Stone Soup Leadership Institute

One Goal at a Time
Lesein Mutunkei

Lesein Mutunkei is a passionate football player. So when he read about the issues of deforestation and air pollution in his home country Kenya, he decided to use his passion to do something about it: He started Trees4Goals. For every goal that he would score, he would plant a tree. “No matter how big the problem is,” Lesein said. “I just needed to make a difference.” Soon, people began to notice his activism. His football team joined in the effort and Lesein is even branching out internationally — he is starting a cooperation with a high school in South Africa. He also traveled to the Climate Youth Summit and even planted a tree together with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. But Lesein has even bigger plans: He wants the FIFA to adopt his strategy. “There’d really be a big number of people that would be talking about it and I think it will be amazing.”

Call to Action: By planting trees we can fight against the effects of climate change. Are you in a football club? Basketball? Hockey? Plant a tree for every goal or point that you score. Follow Lesein on Instagram (@trees4goals) and Twitter (@Trees4Goals_Ke).