Aloha!

My name is Ella Laird, I live in Hawaii and I am in the eighth grade. I visit Amma every year and I am always listening and watching videos of Amma’s project for planting trees. As a youth in Amma’s organization, I wanted to tell my story about how me and my dad and seven other fathers and daughters planted two thousand two hundred plants and trees in two days on a deserted island.

The name of the island is Kahoolawe and it was used by the U.S. military for bombing and missile target practice from 1941 to 1974. The island was basically destroyed until the government decided to clean it up.

Through government funding we were invited to the island to plant trees. We had to fly in an airline to Maui and then get on a boat for a few hours to the island of Kahoolawe. We were dropped off in the ocean and had to swim our luggage in waterproof bags to the shore.

It is a beautiful island with lots of red dirt and not a lot of plants. The beaches are deserted but filled with shells and beach life.

The morning started at 6:00 a.m. as we got into tractors called mules and headed up the dirt road. There was a man that carried a metal detector and he went ahead of us to detect any live bombs because the island still has live bombs. Another man used a machine to dig holes as we dropped the plants into the hole and covered it with mulch, rocks and water.

There were a variety of plants and we were able to plant two thousand two hundred plants in two days. We worked very hard, almost till the sun went down and then went to the beach to rinse of the red dirt from our bodies.

The sunsets were amazing and it was so quiet being on a deserted island. It felt really good to help the planet and the Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe.

Thank you Amma for inspiring the world to plant more plants and trees. I would love to go back to help plant more trees and watch this island become beautiful again.

If any of Amma’s youth are asked to plant trees you should try it because you will feel good about yourself and helping nature.

Aloha!

Ella