The people of a small village in Northern India called Piplantri have invented a beautiful way to honor women.
For the last several years, they have celebrated every birth of a baby girl by planting 111 trees in her name. The idea began as a way for village elder Shyam Sundar Paliwal to honor his daughter who had died years earlier. According to the Hindu Times, more than 250,000 trees have been planted in areas surrounding the village over the last six years.
In a country where women have faced devastating gender-based violence and discrimination, Piplantri hopes its brand of eco-Feminism can empower young women.
Not only are trees planted when a girl is born, the village also contributes money to her education, raising the equivalent of $380 that, combined with her parents contribution, will ensure she is able to stay in school. Her family is required to sign a contract, stating she’ll complete her education before marriage.
The trees have also been a boon to the village’s economy. In order to prevent termites from destroying the young saplings, villagers plant Aloe Vera plants to protect each tree, which the women then harvest to create products to sell for profit.
Villagers say that fostering the trees has created an increased sense of investment in each other and their children’s futures, and credit the area’s crime drop to this new tradition. It’s also helped the men of the village see their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters in a new light. Gehrilal Balai, a father in the village, told the Hindustan Times he felt the same happiness in looking after the saplings as lulling his daughter to sleep.
