“He who plants a tree, plants a hope”

(Lucy Larcom)

In spite of Covid-19 we are full of hope for the future.  For this we have planted 50 trees in Amwan!

On this occasion, Raquel wanted to take part in the programme “Give Smiles”  for her birthday.  She did so with  hope for a good future…..

She asked her friends who wanted to give her presents if they could be made  in the form of trees.  In this way all the Amwan neighbours could enjoy their shade and beauty.

“Each time I walk through the Amwan garden I´ll remember every one who donated a tree and a part of each of you will be present with me.”

All  teachers and mothers who were invited to the birthday party took part and had some cake

The trees were planted with the help of the Akshay School children, classes V, VI and VII, the teachers and staff of the Centre, plus some of the children´s parents.

For each tree a brick surround was built to protect it from goats and cows that walk about loose.  It took us 6 days to plant and protect the 50 trees; with so much heat we couldn´t work more than 3 hours, but it was great fun for all.  Each day we formed 5 teams, some 40 or 50 people taking part .

Now is a good time for planting trees due to the Monsoons and the children of classes VI and VII are in charge of watering them when needed. The children also learned how to plant trees as well as the names of the different types of trees, but above all to respect them

The place where they were planted is where the children and young people of the village go to play cricket and football.  It´s also where the adults go for a walk.  The last important storm in May uprooted a couple of trees, so our reforestation has been well received both by the villagers and by the media that came to film it and mentioned it in the local newspapers and television .

By planting trees we are teaching the children of our Akshay School the importance of caring for their environment, of protecting it and the benefits of planting trees

This article in our Blog is dedicated to all those who care for the environment, who contributed their seed so that we can have better surroundings, but, very specially, for those who gave a tree and helped to fulfil a dream with hope………Maria and family, Trini and Toñi, Mercedes, Mariloli, Dolores, Sara, Marie, Mari Angeles and Vincent, Juana, Ana and Hilary.  THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

For those of you interested in Botany, following is the list of the types of trees planted:

Tree of the Rain (Albizia Saman), Madagascan Framboyan (Delonix Regia), Religious Ficus, Indian Redcurrant (Phylanthus emblica), Yellow Flame (Pietophorum), Arjuna (Terminalia Arjuna), Bengalese quince (Aegle marmelos), Pongamia (Pongamia Pinnata), Banyan (Ficus Benghalesis), Orchid/false mahogany (Bauhinia Variegata), Ficus (Ficus glomerata),Common Silk Floss/Red cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), Indian Nimbus (Azadirachta indica), Cana Fistula (Cassia Fistula linn), Azufaifo/Jinjolero (zizipus), Frangipan (Plumeria rubra).