Introducing the Latest Addition to Grow a Village: Panasawan

by Kate McElhinney Did you know that every reoccurring donation toward one of Plant With Purpose's programs will be matched? So, if you sponsor a village for $30 per month, that amount is instantly doubled to be $60 per month for an entire year! The village of Panasawan in Northern Thailand is the newest member of our Grow a Village family. This community is rich in vibrant colors and culture, yet it is plagued with extreme poverty, environmental destruction, and the despair of a displaced and disregarded people. Most of the villagers belong to the Lahu hill tribe. Many older members do not even speak Thai, while the younger generation is forced to seek work in neighboring cities just to keep the family afloat. Plant With Purpose’s innovative, integrated program in Panasawan provides the community with relevant and sustainable options that address issues of poverty, lack of citizenship and related rights, and the loss of access to and degradation of forests and fields. By sponsoring this village, you will empower the people of Panasawan to transform their lives and lands, restore their dignity, and learn to thrive. To learn more about Panasawan or to sponsor this village, click here.

Beauty on the Border

by Scott Sabin As our two pickups struggle through the grass and mud, it is clear that we are the first to pass this way in at least a few days. In the pouring rain the entire road, what Carlos, Plant With Purpose’s Dominican director, calls the international highway, seems like it could wash down the side of the mountain. Rising thirty or forty feet to our right is a tangle of green. Old tree trunks are visible through the undergrowth, and branches with reddish bromeliads overhang our path. Patches of heavy mist drift through the trees and obscure the tops of the mountain. To our left is a vertigo-inducing drop-off into thin air, the valleys of Haiti visible far in the distance. We are driving between impoverished border communities through Sierra de Neiba National Park in the Dominican Republic, near the Haitian border. It is a place of breathtaking beauty. After crossing the pass, we begin the winding descent down the other side of the mountain range. The forest changes from broadleaf to tall pines. After three days of visiting our work in the struggling hillside communities to the south, the park is a reminder of how magnificent this island once was. I begin to feel as though I’ve caught a glimpse of how things were meant to be in the Garden. One can only speculate about what creation in a pre-Fall world must have been like, yet for all that the curse has tainted and all that human sin has done to damage our earth, the beauty of what God has made still shines through everywhere. God’s ability to work things together for good is obvious in the intricate ways that ecosystems like this fit together so perfectly. Nothing is wasted, and everything has its niche. Everywhere life springs forth from death, and resurrection is foreshadowed. Soon we drop out of the trees and leave the park. As we wind our way down muddy switchbacks, the forest gives way to newly planted bean fields blanketing all but the steepest slopes. The view is still spectacular, but now there is much that is clearly broken. Here the curse is obvious. Huge rills caused by erosion are a testimony to the unsustainable nature of the agriculture. On the far side of the gorge, above the flood-scarred dry wash that marks the border, dozens of Haitian homesteads dot the hillsides. There, years of intense cultivation have given erosion a head start, and the exposed bedrock that fills the fields is a portent for the Dominican side as well. This is new territory for me; Plant With Purpose only recently completed initial surveys on this side of the park. The first village we come to, a collection of wooden shacks, a one-room school, and a military border checkpoint, has been appropriately nicknamed “The Armpit.” The conventional wisdom, that you can tell the location of the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti by where the trees stop, isn’t entirely true, but it is close—the greater population density on the Haitian side makes the border obvious. But on both sides, circumstances have made it challenging for people to live without destroying their environment. And the environment returns the favor, its degradation making life tenuous for these forgotten people. It is a broken relationship in a fallen world. Poverty limits the options of farmers who have no resources other than the hillsides. When times get especially hard, they cut the trees to sell as firewood. The Dominicans can clear more of the forest to plant their beans, moving into the edges of the national park, but the Haitians must cross the border daily to sharecrop the Dominican bean fields. They trade half their crops for the right to farm Dominican hills, taking their unsustainable farming practices deeper into the Dominican Republic. As the trees fall, the soil continues to erode and the watershed continues to degrade, robbing the farmers of their two most important assets—soil and water. Thus, poverty spreads and is clearly visible in the eyes and on the faces of the shoeless workers that walk back and forth across this border. But even here, there is hope. There is good news and there are options. The people may be disempowered, they may need to be reminded of their own God-given talents, but they are not stupid or helpless. Like all of us, they need to be reminded of their own importance in the eyes of God and of the love he has for them. The good news of the kingdom is that they can begin to live as if the curse were lifted. Relationships with God, creation, and neighbor can begin to heal. Creation need not be an enemy. Farmers can learn other ways to farm that work with the steep hillsides, instead of against them. Trees can be planted that thrive in this environment and provide income to poor families while slowing soil erosion and restoring the watershed. Waste can be used as fertilizer rather than river pollutant. By mimicking the diversity of creation and its cycles, a new, healthier relationship can be created. New life can come from decay. Like all of our relationships, these new relationships are still tainted by the fall, but they can be improved and health can be restored. Finally, as Dominicans and Haitians, people with a long history of mistrust and even violence, work together for a common purpose as brothers and sisters in the Lord, relationships between troubled neighbors can be healed. In the few years that Plant With Purpose has been working on the other side of the park, we have begun to see the changes that occur when individuals and communities rediscover their God-given potential and heal their land. Tiny trees cover the hillsides. Beans are being replaced with a diversity of crops that make the best use of the steep hillsides and scarce water. There is reconciliation between Haitian and Dominican. It still doesn’t look like the park and never will, but there is perhaps even greater beauty in the redemption that is taking place as life springs forth from death. Here in the Armpit, that redemption is still only a prayer, but we look forward with great anticipation to the healing that is to come. This article was recently published in The Other Journal. Scott Sabin is the Executive Director of Plant With Purpose. To read other recent articles by and about Scott, click here to read "Celebrating Freedom" and click here to read "The Accidental Environmentalist".

