Ganiu Adigun Idris

Nigeria

The Montessori, The Way to Save Our Future

Climate change and the possible catastrophe that might befall us, echoes fear in our minds. The talk of flooding in Lagos Island hurts. Like we deserve to take back our garbage from these water bodies.

For my youth service at Lagos Island, I lived with Tunde for 9 months. In a country of “lazy youths,” he started a Montessori school.

He taught me the Montessori way. As we went through the practical life curriculum, we had the idea to organize a planting week to educate children on the role of plants in combating climate change.

The kids went on a tour of a plant garden in Lagos. They learned about plants and flowers, our vests carrying the message “Plant a tree today, save our planet tomorrow”. Each child has a flower to carter for. The idea was to capture the kids’ interest in planting and get them to talk about it at home with their friends and family. With these kids’ voices, we reached the whole community with our message. The message goes beyond informing our present community, but we have built a future community of informed people. Truly, the Montessori way is a way to save our future.