Event Summary:

Our tree planting activities came to an abrupt pause due to much needed storms in the region. Our original plan was to have tree planting in Bebnine (Akkar) on the 11th following our Miniara planting the weekend before, and later in Kfarabida on the 18th. Both weekends were rained out but we managed to organize the last tree planting of 2010 in the village of Damour.

It’s not an easy task trying to rally AUB students during Christmas break to plant trees, but we were somewhat lucky on Wednesday morning. We had a near-full bus, about 18 volunteers, most of them students but a handful of staff and other participants from outside AUB, namely St. Mary’s Orthodox College students. It was a very happy outcome to an unsure planting event.

It was an ideal day for planting; not too warm and not too cold, and the earlier rains helped to some degree in loosening the soil for us. The Damour planting experience was a unique one in that there are very few large public areas due to the historical security issues. In other words, the large municipal areas are currently controlled by the Lebanese Army and not considered safe for hosting such activities as tree planting. Our main areas, therefore, were small patches or even tree holes on sidewalks and roadsides. It was not an easy task and required a lot of walking and hauling of tools and seedlings.

We met with Dr. Amin Azzi who currently practices medicine at AUH. Dr. Azzi contacted me in the summer after hearing about our program through the AUB Bulletin. He was very eager to get his municipality involved so our conversation led to a number of meetings and follow up visits to Damour to assess their needs. Dr. Azzi was by far the most ambitious and hardworking citizen of his village that essentially single-handedly managed and executed the tree planting (with a lot of help from our volunteers).

The municipality picked up 500 seedlings; 150 carob, 150 Syrian maple, 100 nettle trees, and 100 Judas trees. We managed to plant about 100 in about 1.5 km of roadsides and sidewalks. The largest area planted was an island planter about 10 m². Some were even planted in between cotoneaster shrubs, which will provide a great deal of shade for the young seedlings during the summer.

Damour was probably the most urban tree planting we had this season. We were required to plant in difficult, hard-packed soil and had limited areas. In order to prevent cars from parking where seedlings were planted, we had to use extra large stones to mulch and protect the seedlings. It was indeed a lot of work and probably not as enjoyable for the volunteers as some of our other trips, but one that will shape and change the attitudes of the local citizens. Many of the local residents came out to thank us and offer us food, water, coffee and so on.

We hope the best for Dr. Azzi and look forward to seeing him and his neighbors slowly beautifying their village with native trees.