Growing Hope: Haller Schools Open Day 2025
Climate change isn’t just reshaping landscapes; it’s influencing how young people think, feel, and act toward the future. Across East Africa, conversations about the environment increasingly touch on belonging, well-being, and identity. Our School Open Days bring these ideas to life by showing young people indigenous ways to connect with the land while creating space for innovation and new ideas.
Learning through connection
On 19 September 2025, more than 1,000 pupils, teachers, and parents gathered for Haller’s annual School Farmers’ Open Day, led by Dr. Haller and coordinated by Sonal, James, and Fawaz. The event offered hands-on lessons in sustainable farming, water management, and biodiversity. Pupils moved between demonstration plots, composting areas, and tree nurseries, discovering how to nurture crops, protect soil, and build livelihoods that care for the planet.
The Open Day offers more than a workshop. It has been designed to remind young people of their position in shaping a greener, fairer future. Teachers' and parents' feedback described how these experiences spark curiosity and pride, with the potential to grow into sustainable and meaningful careers.
At the same time, the biodiversity surrounding the event offered students space to reflect, relax, and reconnect with nature. Here, climate learning goes hand in hand with mindfulness: students explore solar irrigation, observe water harvesting systems in the same space we host our wellbeing and mental health workshops.
Building resilience in uncertain times
This year has brought heavy rains and floods across East Africa, including in Mombasa, where Haller’s team continued to deliver healthcare despite disruptions, proof of the urgent need for climate awareness and mental resilience. These are not distant issues for young people we support; they are lived realities. That’s why we integrate climate education and emotional well-being across our youth programmes, helping the next generation feel empowered, rather than overwhelmed by environmental change.
In response to these shifting conditions, the Haller Farmers App was updated this year to include weather forecasts from the Kenyan Meteorological Department. Alongside tailored tips from our team, this small but meaningful feature helps farmers and their families adapt, plan, and remain confident in their crops, reducing uncertainty in a changing climate.
Nature as nurture
Research shows that practical, land-based activities such as farming, reforestation, and gardening can help reduce eco-anxiety and foster a sense of purpose. With more than 1.3 billion young people globally connected to food systems, the challenge is not motivation but opportunity. Haller’s School Open Day is just one event to bridge that gap, equipping learners with the skills, knowledge, and community needed to thrive in a changing climate.
Each Open Day is a reminder that when young people are invited to take part in protecting the planet, they rise to the challenge with energy and imagination!
Visit, learn, support
Support Haller’s youth and climate programmes by donating or visiting Nguuni Nature Sanctuary, where learning, wellbeing, and environmental stewardship come together. Together, we can help the next generation inherit not only knowledge of the land, but hope for its future.