Pay-It-Forward Drive - Trees Heal

My baby brother once simplified the route to get to our old house by saying this – “just find one house that has a mini jungle”.

I have no recollection when I decided to get ‘involved’ with the plants and everything in between them. What started as daily chores to water my Mak’s plants, I found solace talking to them, befriending the red ants, slimy snails and worms, and pouring my heart to my departed cats (yes, I buried them all in our small garden).

The garden is so much alive to me. The closer I am to them, the healthier and ‘manja’ they become – I must say ‘loneliness’ is never part of my ‘vocabulary’. I have bountiful ‘souls that care for me unconditionally’ – it shows on their ‘face’ and sounds they make. Yes, they say it all when they say nothing at all J

When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves ~ David Orr

Like many other gardeners, I believe trees heal – physiologically, psychologically and spiritually.

In Joburg, in preparation for 2010 South Africa World Cup Final, hundreds of volunteers helped to plant thousands of trees and plants, and installing irrigation on former wasteland outside the stadiums, where the games would be played. Luther Williamson, who heads Joburg’s Park Department, has this to say - "Wherever you make a place greener," says Williamson, "you don't have so many problems. Places where we've put these parks in, crime comes down 38%. Green spaces give people hope. No grime, no crime" (Extracted from TIME’s Joburg Gets It Together).

Prof Frances Kuo of University of Illinois led a review of studies into the effects of trees and parklands and finds that “Living near trees 'makes people live longer and feel happier'”, as nature calms people and it also helps them psychologically rejuvenate.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

How I wish local authority councils would introduce more green lungs or pockets in the city, and reserve more lands for nature conservation.

At home and in the office, how i wish we could always start small with a pot of plant.

During special occasions, how i wish we could try presenting your loved ones with a gift of nature – a pot of plant or a gardening basket for them to start their own garden – edible or ornamental.

The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river ~ Ross Perot

Trees heal, why not we start planting them?