Helen Sjöholm, artist and ambassador for the Vi forest, with the bracelet Trees and Love. Photo: Marcus Lundstedt / Vi forest
Press release 2016-05-26
Trees and Love! Revenues from the Vi forest’s new bracelet gives children education in tree planting – knowledge that helps against drought, hunger and other effects of climate change that affect them today.
– For millions of children the climate changes are already a fact, they see it on their plates where the portions get smaller and at the rains which come more and more seldom. I don’t just want to watch while this happens. The Vi forest bracelets are a way to help children learn to plant trees that protect against drought and hunger, says Helen Sjöholm, artist and ambassador for the Vi forest.
For every bracelet sold two school children in East Africa get education in planting trees to protect against climate change. The bracelet is made of beads of dried acai seeds and costs SEK 130 in adult size and SEK 120 in child size. The bracelet can be ordered at www.viskogen.se from May 26.
The bracelet is part of the new Vi forest campaign Trees and Love. The goal is to raise money to start 500 tree clubs and educate 10 000 pupils in schools in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. At the trees clubs, the children, that often become farmers just like their parents, learn about the environment and the role of trees to adapt to a warmer climate.
– In Rwanda, that I visited this winter, many children are forced to earn a living on farming when they grow up. In an increasingly warmer climate the knowledge from the tree clubs therefore can be equally important as it is for children to know how to read, write and count. The trees absorb water during floods and make the soil fertile so that families can have a harvest and an income despite the long dry periods, Helen Sjöholm says.
Facts:
– Climate changes affect children especially hard, according to a new report by the UN children’s fund UNICEF. 160 million children live in areas at risk of severe drought, the majority of them live in Africa.
– Trees are an effective protection against a warmer climate. The trees absorb water during floods and make the soil fertile so that you can get a harvest and an income despite the long dry periods.
– It costs 1 700 SEK to start a new tree club for 20 pupils and run it for a year. The corresponding cost to build a vegetable garden at a school where pupils can learn cultivation and also reap crops for food is 730 SEK.
For interview requests with Helen Sjöholm, please contact:
Carina Enberg, agent and press contact Helen Sjöholm
Tel: 0706 48 08 88, 08-555 19 606, email: carina@monomusic.se
For further information, please contact:
Marcus Lundstedt, press officer Vi forest
Tel: 070 107 43 17, email: marcus.lundstedt@viskogen.se