By Emily Setona
HARRISMITH – Busamed Harrismith Private Hospital marked Heritage Month by taking its message of healthy living into the community through a tree-planting initiative at Intabazwe High School and Boipopo Intermediate School on 23 September.
Doctors and staff members from the hospital planted trees with learners at the two schools, highlighting the importance of caring for the environment as part of building healthy communities.
Dr Siboniso Dlamini of Busamed was accompanied by staff members at Intabazwe High School, while hospital manager Constance Majeke led another group to Boipopo Intermediate School, where learners joined in planting the trees.
At Boipopo, 12-year-old Grade 7 learner Nhlanhla Sibeko confidently explained why trees are important when asked by the hospital team.
“Because they give us oxygen that we need to live,” Sibeko said.
Dlamini said the tree planting formed part of Busamed’s Heritage Month celebrations and was an act of service to the community in which the hospital operates.
“We as Busamed believe that prevention is better than cure. We are not just a hospital that wants to see patients coming into the hospital, but we believe that prevention is better than cure,” Dlamini said.
He said the initiative also highlighted the relationship between people and trees, particularly the role trees play in maintaining a healthy environment.
“This might be taken lightly, but today was a nice day because it was about planting trees which we have a symbiotic relationship with. We give them carbon dioxide and they produce oxygen,” he said.
Dlamini said Busamed wanted its patients and the wider community to live in a clean and healthy environment.
“The type of symbiotic and mutual relationship we have with our patients is such that we want them to live in a healthy and clean environment. That’s why we decided to plant trees today,” he said.
September is National Arbor Month in South Africa, a month-long campaign that promotes the planting, protection and conservation of trees and raises awareness about their importance to people, communities and the environment.
Arbor Day originated as a tree-planting day and was introduced in South Africa in 1983. The initiative was later expanded from Arbor Day to Arbor Week and eventually to National Arbor Month, observed throughout September.
Majeke told learners at Boipopo that trees were an important part of maintaining healthy communities and urged them to take care of those planted at their school.
“Trees are very important. They help with gaseous exchange and give us oxygen for us to breathe and be healthy. I hope you guys will help take care of the trees,” Majeke said.
The tree-planting initiative took place a day before Heritage Day on 24 September, giving the hospital’s community outreach activity an environmental dimension as South Africans prepared to celebrate their shared heritage.
For the learners who participated, the planting of trees offered a practical lesson in caring for the environment and preserving a healthy legacy for future generations.
