T&T Foreign Minister, students plant breadfruit trees to mark UN Day

Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan has invited students of three primary schools - Gasparillo Hindu School, The Riversdale Presbyterian School and the Montrose Government School - to join him in planting breadfruit trees to commemorate United Nations Day 2010. A similar exercise will take place in Tobago during the week.

In explaining the rationale for the exercise Rambachan said it is connected to the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, which include the reduction of poverty and hunger, food production and caring for the environment.

Each school is being represented by 25 students who will jointly plant the breadfruit tree, whose fruit is considered a delicacy in the Caribbean. 

The students will be entrusted with the responsibility to nurture the tree for the next year until UN Day 2011, when the responsibility will be passed on to another group of 25 students from the same school. The responsibility for caring for the tree will continue until it bears its first fruits, Dr Rambachan explained. 

He said the idea is not just to plant another commemorative tree but to impress upon children that everyone has a responsibility to ensuring a sustainable future in terms of providing food.

In addition, the project aims to teach children about caring for trees and by extension the environment as well as team work, responsibility and discipline.

Each child is being given a personal copy of a scroll with the names of all the children which they will keep at home and in the school as a reminder of their involvement in United Nations Day 2010.

Rambachan indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to spread this project throughout the schools in 2011.

He said the project is yet another initiative of the Foreign Affairs which aims to bring Government closer to the people and to raise the awareness of Foreign Affairs in policy formulation.

Rambachan said that in a global environment it is necessary to also introduce children to the issues that will face them as youths and adults.