Tree-Planting Seedling Project
Nonviolence through the Messages of Trees
10 seedlings = 1 lunch for a local person.
The land given to SSAAP by Chief Cooma, approximately 21 hectares in September 2021, to begin the project in Cooma Chiefdom, Southern Province, Zambia is incredible – rolling hills, even a gentle stream.
The first steps in a Nonviolent Economy begin with finding alternatives: how to get food and water for local people, and how to maintain human connection. SSAAP works with local people in an effort to build a relationship, beginning at this time, and sustaining for the next decade – or even potentially inevitably – through creating relationships with local people, the Earth, and international partnerships between people: human to human, through the planting of trees.
The project should involve a Philosophy Mission, Action, and the Spirit of Nonviolence.
Philosophy Mission
Hand-outs in Africa do not help local people – but rather, they harm them. In the spirit of Nonviolence, and encouraging people to participate in their own well-being, the simple act of planting trees will assist local people to connect to many things.
So much violence is currently active through a disconnection of human beings to their environment, to the Earth. Trees provide oxygen for human beings to breathe, and the more trees, the more rain will visit an area. In the Southern Province of Zambia, where SSAAP is located, the rainfall is inconsistent. The recent pattern, as Zambia has been affected heavily by climate change, is: the first year – heavy monsoon rains, the second year – moderate rains, the third year – little to no rains/drought, the fourth year – no rain. Therefore, drought and starvation have become commonplace to the Tonga people of Southern Province, Zambia. Trees will help this crisis significantly.
The local people have little to no knowledge of how the presence or absence of trees in their world serve them. Rather, they cut them down in high volumes to make charcoal, which they can then sell for $1-$3 per bag. Local people do not value trees, and do not have the understanding that without trees, there can be no survival for them, either.
Action
Planting trees will help people to connect with the Earth, and connect to one another.
A project should never be focused entirely upon money and funding; rather, the work is in their details. Projects need organization, dedication, and sustainability – as well commitment from the local people. When we are driven solely by money, our projects are not sustainable, and they are not Love-based. Nonviolent projects can never be driven by funding or by money. Therefore, something as simple and profound as planting trees can change the face of Africa as we know it, and planting trees through local seeds and seedlings is entirely free.
Spirit of Nonviolence
The Nonviolence through the Messages of Trees is also an educational campaign. Through planting seedlings, we will have the opportunity to dialogue with local people regarding the meaning of trees, and their inherent value, as well the meaning of human beings and human relationships to one another, and their inherent value. Valuing human connections and connections to the Earth are part of the Nonviolence Campaign, as well a step forward in the powerful international connections to one another that are needed on the planet at this time. The centerpiece of the educational campaign is that human life is not cheap, and our existence on the planet is a gift, and our habitat cannot be recreated once it is destroyed, and therefore our habitat on the planet is not cheap. Through the cycle of Love and Nonviolence, as well the educational campaign, both interrelationships between human beings and their planet can be repaired.
The project will commence in Cooma Chiefdom – the new SSAAP project site and an area near a national forest where trees are frequently illegally cut down to make charcoal. The project plans to plant 10 local trees for every tree that is cut down and to host workshops to sensitize people as to why we need the trees and why the trees need us to preserve, respect, and leave them in their natural state of peace.
In Cooma Chiefdom, a well was drilled recently for the project, to serve as the center of its irrigation base for an irrigation project SSAAP is initiating in an effort to provide year-round water to people who wish to plant both vegetables and crops for further food sustainability for their families. The water well in Cooma Chiefdom will, as well, be a source of water for the Nonviolence Through the Messages of Trees initiative. The Cooma Chiefdom SSAAP site has a large space of land, which the project does not have in Simwatachela Chiefdom, which may be utilized for a large-scale tree-planting project, so that it might expand in the next decades or even century to come. The Cooma Chiefdom project SSAAP site will allow for the growth of the project that the Simwatachela Chiefdom project site will not.
Funding
Very small funding is requested in an effort to feed many people (10 < x < 50) once every 2-4 weeks, for the initial stages of the project (1-2 months). People will bring 10 tree seedlings, for local trees, and in return: lunch for the day. So the emphasis of the project will be people trading seedlings for a meal for the day. This will mean more to them than I can express. Food is the currency in Africa, and food means Love to them. Through providing a meal for them for every 10 seedlings they bring, this will help them in providing incentive, in the initial stages of the project. 10 seedlings = 1 lunch for a local person.