Trees bring rain: Kenya is in dire need of more trees in some of the arid parts of the country. Throughout the years of cutting down trees for their needs of cooking, heating their homes many areas are now without new trees. There have been many years of drought in the country of Kenya. We have introduced a school project of planting trees for a better environment.

We embarked on this project as a way to teach the young students a different way of learning about the trees in their community. If you cut down one tree, replace it with two trees. Don't cut the whole tree down, trim it's limbs, and the tree will be there for you to have firewood at another time.

We started collecting funds from friends, family and who ever would listen to our plea. The cost for one tree is one US dollar. Many people have made their mark on the country side in Kenya by donating one dollar towards a tree in their name.

The fourth and fifth graders of two rural school planted over 500 trees this last year and a half. The amazing thing is that children have to carry water for about two miles, just to water the tree. Not one tree had died for lack of care!

When we visit the schools, we are greeted with screams and hugs from the children. They are so happy to see us, and when we come they also know we have something more to be to their forest.

This particular tree program, has also moved into the adults who are farmers, prior they didin't care much for the trees or maybe didn't stop to think the impact of what no trees would mean to them as farmer, no trees, no rain, no crops. One farmer has now dedicated a large portion of one hillside to tree planting; he has planted over five thousand trees to date. And he has gone a step beyond, he has started a seedling tree farm, whereby he grows trees from seed, until they are big enough to plant, he then sells them at a reduced rate to other farmers who are not able to walk the ten miles or more to a nursery to purchase and carry back trees.

This area is inhabited by the Kamba tribe; they are the master wood carvers. Over the many years of using the wood for the beautiful carvings, they are without the hard woods, such as teak, mahogany, and others. It now has to be imported from the Congo area. Now just maybe in years to come there will be all of the original trees in Kenya again.

Won't you donate to help re-forest the arid areas of Kenya? Only one dollar buys a tree, Starbucks costs more than that.