21st of Mar 2013
"The trees flourish and celebrate
The buds are opening and celebrating
We smile and serve
We meditate and celebrate"
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
 | A group of Argentine volunteers from the city of La Plata took charge of a large neighborhood, El Rincón, to plant over one thousand trees, along with the neighbors. The project, PLANT LOVE, invites needy neighbors to take up an important role in the project, as they are the ones who accept the tree to be planted in front of their house and take the responsibility to look after it, giving it a name and taking care of it. The theme of the campaign is: "We give you a tree, you give yourself to it". This year, with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s blessing, there is a proposal to extend the plan to the whole country, and to the whole world…The trees, the primary requirement of this project, have been donated by the volunteers themselves, and this year a garden center was built and the first 25,000 trees are being harvested. The intention is to replicate the harvesting program by making small documentaries issued on the Internet that teach the volunteers how to grow trees from branch cuttings. |
| The campaign also aims at adults taking responsibility to plant one tree for each member of the family, and if they don’t have space or time they can donate it to the volunteers of the PLANT LOVE project, who will deal with the plantation. The project is also safely within the Law, as this is about native trees or those authorized by the City Hall, in the forestation area of each neighborhood. It’s very common that these neighborhoods have many problems and that the neighbors only complain. Getting close to them through the planting of a tree is a way of making them realize that they are missing the joy, the belief, and the responsibility of achieving things. Taking charge of the neighborhood starts by giving it shade, oxygen, and green, which the trees provide. |  |
Taking care of trees takes you out of your comfort zone and makes you work. The Art of Living knowledge reaches people through the trees!!!
IInformation is handed out about different courses and activities of The Art of Living throughout the neighborhood, and after the first campaign, monthly BWS courses will start.
| The project’s volunteers have told Gurudev that they aim at planting 2 million trees and 8 million smiling people. The closing ceremony will take place after the second season of forestation. There will be a tour on this occasion, TSUNAMI OF LOVE, on the Argentine Atlantic coast, from January 10 to February 10, 2014. During this costal tour, many Argentine beach resorts will be offered yoga, large public meditations by the seashore, and satsangs, to celebrate the end of the first campaign. If you are interested in joining the project or receiving info, please contact us. |  |
"The day you feel that the whole world is your house
The sky your roof, that the earth is the floor,
And that each tree is your garden,
Then you are really at home."
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar