District Officer for AGE Africa in Mulanje Lucy Morris told Zodiak Online that girls should be living testimonies of how they have been affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy.

She spoke during a tree planting exercise at Namalowe Community Day Secondary School in Mulanje district.

"Our focus is promoting education of the girl child but we also come up with projects to address emerging issues like in this case, climate change," said Morris.

She said environmental conservation is a key area in fighting against climate change.

"We are expecting to plant 1500 trees in six of the seven secondary schools we are working in Mulanje," he said.

Morris added that Cedar Energy, an electricity generation company, supported them with 500 tree seedlings and 1000 seedlings were sourced from communities around the schools.

Shamira Chimkwita, a Form Four student at Namalowe CDSS told Zodiak Online that the importance of trees to humans cannot be overemphasized.

"Trees protect buildings like this school from strong winds; they contribute to formation of the rains, making firewood and timber production, just to mention but a few," said Shamira.

Communities around the schools are also involved in the tree planting exercise.

Secretary of Matanya Village Natural Resources Management Committee Florence Benala said they have been sensitizing girls on proper planting and management.