wruddick's blog

Aseel Zahran from Jordan sends us this message: "In honor of Green World Campaign, a group of volunteers from the Abraham's Path Initiative organized a small tree planting event in Amman. Ruba, Shatha, Aseel and Mais are four young people who are committed to keeping the Abrahamic Path in Jordan alive and maintaining the historical route, thus offering a place of meeting and connection for people of all faiths and cultures, and invite others to remember our common origins, respect our cultural differences, and recognize our shared humanity."

With the long rains upon us here in Kenya the time for tree planting is now. This morning the air was thick and warm. I was sweating before I was out of the door. Huge puddles fill the roads and the matatu swerves around them. Eventually I am at a small plot of land near a school. Holes were dug the previous days and children are standing around everywhere waiting to plant their tree. The class 3 students had been raising these trees now for 3 months and are excited to be planting them and ready to take care of them till they reach class 8. The kids have been taught how important they are and know from experience how hard it is to find trees these days in Kenya at roughly 1.7% forest cover – down from the recommended 10%. Because trees grow 2 to 3 times faster in the tropics, these kids will be able to see these trees grow to towering sizes before the finish their primary eduction. Here the head of the environmental club (center) is surrounded by her peers as they water the first tree planted.