The project is running perfectly, super effectively and as smoothly as it can go. 😎 But all kidding aside, we've set up a process that allows it to run as quickly and purposefully as possible. The process has seven phases (excluding phase 0), which each participating school (or community) goes through:

0. Scouting: At the beginning, schools are visited and the project is presented to them. (If you think it takes a lot of convincing, you're wrong. Most of them are on fire right away and can't wait to be part of the project and do something against the climate crisis together with the children.) 🏫
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1. Nursery Bed Establishment: On a date coordinated with the teachers, the climate education session is held with the students. Afterwards, the tree nursery bed is established together in the schoolyard. 🌳🛏️
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2. Monitoring via phone: After 2 weeks, the school is called and asked how the nursery bed is doing. 📞
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3. Monitoring in person: After another 2 weeks, our team is back at the school itself to check the nursery tree bed, answer questions and, if necessary, give guidance on how to take better care of it. 🤓
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4. Transplanting seedlings: A month later, the seedlings from the nursery can be transplanted into the school grounds together with the students. 🌱
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5. Monitoring via phone: After 2 weeks there is another phone call with the teachers to check on the condition of the transplanted trees. 📞
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6. Replacement: Since it occasionally happens that transplanted trees do not survive or are eaten by animals, these lost trees are being replaced in this phase. 🔄
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7. Longlasting monitoring in person: To allow the trees to continue to thrive, permanent occasional monitoring is now taking place until the trees no longer need any care. And after one year, another class will join the project. 🙌

Currently, the major project is the climate education project in schools around Jinja in Uganda. A well-structured process has already been established there.
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In addition, we have partially extended the project to communities. At this point, there are still bureaucratic hurdles to overcome in order for it to have the same impact as in the schools. You can be sure we're on it. 😇
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In addition, we have launched community fruit tree garden projects. Means: Planting large areas to create permanent fruit tree oases for nature, for animals and for people.

Every morning the entire team meets in the office and discusses the day's tasks. These can vary from day to day, but basically it's always about looking at the project plan to see: which school is in which phase, where do we have to call, where do we have to visit, who goes where and does what? 💪 And: Which other schools can be scouted and won over for the project? The tasks are distributed and completed in the course of the morning and afternoon, interrupted by a break for lunch in the office.
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In addition, there are of course regular online meetings with us, the Inception team in Germany. This regular exchange is essential to ensure that the project runs effectively and that we also know that everyone is doing well and if/where there may be any problems. 🤝
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And of course, the tree nursery beds and veggie gardens at the office are also taken care of, which we installed together with our team on the ground, so that fresh fruits and vegetables are always available for the team. 🍅🥭🥑

📍 The project is based in Bugembe, Jinja in Uganda directly bordering the big Lake Victoria and the source of the river Nil. The schools are approximately 50 km all around the office.

Well, yes. Karma hit us, and we somehow stumbled over their project. We linked and it was a match. 💖
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Since then, the project grew a lot, benefiting so many schools and children in the surrounding area (50 km). And we can truly tell you that the team on the ground in Uganda is the best (get to know them on our project page). 🤩 Their passion for teaching and planting trees with the kids is incredible, as is the feedback from the participating schools.

Ok ok... I can tell you're all in. Here we go then:

Usually all our trees are "fenced" with small sticks. This serves as a marker so that the small seedling planted is not accidentally damaged by people. It is a bit difficult with animals, as they actually quite like the leaves. 🍃 Currently, we are trying out different weeds which smell goats or cows don't like. In the schools and communities where we have problems with animals, we will then plant out these weeds along with the seedlings to give them a higher chance of survival. 🙌

Deeeet, wrong. 🤭 You are thinking like somebody who has 4 seasons, including winter. Uganda only knows two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. Yeah, I think you get it - that means double the growth than in Europe, for example. So yes, an average jackfruit tree can be up to 7 meters tall after 5 years, already bearing the first fruits. 🤯 Amazing, huh!?

Well, the mango is also a fast grower. 🥭 And this is no coincidence, because we focus exclusively on plants with fast growth. In this way, we reduce the likelihood that they will be destroyed plus we increase the positive impact on the climate. A mango tree in Uganda can grow more than 1.5 meters per year under good conditions - this is also due to the seasons and the generally good tropical climate and nutritious soil. 🌞

Ok ok, someone here wants to know. Got it.

Look: In Uganda, fast-growing trees also mean a large amount of carbon storage. In other climates, trees grow more slowly and capture an average of 24 kg of CO2 per year.
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In Uganda, that doubles: Rapid tree growth leads to rapid CO2 capture and storage in the form of wood; so we're talking an average of 50-55 kg per year! 🎉

Of course, a slower growing tree has a higher wood density than fast growing trees. But who needs that? That's right, only thieves and burglars like it and chop down our beloved plants. In other words: Double win! 🏆

Okay, you wanted it you get it - let’s nerd. 🤓

Generally, we take the "green weight". ⚖️ This is like weighing the whole tree, including the roots. Then we "dry" it, which only includes the wood (water doesn't count!). About 50% of this dry wood is pure carbon, so we subtract 0.5 from the result. Finally, we use the molar mass ratio of 3.67 (magic!*). The result is the total CO2 capture by a tree over its life span. Average it out, and there's your result! ✨

And if you still can't get enough of all this nerd stuff, don't worry. We are working on putting more detailed information on our website very soon. So feel free to check back from time to time.
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*So you're not into magic and wanna unravel the mystery right away? 🙄 All right, because it's you️: It's about the CO2 absorption required to make wood. Breaking down CO2 shows us that it consists of carbon and oxygen. Carbon has a molar mass of 12, and oxygen has a molar mass of 16 - leaving us at a molar mass for CO2 of 44; and 44/12 is 3.67. As a result, a tree must absorb 3.67 kg of CO2 to create 1 kg of carbon. Easy, isn't it? 🧮

We plant fruit trees. For this reason, we have identified all fruit trees that can grow in Uganda and grow at least 15 meters high. Only lemon, orange and papaya have a special right here, I think you know why - because they are delicious. 😋 We have already been able to get seeds for all of these trees, enriching our fruit plant diversity by finding out which seeds grow best in which regions. A nice excel and fruit tree website will follow here. 👌

💡 Wondering why we plant fruit trees? Well, it's simple: fruits can be eaten. And they can be sold and thus generate income. So they are not cut down for firewood and have benefits for local people beyond the environmental aspect. Could have figured that out yourself, huh? 😉 Another plus: Due to the incredibly nutritious soil and the tropical climate in Uganda, the trees grow very quickly.