Pump the Party, Dump the Trash with Green Classroom Party Kits

by Aly Lewis

Remember the days of classroom parties: birthday celebrations after recess, root beer float and pizza parties for the class that read the most books throughout the year, and Thanksgiving potlucks that meant we got to skip out on an afternoon of learning the state capitals? What we probably don’t remember is the amount of trash produced by these parties: the paper plates and napkins, the plastic cups and silverware.

A group from Julian Elementary School has come up with a cool new idea to reduce the amount of waste from classroom parties. As a part of National Geographic's “Green Effect” contest, this group is competing for a grant of $20,000 to make 100 "Green Classroom Party Kits" that consist of washable white plates, clear cups, and silverware, in a rolling storage container that each class at Julian Elementary and 80 other classes around San Diego County can use and reuse for parties throughout the school year. What a great idea!

To find out more and vote for this simple project with lasting results, click here.

To read more about the contest and check out other finalist projects, visit GreenEffect.com.

Let’s help Julian Elementary Pump the Party and Dump the Trash!

Great Addition to the Events Calendar!

by Corbyn Small

On July 18^th our friends, Jason and Brooke Evans, are hosting a one of a kind evening of art, music, and refreshments. The two of them have created a wonderful series of forestry-related pieces of artwork to present over the course of the evening. In support of the agricultural development work that we do, Jason and Brooke have decided to donate 15 % of the sales from their beautiful artwork to Plant With Purpose!

The evening will kick off at 6 pm at the Hawthorn House on 3143 Hawthorn Street with music by the Adams and Eves starting at 7 pm. Plant With Purpose staff and friends will also be there to enjoy the evening and support Jason and Brooke as they share their eye pleasing and incredibly affordable pieces of art. Come enjoy some delightful melodies comprised of an accordion, banjo vibraphone, trumpet, and guitars while mingling with some like-minded folks who enjoy music, art, and good company. Here are a few of the pieces that will be displayed, and you can see more here.

For more information, contact Jason and Brooke:

Email: fire.n.flowers@gmail.com

Phone: (619) 717-6372

Click here for directions

RSVP here

Join their network and follow them on

Facebook

Twitter

New Villages on Plant With Purpose

by Aly Lewis

Our Grow A Village is growing! Two new villages are now up on the Plant With Purpose Web Site: Malindi, Tanzania and Muzye, Burundi.  

Do you know what ‘Dushirehamwe’ means in Kirundi?  Have you ever heard of the Shengena Forest?  Now you can improve your language skills and international landmark dexterity by reading about our new villages on our Africa page.  Just click the Donate button next to the name of the village to view a detailed description, complete with fun facts and maybe even a language lesson.  Additionally, see how you can partner with these villages to restore their land, provide for their families, and transform their lives. 

And for those interested in Thailand, stay tuned, we'll be posting some new Thai villages to the site today.    

Let Freedom Ring!

by Kate McElhinney

There is something undeniably magical about holidays. Today is the last day of work for this week, and around our office there is a tangible buzz of excitement as my co-workers share their Fourth of July plans and count down the hours until freedom.

