Muscat: Public Relations students of the Department of Mass Communication at University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Salalah, organised a campaign to educate people on the importance of conserving and protecting the ecosystem around them while prompting them to actively participate in planting of trees.
The four-day campaign, called ‘Working Towards a Greener Community,’ consisted of four events spread across one week and was made possible through the support of the 21 local businesses that sponsored it. “Our main goal is to involve the local community, specifically children and university students, in activities that will give them the enthusiasm to plant trees and take care of the environment,” said Anwah al Aamri, one of the organisers of the campaign.
On the day immediately following the campaign’s opening, the team of students went on a visit to Al Moutaza Elementary School, where they organised various environment-oriented recreational activities such as quiz and crafts with the students there. At the end of the visit, the organisers assisted the schoolchildren in the planting of 20 trees on the school premises.
The third day of the campaign, called ‘Planting Day’, saw the student organisers returning once more to their university, this time to do some planting with their fellow students, but only after listening to a lecture on the importance of protecting the environment, and how best to do so, which was presented by a guest lecturer: Ecological Researcher, Mohammed Akaak.
After the lecture was complete and the audience’s questions were answered, students of the university planted trees across the campus. “The moment that students and lecturers took plants and started planting them all around was the best part of the entire campaign,” said Muna Al Aamri, a team member. In all, over 90 trees were planted on the university campus that day, most of which were generously provided by Saadah Nursery.
The final day of the campaign, the organisers took the time to express thanks to their sponsors, supporters and participants and to leave their audience with a final message. The event featured a guest lecture by Shaikh Musalam al Masheli, who spoke about the importance of protecting the environment from a religious perspective.
The final day included games, a play performed by the university’s acting troupe, and competitions for art and photography.
Lama al Jabri, an organiser, said, “The best part is seeing the audience interacting with us, and seeing how we can get them to take action.” Anwah added that seeing the audience’s enthusiasm and passion on planting day was “an extraordinary moment in my life” and that she hopes that the campaign will “continue to reach more people in the local community and influence them for the better.”
Mazid Mustahail Akaak