Growing green and healing hearts, youth and inmates unite on Kenya’s Mazingira Day
Story by Tracy Adongo
The World Health Organization designates October 10 as World Mental Health Day. The overall objective is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.
In Kenya, however, the day has added significance. October 10 is Mazingira Day, a day Kenyans set aside to look after the environment.
The Rotaract Club of Central Nairobi combined the two observances in an exercise with inmates at the Nairobi West Prison.
Under the theme, “Access to Services; Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies”, more than 150 volunteers joined the inmates to focus on mental health awareness through the act of planting trees.
Prisons are environments where isolation, stigma, and stress often mirror the conditions experienced during emergencies. By combining tree planting with mental wellness sessions, we aim to create healing green spaces while supporting rehabilitation, resilience, and reintegration of inmates.
“You can’t survive on your own; you need the support of people around you. It was necessary to combine nature as a healing space for people,” said Joyce Nyawira, Founder of Green World Tree Nursery. “Today, being both Mazingira Day and World Mental Health Day, we wanted young people from different organizations to have these conversations while planting trees.”
For Maryanne Mapati from Mind Haven Kenya, the event was about more than greening the space — it was about restoring hope.
“Tree planting itself is therapeutic, it’s exercise, it’s calming, and it connects you with nature. When I see a tree, I think of shade — something that protects and holds you. It relates to mental health in the sense of asking, Who or what shades you?” she said.
Eucabeth, a representative from the Kenya Prisons Service, lauded the initiative, arguing it broke the routine for inmates, giving them a renewed perspective to want to do better.
“Interacting with volunteers has relieved a lot of stress among inmates. Socializing with people from outside makes them feel free and appreciated. This initiative has positively impacted them, and they’re already looking forward to more community-led programs,” she said.
The initiative was led by the Rotaract Club of Nairobi Central (RCNC), in partnership with Mazingira Green Hub (MGH), the Rotary Club of Nairobi-Lang’ata, and the Centre for Ecosystem Restoration Kenya (CER-K), among other invaluable contributors. Together, they rallied residents of all ages, backgrounds, and professions to plant 1,000 seedlings across the Nairobi West Prison farm.
For Henry Sekade, Founder of AviMentis, nature directly influences mental health.
“When you visit nature, you never leave the same. It calms the mind and restores balance. Planting trees on Mazingira Day connects you with the soil and the fresh air — it’s healing,” he said.
Through this collaboration, Mazingira Green Hub and the Rotaract Club of Nairobi Central are redefining sustainability — not just as an environmental act, but as a human story of healing, hope, and renewal.
