Nature, our Hearth and Haven.

As someone raised in the city, I had never truly gotten the opportunity to admire something as
wonderful as the nature around me – until now. I will be forever grateful for having had this
amazingly educating experience about nature and humility. I am incredibly thankful to the Christ
Church School Nature Club and all the teachers who organized this for me and my peers.
Everything that I saw had a great impact on me.
Therefore, on the 6th of August, 2022, me and my friends set out to explore nature and help
farmers in the Atgaon region make a living by giving them various fruiting plants. I will never
forget this experience.
Moreover, the dewy, glade-green surroundings that we set our stage to that day will forever
remain in my memories. So will the daisy-lined worn path that we trotted along to. As we
laughed and admired our surroundings, we realised that this was the true human home. After all,
nature is our first home, abode and sustenance for all living kin.
After we got past the guise of boredom, we were finally able to witness how the nature around us
was astonishingly gorgeous. It was our only experience in a world like this. So, our first look at
the horizon up-close helped open our eyes to nature without any filter. And to us – that was
amazement.
Once we reached our destination, it was time to do what we had intended. All of us had pitched
in to buy dozens of fruiting saplings to plant in the rural surrounding to help the people living
there earn a living. We each planted one sapling and the event was a memorable one. The feeling
of dirt in our fingernails was like giving a hug to the soil that had birthed us. Helping is a truly
joyful verb.
Consequently, we travelled to a large waterfall where the clear water rushed by us. The sunlight
dappled on its waves and our own faces reflected back to us – the Earth’s own loop. We had our
lunches sitting by it and of course, no one could resist the urge to put their feet in. And so, we
did. The peacefulness of the moment overtook every single one of us.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so after a magical couple of hours by the
stream, it was time to return home.
Nevertheless, as I sat on the damp bus seat alongside my friends, my head swirled with
memories. I fell asleep to rain pattering on the windows, smiling, but not before reminiscing on
the experience we had had that day.
Jia Berde, Grade 8.