As we gear up for a celebration here in America, Plant With Purpose also views this occasion as an extra special time to reflect on our programs. For us, witnessing the independent victories in the lives of the rural poor has been inspiring.

This morning, we had our own mini-celebration. There were no fireworks or flag waving, but simply a group of us gathering for prayer and praises. Today, we praised God for the restoration of peace in Burundi as the war comes to an end, for the health and sustenance of our Thailand team, and in Haiti, the financial support received by victims of the hurricanes last fall. These are big praises, indeed!

Since Plant With Purpose started working with the rural poor 25 years ago, it has been amazing to witness how the bonds of despair are broken as empowerment is restored. And the communities experience freedom in more ways than one. Environmentally, their lives are transformed as reforestation efforts replenish the land, providing abundant crops and a clean water supply. Economically, farmers become empowered through microcredit loans, which help them to start a business and generate a steady income. And spiritually, communities come together to pray for the future and praise God for his restorative work.

Although reversing the effects of deforestation and eliminating poverty worldwide can seem like huge undertakings, it is encouraging to see examples of empowerment in the lives of the rural poor. When lives are transformed and freedom is restored, then the true celebration begins! This Fourth of July, let’s celebrate the freedom of our nation, but also remember the silent victories of the rural poor in Burundi, Thailand, Tanzania, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico.

Burudian Independence Day: Freedom to Rebuild

By Aly Lewis

My car has been out of commission for the last week. After being rather testy for a week or two, starting on the fifth try or not starting at strategically planned times when no one else was around to give me a ride home, it finally just quit starting altogether. However, not before I had witnessed enough Romeo and Juliet style self-revival to be convinced that it wasn’t really dead, it was just napping or sleeping off an apothecary-approved potion. Turns out (also in Romeo and Juliet fashion) it was dead after all. 

I would like to say that my week of carlessness sent me sputtering into desperation.  I would like to say that it impinged on my freedom in such a way that I now feel completely confident in relating to and writing about the lack of freedom many people around the world feel.  Instead I had a great old time hitching rides with friends and coworkers and worst-case scenario I had to spend the day at the beach with some of my best friends because I couldn’t get a ride home. 

Tough life. 

Freedom has a little different ring (or sting) for the people of Burundi.  A small country in Eastern Africa, Burundi borders Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Burundi is home to the Tutsi and Hutu tribes, who have occupied the land since the country’s formation over five centuries ago. Belgian occupation greatly increased ethnic conflict, and over 40 years of brutal civil war has left the country aching and the land depleted. Hundreds of thousands have been killed and even more have fled to neighboring Rwanda to find refuge.

When peace was finally achieved in 2006, large numbers of refugees started returning to their homeland and the need for economic development, food security, and ethnic reconciliation continues to be immense.  Over 70% of Burundi’s soil is severely degraded, and displaced farmers struggle to eke out a meager living from the harsh land.  Land that was once fertile and rich in agricultural resources has been vandalized by widespread destruction as consequences of war.   Roughly the same size and population of Haiti, Burundi shares a history of violence and extreme poverty, intensified by environmental degradation.  As refugees flood back into the country and people begin to rebuild, Burundi is faced with the challenge of transitioning from a nation on the brink of extinction to a nation of hope.  Without sustainable long-term solutions and short-term options, Burundians have little hope for the future.

With a focus on restored relationships—between farmers and the land they depend on and amongst historically antagonistic ethnic groups—Plant With Purpose has begun an innovative new program in Burundi.  In response to the great needs of the people of Burundi, PWP’s integrated program of community development, sustainable agriculture, microcredit, and discipleship has expanded to include training in peace and reconciliation.  Plant With Purpose has embarked on a two year Pilot Project to improve the sustainable agriculture system, reforest farmer and community land, and promote spiritual growth in this desperate country.  It is Plant With Purpose’s hope to revitalize the rural economy from the ground up, healing the land and its people, and bringing a much-needed message of hope to the people of Burundi. 

Today marks Burundi’s Independence from Belgium. Let us also celebrate the efforts of the Burundian farmers who are working together to restore their land, provide for their families, and rebuild their lives.  Let us celebrate and join with them in their quest for freedom—political freedom and refuge, but also the freedom to choose a better life for their children, the freedom to choose what they plant and how they treat the land, the freedom to choose reconciliation and forgiveness in the face of horrific violence and genocide.  

You can be a part of the transformation that is taking place in the hearts and lives of the people of Burundi.

To find out more about our program in Burundi, click here.

To donate to our transformational work in Burundi, click here.