Trees and hippopotami

'It is fine to be a woman of my age - with grown-up children - with grandchildren for added joy - with responsibility only for myself - and to be healthy and full of crazy ideas' writes Anna Horn. Her market stall selling bread, jam and handicrafts in a small Swedish town has developed into a project called 'Future Forests' which has planted 700,000 trees in Kenya. In the early years Anna Horn gave the profits from her stall to a tree planting project in Mauritania. But then she and her friends decided it would be a greater challenge to have a project of their own, where they could help ensure the money went into the right pockets. At which point, a Swedish organisation called the Future In Our Hands decided to back their venture.

The results are that since 1984 some sixty villages in Western Kenya have been part of the Future Forest project, with the money given directly to women's organisations in the villages. Beside the village tree nurseries, the women's groups have used their increased self-confidence to start small-scale businesses, such as poultry farms, bakeries, child nurseries, dispensaries and vegetable gardens.

'Tree planting does start a development process going, which embraces women, families, villages and whole societies'

'Naturally everything has not been sunshine and light,' says Horn. 'The drought has killed many trees, and sometimes the goats, cows or hippopotami have damaged the plantations, but tree planting does start a development process going, which embraces women, families, villages and whole societies. And the project gives me joy, new experiences and wonderful friends.'

Anna Horn, Lilla Fredsberg, 171 71 Solna, Sweden (tel 08 85 88 70).

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