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Grow a tree of hope this Mother’s Day
By: Steve Ott
This Mother’s Day help TREE AID celebrate 25 years of supporting mums in Africa by planting a tree for your own mum. For just £10 you could grow a mango, shea or baobab tree in her name and help African women and their families grow themselves a better future.
A mother sells shea butter at the local market knowing she is protecting her family’s future
For women surviving on the edge of the Sahara desert where TREE AID works, life is extremely hard.
Already one of the toughest places on earth to survive, deforestation, climate change and environmental degradation have now made life even harder – with countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali expecting severe food shortages this Spring.
At times like this it is the women that bear the burden of feeding their families. They are therefore particularly vulnerable to famine.
We know mum’s understand how tough it must be not to be able to feed their children, making a gift from TREE AID this Mother’s Day all the more meaningful.
Trees provide an essential lifeline in the form of food, shelter, a future for their environment and a vital cash income. They literally can mean the difference between life and death.
Paulina Akadekumi explains the deep impact that planting trees has had for women in her village:
"Women that have joined this project have become different from the rest. We can now take good care of our families. We can afford to send our children to school. We can feed the family throughout the year. And we are able to make regular savings to grow our businesses in the future.”
“Being part of this project is like raising a child; a time comes when he/she is grown enough to be weaned into an independent life. We understand very well that with time this project will end … and when it does we will be self-supporting.”
It costs just £10 to plant and nurture a tree such as the baobab, shea or mango in Africa, with each tree providing its own particular benefits:
- Grow a baobab tree: This iconic African Tree can help women keep their children healthy. Its fruit adds valuable vitamins and proteins to their diets, whilst other parts, such as leaves and bark, can be used to treat fevers and malaria.
- Grow a shea tree: In Africa, shea butter is known as ‘Women’s gold’. In demand in local and national markets for its moisturising qualities, perfect for cosmetics and soap, it is giving poor women opportunities to generate a much needed income – and the confidence to set up small, but potentially lucrative, businesses.
- Grow a mango tree: The mango fruit is not just delicious and nutritious, it can also be dried to provide an ‘at hand’ source of energy throughout the year - and an easy to store product for generating income when times get tough.
This Mother’s Day start something really exciting. Grow a tree in the name of a loved one and help African mothers alleviate their family’s poverty for good.
For every ‘Grow a … tree’ purchased, your loved one will receive a card and a certificate stating that your gift will help to provide communities in Africa’s drylands with the trees they need to build a brighter future.
Visit www.treeaid.org.uk/products-page/ to purchase your gift today.
Current Issue: June 2012
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• Next issue on sale: 1st June 2012
