10,000 Trees Campaign
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." Matthew 13:31-32
Above, several of the Batwa stand with seedlings being planted in someone's honor: Brenda Sherwood's 12 grandchildren, Ffjoren Zalfagher's family, Miranda Spencer and husband Bob Brulle, and Lindy Nelson Paryag's family! Others donated without a specific request to plant a tree in their name!
Just a little faith can create future spiritual blessings, and small actions on earth can reap future rewards. We planted these trees seedlings in great faith of good things to come for the Batwa people. They are known as “forest people” and I hope that returning the land they live on to a more forested state will bring a sense of peace while also providing prosperity. Trees here not only will shade the coffee crop they’ve started growing but will also sequester or capture carbon from greenhouse gases emitted across the planet. It will help create a better future. And we are grateful for the opportunity to give and serve them together.
Last fall, we ran our 10,000 Trees fundraising campaign and raised enough to plant 1,000. The planting was delayed due to the pandemic but finally the time arrived! In the midst of my planning, I connected serendipitously with the very motivated and inspiring college student who has been named Miss Conservation Kigezi Mourine Asiimwe, who is on a mission to plant 10 MILLION trees across Uganda! As this was my first love, conservation, I was drawn to her mission and how it coincided with ours. She has been raising funds to buy trees to plant and since we had already raised funds for trees, RSF donated that money were were going to spend on the seedlings to her.
This “Campaign for Hope” joint project between Redemption Song Foundation & Miss Conservation Kigezi,,with special thanks to Phenny Mbabazi of Expedite Wildlife Tours for transport, coordination, and help with planting!
Mourine gave a short talk about conservation — the Batwa have agreed not to cut these trees for 10 to 15 years. And then our manager Charity gave a brief talk, thanking them for their cooperation and hard work digging the holes to plant the trees in. It took everyone 3 days to complete the planting but it's done and we will follow up to ensure the trees live. Not all will survive, but we hope to replace ones that die.
We thank all our donors who gave!
If you want to plant another tree this year, please donate (at least) $5 and earmark your donation for a tree! This year's fundraising campaign for #GivingTuesday is "Sticks to Bricks" — raising money brick by brick to build permanent brick houses for some Batwa families!
Scan this QR side with your phone and it will take you to our RSF donate page, and we will not have to pay any fees until 2021!
Save the planet, one tree at a time, and build livelihoods one brick at a time!!
Photos by Charity/RSF with a few from Phenny Mbabazi.
