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MONTHLY MEETING IN MAY (30/5/2026)

LEARNING ABOUT SOIL EROSION AND OUR COMMUNITY

A. You will need the following for this lesson:

• A small bucket of water
• A jug
• Some loose soil
• 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls) who will volunteer

B. Take the children to a place in the community where the effect of soil erosion can be clearly seen. Introduce the lesson by asking the following question:

1. What is soil erosion?
   • To erode means to sweep away something over a period of time.
     • Water can erode things away
     • Strong wind can erode things away
   • Soil erosion means water washing away soil

C. Do the following activity with the children:

• Let the 4 children stand in a line, a boy and a girl, a boy and a girl.
• Put a small amount of soil in the hands of each of the children
• Tell 2 of them (one boy and one girl) to leave their hands open, with the lump of soil in their hands.
• The other 2 (a boy and a girl) should hold tight the lump of soil in their hands
• Pour a jug of water over the hands of the two children who have soil in their open hands.
  • Tell the children to observe what happens.
  • Let them share their observations.
• Again, pour a jug of water over the hands of the two children who have soil tightly held in their hands.
  • Tell the children to observe what happens.
  • Let them share their observations.

D. After the activity, continue with the following explanations:

2. Soil erosion has so many effects

• It makes the fertile top soil to be washed away, making it lack the nutrients that plants need to grow healthy.
• It creates gullies (a small, narrow channel formed when rainwater cuts into the soil).

3. If the erosion of soil is not controlled, it keeps extending even into homes where people live and can destroy their crops, houses, etc.

4. Our village has this huge gully caused by soil erosion.

• It started in a very small way but has now extended deep, wide, and long!
• All the soil that used to be in this place has been washed away.
• If nothing is done, this gully may extend to the homes nearby.
• Some parts of the road heading to Tuju Primary School has been affected by the soil erosion at this place.

5. If the community members had done something on this issue, it could not have reached this level.

1. We as Kandhawa Green Children are being prepared to start doing something little by little so that we can prevent this erosion from extending to our homes.
2. There are so many things we can do to prevent this erosion from extending. This includes:
   • Planting trees
   • Organizing tree-planting days with the rest of the community members.
   • Asking the local community leaders like the area MCA and MP to put budget for building gabions in this place to prevent further erosion.

E. After this explanation, the children are to go to a nearby home (as per the program of the day).

6. We want to demonstrate how we can plant a TREE, and two fruits, namely: PASSION FRUIT and GRAFTED ORANGE at our homes.

• GRAVILLEA: It is a good tree that can be planted even in the garden since it is beneficial to other plants (it Improves soil fertility through its leaves, it Prevents soil erosion by stabilizing slopes, it Provides shade for crops and livestock, and it is Excellent for agroforestry and timber)
• PASSION FRUIT: This tree provides us with the fruit known as passion fruit which helps to prevent diseases and makes us healthy children. It is a climbing fruit which requires that you must give it what it can climb.
• GRAFTED ORANGE: This one takes between 2 years and 4 years to start producing fruits which we eat and we can sell.

F. After the explanation, demonstrate to the children showing them how to prepare holes for the Gravillea, the Passion Fruit, and the Grafted Orange.

7. We shall select the first group of senior children who will be given Gravillea, Passion Fruit, and a Grafted Orange to plant at their homes. The rest of the children will be given the next time.

8. Each of the selected children will be required to go and prepare three holes in the manner that they have been have been shown.

• After two weeks, someone wi