The new leaves and grass grow fast in the rainy season. The guardians have to cut the grass more often because if we let the grass grow, the trees will not receive enough nutrients from the soil. The tree tops open up with leaves that suck up the sun light and rain water. For the young trees, sunlight and rain water are very important to help them grow.
We also encourage the guardians to intercrop for their own needs. Certain plants grow very well in the first few years of the tree’s life that actually subsidize nutrition for the trees. Plants like peanuts, green beans, sweet potatoes and rice.
Eid al-Adha this year celebrated by the guardians at plantation. It is the “Festival of Sacrifice” or “Greater Eid” and is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, but instead was able to sacrifice a ram (by God’s command).
Eid is also about spending time with family and friends, sacrifice, and thanksgiving for being able to afford food and housing. In traditional or agrarian settings, each family would sacrifice a domestic animal, such as a sheep, goat, cow, or camel, by slaughter (though many contemporary Muslims do not sacrifice an animal as part of their observance). The meat would then be divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family eats one third, another third is given to other relatives, friends or neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor as a gift.
Zaini, site manager, gave two goats for the sacrifice and each guardian got about 2 kg of goat meat. Zaini also gave donation for the Madrasah School. The school will be ready in a couple of months.
