A charitable organization, Feed the Sheep has hailed Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) Limited for supporting a tree planting exercise at James Village, Traditional Authority Kapalamula in Balaka District on Saturday, February 7, 2025.
Feed the Sheep Founder, Jayne Chilimampunga thanked ESCOM for providing financial support to transport tree seedlings from Lilongwe to the village along M1 Road, five kilometres off Chingeni Tollgate.
“We planned a small event but it turned out to be big especially because of the presence of ESCOM. We were amazed by the turnout of the villagers. They are hungry for development. More than seven village headmen, ward councillors, and a shadow MP offered a borehole to be drilled at the woodlot for watering trees,” she said.
Feed the Sheep officials, community members and learners at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School planted 820 natural tree seedlings in the village.
Before the tree planting, ESCOM made a presentation on how electricity contributes to environmental conservation and the dangers of vandalizing the corporation’s assets. To cement their understanding, a quiz was held with those who got the questions correctly, receiving some gifts.
Balaka is the home to Phombeya Substation, a hub of the Mozambique-Malawi Power Interconnection Project, hence the tree-planting exercise complements livelihood restoration programmes for the corporation among the Project Affected Persons.