I love love love this!!!
I true Heart Warrior story! Beautiful, Loving and Life Changing! Celebrating daughters and raising up a community in the process.
"The former leader of a small village in Rajasthan, India, lost his daughter Kiran when she was very young. In 2006, he took it upon himself to make sure that the other residents of his village, Piplantri, would cherish the life of each girl child to come.
Paliwal implemented an initiative to plant 111 trees to celebrate the birth of each girl born in the village. The villagers plant the trees on Piplantri’s grazing commons, and the community ensures that the trees survive and grow to adulthood, as the Hindu reports. Village residents collect Rs. 21,000 (around $315) and the girl’s parents contribute Rs. 10,000 (around $150), creating a Rs. 31,000 fixed deposit account for the girl."
The account can't be accessed until the girl is 20 years of age. In addition, as the parents plant the trees, they sign a legal affidavit stating that their daughter will receive a full education and will not be married before she comes of the legal age of 18.
"According to Paliwal, around 60 girls are born in Piplantri each year. In over half these cases, he told the Hindu, parents were reluctant to accept girl children because they were viewed as less valuable and more expensive. As a result, the tree-planting program was a way to encourage families to celebrate the girls in their families, and to combat a deep-seated culture of female feticide.
Ten years later, Piplantri’s brand of “eco-feminism” is thriving. The village has planted multiple species of trees that have begun to bring it revenue: mango, neem, sheesham and amla, among others. Additionally, the villagers planted aloe vera plants around the trees to act as natural pesticides, which itself became a form of revenue when villagers began processing and selling the aloe vera. The trees, along with the aloe vera plants, now provide livelihoods to a number of Piplantri’s 8,000 residents."
The wonderful added bonus of this idea is that village community now gives off the ambiance of an oasis, with more than 24,000 lush green trees surrounding it. The surrounding neighboring villages which do not participate in this program still look like bleak desert villages.
In addition, as the parents plant the trees, they sign a legal affidavit stating that their daughter will receive a full education and will not be married before she comes of the legal age of 18
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/an-indian-village-plants-111-trees-every-time-a-girl-is-born
https://www.ohmyrajasthan.com/piplantri-village-rajasthan
Three great stories today, thanks to you all. (1) AOC's 3 minute viral video which is the most watched video of any politician ever. (2) Beto O'Rourke's response to someone who felt that football players' taking a knee was not respectable to our military, and (3) Lovendures beautiful breath-taking story of trees for daughters in a small Indian town.
My respect for O'Rourke just doubled.
Irish Postal Service Launches Program to Give Thousands of Homeless People Fixed Addresses
This Irish postal service is launching an ingenious nationwide program that will give thousands of homeless people a new foothold towards getting off of the streets.
California is Finally Drought-Free After 7 Years and They’re Being Rewarded With a Butterfly Boom.
NASA Happily Reports the Earth is Greener, With More Trees Than 20 Years Ago–and It’s Thanks to China, India. https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/china-reassigning-60000-troops-plant-trees/
Viral Internet Challenge is Spurring People Around the World to Pick Up Tons of Trash and Then Snap Photos (the pictures are amazing)
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/trashtag-trend-challenges-internet-users-to-pick-up-garbage/
Conservationists are rejoicing over the discovery of a giant tortoise species which has been thought to be extinct for 100 years. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/galapagos-tortoise-considered-extinct-discovered-intl-trnd/index.html
The recent US government shutdown was certainly a source of frustration for many federal workers – especially park rangers.
But for the elephant seals of Drake Beach, California, the absence of human activity became a prime opportunity to claim a new home for their nesting season.
An innovative new conservation effort in Australia is dramatically reducing the amount of wildlife that are killed by cars and passing traffic.
Researchers have been testing a “virtual fence” system that alerts animals to oncoming vehicles. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/australia-virtual-fence-roadkill/