Photo: My Home

My father always remembers how much I loved greenery from my earliest childhood. I grew up in a small town in Northern Ethiopia, in the Tigray region. Near our home there was a river, and after finishing my household chores, I would go there to collect green plants and fresh grass. I would then arrange them on a small table and floor for our coffee ceremony. I grew up loving the sight of plants, the small of moist soil, and the quite joy of nurturing a plants. Currently, my home slowly turned into a small garden of its own filled with ornamental plants, flowers, and small trees that I cared. Planting was just a hobby but also became a part of my identity and my way of expressing love,peace and patience. I do feel happy when I see life slowly grow and booming of the flower. Not only that it makes further happy and amazed when the life of plant attracts another lives like birds. In my home I usually see different kind and colour of birds, some are resident there in my home and some temporary came. There is even one specious of bird which want to own my home alone, it want to bite me.

Photo with Birds: in My Home

When I come back from the office, the first thing I do is check on my plants, even before eating or greeting the kids. Later, I even started growing ornamental plants in my office. My children always teas me, saying that I prioritize my plants over them. When life felt busy or stressful, I always found comfort looking at them and watering them. Even now while I am in China, when I call home the first thing I ask is whether they watered the plants.

When I came to China for my studies, I found myself stepping into a country where green is a culture, a vision, and a shared national commitment. China’s vast ecological achievements immediately made a strong impression on me. Everywhere I turned, I saw carefully protected parks, tree lined roads and green spaces integrated into urban life which the green belts that allow millions of people to enjoy nature every day. The park and river near to our university is clear exemplifies of that.

As I explored these places and visited Hainan province, Sanya island I realized how deeply China values ecological development. It reminded me of my own story, my own green belt that began in childhood but again China gave me new inspiration and a new direction for my passion for nature. Not only Sanya even my university UIBE has very beautiful scenery.

Photo: In Sanya, Hainan province and UIBE, Beijing

China’s commitment to green ecology reminded me of why I loved planting in the first places. I began to see my childhood passion reflected in the footsteps of an entire nation. I felt inspired to expand my own understanding. I realized that my personal green belt is not just a memory of my past it is a continuous journey of learning, growing and contributing. Even now In my room in University of International Business and Economics ( UIBE )I have created my own belt.

Photo: My Room in UIBE

Ethiopia is also planting in millions of trees every year, and the ecology of the capital city, Addis Ababa is continuously improving and getting international awards. Even Six years ago, my region received an award from China for its land restoration policy. When I see that I feel I was right to love planting beginning from childhood. My passion for planting slowly transformed into a broader environmental consciousness

My own green belt connects my past, present, and future. It reminds me that environmental care begins with one person, one plant and one act but grows into something much larger when embraced collectively

To sum up, my own green belt: A footsteps of China is not only a story about trees, it is a journey of identity and discovery. China’s ecological achievements have strengthen my lifelong passion for nature and expanded my understanding of environmental responsibility. The green belt I built as a child now stretches further shaped by Chinese culture and ecological innovation, it inspired me to think about sustainability as a personal hobby, but as a global responsibility.

As I continue my studies and life journey, I walk with a renewed purpose: to grow, to nurture, and to contribute to a greener world. And just like China’s greenbelt, my own belt will continue to expand plant by plant, idea by idea and step by step.

编辑：Genet Arefe Tesfahunegn

审核：王波 杜邢晔 孙碧洋 李思原

排版：宁玲玲