WORKING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY: TREE SEEDLINGS FOR SCHOOLS

Villages in the Loita Hills have traditionally used local trees for school building construction. When we began constructing schools there in 2021, we explored other, more sustainable building materials. Ultimately, in deference to community preference, we ended up following traditional norms and used local lumber for the construction. To offset the cutting of these local trees, we are partnering with communities to replant five tree seedlings for every tree cut for classroom construction. Nearly all the seedlings are native trees. We are also planting a handful of fruit trees at each school to help feed local families. For the Good purchases the seedlings and the community plants them and takes responsibility to nurture them into maturity.

On the last day of May, the students, teachers and community members of the village of Mausa, along with our staff, planted 200 tree seedlings near the school. Several days later, students and teachers at Olmesutie did the same. We’re heartened by the caring of these awesome young people, their parents, and teachers. Every small act of restoration matters, and they also transform our own lives. Our relationship with the planet is reciprocal, and, in the words of one of our favorite writers, Robin Wall Kimmerer, “As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”