Rwandan basketball side Orion BBC on Friday, July 21, signed a Memorandum of Understanding of a partnership to raise awareness about climate change through the game of basketball. Climate change has for years been a global warming issue and so different individuals and organizations are taking various actions to protect the environment and that’s where Orion BBC and Ferwaba came in. “Basketball is not just a game. Climate change is one of the issues that concerns the world. You may have seen the floods and landslides that happened in the Western Province. This should not have happened and I think it’s time to take action against climate change,” said Orion president James Mutabazi. “Rwanda is among the green economy growing countries. The agenda of the government is to promote climate justice and environmental protection to a level of reducing 30% of carbon emissions. To read that there is a need for a lot of green surroundings, electric transport, and recycling, people shall be aware of everything, including our need to plant trees in their backyards,” The partnership will see the two organisations work together in the ‘One Shot One Tree Green Campaign’ through which Orion BBC targets to plant as many trees as possible but not less than 100,000 trees in a year. At 60% per cent of the trees that will be planted are fruit trees. To ensure the success of the campaign, Orion organized a basketball tournament dubbed “One Shot One Tree Green Tournament after which the club and Ferwaba will plant trees which are equivalent to the number of points that will be scored during the tournament. Scheduled in November, right after the national basketball league season and All-Star Game, the tournament will bring together the teams that will finish in the top six in the men and women league, including Orion which is the organizer. The tournament will take place on an annual basis. The champion will walk away with $20,000 while the Most Valuable Player will be awarded an SUV car. Ferwaba president Désiré Mugwiza hailed Orion for such an initiative to make the country green and beyond. “Orion BBC has been competing in the Rwandan basketball league for the past two years but it is so exciting to see them coming up with such an idea,” Mugwiza said. “This is not just about basketball and planting trees, it will even go beyond that like supporting the communities. There will be some campaigns to plant trees, donating health insurance premiums, cows and many more,” he added. With much emphasis on the support towards Orion’s initiative, Dr Ivan Gasangwa, the Forest Research Division Manager at Rwanda Forestry Authority, reaffirmed that their institution is committed and willing to technically support ‘this amazing’ initiative to ensure the success of the campaign by all means.
