruit tomorrow.

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3 AUDIOBOOK COLLECTIONS
6 BOOK COLLECTIONS