About 20 years ago, they decided to do something.
The land was dead. Brown, used up, dusty and gray.
But it once had been a forest. Not so very long ago, it was lush and green and home to lots of animals and birds. It had been magnificent, once.
Sebastiao knew, because the land had once been owned by his parents. A photographer, he spent the mid-1990s documenting the genocide in Rwanda; more than a little emotionally battered by that experience, he came home to that land – hoping to restore his peace among the trees.
But instead of peace, he met a dried up and deadened landscape.
And so, 20+ years ago, surrounded by 17,000 acres of dusty, dry and dying land, he and his wife decided they should do something about it. And they did.
Little by little, bit by bit. They raised money. Created a foundation. Planted. First they planted beans to restore nitrogen to the soil. Then they planted trees. Most of them died. They cried. They didn’t give up.
They groomed. They fed. They tended and nurtured.
Now, 20+ years later… They have a forest.
Their land is a lush, green oasis among the surrounding dusty landscape. Animals and birds have returned – dozens of species – some of them at critical risk of extinction.
The Instituto Terra. Image Credit: Alnoba.org
Neighboring landowners have seen the benefits of restoring the forest. Their cows are producing milk. The springs have come back. And now they are planting trees on their own land, with the help of the nursery that Instituto Terra has created.
The Instituto has started teaching students how to re-forest. They’re spreading the word about what they’ve done and how they did it – sharing the knowledge borne of 20+ years of hands-on experience re-creating natural magic.
Two people and ingenuity. Patience, persistence, and resolve.
Over 2 million trees.
On the other side of the world, the Loess Plateau in China had turned to desert. Thousands of years of farming had made it barren and infertile. Soil was being lost at devastating rates. People lived in extreme poverty, trying to farm the dust.
Thirty years ago, the Chinese government, the World Bank, and other partners took action and started rehabilitating the land. The restored area is the size of Belgium. Over 8.5 million acres of wasteland have been transformed.
Agricultural income has increased 300%. Millions of people have been lifted out of poverty.
And the soil is no longer blowing away.
Friends, there is so much going on in the world that it’s easy to look around and only see the vastness of the destruction.
It’s easy to just kick at the dust and say there’s no use. There’s just too much to do.
It’s hard not to get caught up in the enormity of it all, and to feel like planting one seed, or one tree, or one meadow (or make that one call, write that one postcard, attend that one protest…) is so insignificant that it’s just … a waste.
I hope these stories of grand transformations taken over decades remind you of a few things.
First, that every bit of progress along the way – every tree planted – was significant to that tree, and to the flock of birds that roosted there, and to the insects that made it home. Progress is incremental; transformation takes time. So don’t discount your efforts just because they’re not enough to immediately and completely overhaul a capitalist system that’s been breaking down for decades.
Your contribution – your share in every bit of progress – is significant. It’s significant to the person who would be harmed by the legislation you protested against – whose day was made brighter by seeing that someone cares enough to stand up for them. It’s significant to the candidate you supported with your time or your treasure – because they can see that someone believes in them, in their message, and in their community. It’s significant to the activists who needed the boost of energy that you gave them when you arrived at the meeting – or when you lent them your life’s experience to make their work even more effective.
Every time you take a step, no matter how small it may seem at the time, you’re making a statement. You’re making progress. That matters, friend.
Second, that we are capable of great things. Truly remarkable things. If we get out of the way of our own self-doubt.
Hope is that secret sauce that fuels inspiration. Without hope, there’s no creativity – there’s no dreaming about what might come . . . what might be possible . . . what you might help to create.
Despair and overwhelm are the enemies, and they’re a powerful duo.
But, in my experience, it’s tough for them to take hold when you focus your attention on the task at hand, and keep focused on your progress. One more seed, one more acre, one more mile…
I’m not advocating that you stop paying attention to the destruction that continues, and the mountains of work ahead.
But don’t let the enormity of it all suck the hope out of you.
Keep moving forward – inch by inch, foot by foot. And in time, perhaps a long time, we’ll see what was once barren land transformed into a world that’s a haven for all.
Warren Buffett once said that “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree – a long time ago.”
I’m right there alongside you, planting those seeds.
Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of April 15, 2025
Friend, things may be heavy – but you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see. In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.
I call it Action Therapy.
That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.
Join me in doing so. It matters.
Small Event to Attend: 50501 on April 19; Tesla Takedown; Join Me + Antonia Scatton on Thursday!
The 50501 Movement has its second “day of action” this coming Saturday (April 19). As a decentralized movement, it’s more of a community of like-minded groups encouraging one another to stand up for democracy. You can search the 50501 website for local events near you here:
(Accessibility note: there are also virtual actions listed on the fiftyfiftyone website. Bravo! This is something all organizers should do. Everyone should be able to participate, and we can help make that happen.)
You can also search for local events on Mobilize: https://www.mobilize.us/?q=50501
If you don’t see any 50501 events local to you, check out the Tesla Takedown schedule. The weekly protests at Tesla showrooms are definitely having an impact on Tesla stock and brand value. That’s huge! https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/teslatakedown
And finally, on Thursday night (6:30 central) the wonderful Antonia Scatton – messaging expert and political strategist and the author of Reframing America here on Substack – will join me for the Blue Tennessee (virtual) monthly meeting. You should come! Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/I96J_hFZRx-UJ2mlvo_KSw
Small Call to Make: Call Your Senators re: Trump’s Plan to Deport Citizens
I had to fact check this twice to make sure it happened, but it did. (The clip is here.)
On April 14, Donald Trump said that he wanted to deport American citizens (“home grown” criminals) to a prison in El Salvador. He then told the president of El Salvador that he will need to build “five more places” to house them. (The room laughed. Truly sick.)
Keep in mind that it is his administration’s position that people who have been removed to El Salvador are no longer within the jurisdiction of American courts.
Keep in mind that last week Trump claimed that a person who wrote an unfavorable book about him committed treason. Meanwhile he pardoned insurrectionists who supported him. (So, the “homegrown criminals” are apt to be whomever Trump determines them to be.)
And keep in mind that 75% of the human beings that Trump’s crack team sent to El Salvador had no criminal history and no due process.
This is all horrifying.
We all need to speak out on this. So get out your phone! Dial the switchboard: 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators.
Here’s roughly the message that I left for mine:
Hi, my name is (your name) and I’m a constituent at (zip code). I’m calling because I am horrified that the Trump administration plans to send American citizens to a foreign prison – especially when it now claims it is not able to bring people back who have been sent there by mistake. The Senator represents me. So I want to know – what the Senator is going to do to protect my constitutional rights?
Small Thing to Read: Timothy Snyder
As we just discussed, yesterday Trump said he wants to send “homegrown” criminals to CECOT – the gulag in El Salvador. We are at an inflection point, friend. A lot of folks are discussing the peril of this moment, and rightly so. But Timothy Snyder puts it into perspective in a way that few others can.
Read his newest here:
Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.
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Small Deeds Done 