A few days before the summer solstice, in this season of great blooming and fertilisation in the Earth’s cycles, the Restoration team - myself, Angela and Lauriane - had the opportunity to meet with Mercy Kimani (Kenya Programmes Manager), Wycliffe Matika (Africa Programme Manager) and James Whitehead (CEO) of the International Tree Foundation (ITF) during their UK visit.
ITF are a treasured partner - one that we continue to expand projects with. We have been working closely with Wycliffe and Mercy online for the last two years so it was wonderful to enhance this relationship by getting together away from screens and out in Nature.
We spent time in a small grove of trees in a park in Oxford, where we shared about our biocultural connections with trees and Mercy taught us a Kenyan children’s song about trees called “Muti Muhande”. We learnt the words in the local dialect of Kikuyu, as well as the circle dance that the children perform when singing the song and gave it our best effort around an English tree!
It was a beautiful encounter and felt like an important step in our journey to strengthen trust-based partnerships and focus on Nature connection and biocultural restoration.
Muti Muhande - A Tree Planted - Children's Song
Kikuyu:
Muti muhande rui-ini
One i mathangu maguo
Magithaka na ruhuho
Na ithui nituthake na ruhuho. (x4)
English:
A tree planted on the river bank,
Look at its leaves
Playing with the wind.
Even us let's play with the wind. (4x's)
You can learn more about our ongoing work with ITF through the links below.