The Farmers' Prayers are Finally Answered!

The roads of Thippalapura and Kirijaji are wet and slippery. I walk very carefully on the muddy roads to reach the project site. I wish I could share all of the interesting stories that are happening. But due to heavy rains, I can hardly access the internet. Today I have come to a nearby town which has one small internet café just to update the blog. It’s pouring outside and can hardly see anything. However, I can hear children shouting, singing, and playing in the rain. I wish Adarsha and Callie were here with me to witness this joyous moment. To tell you honestly, I have spent hours playing with kids in the rain. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t worked on the project. We have come a long way from the past two weeks. Before I arrived, the farmers had planted around 6,000 seedlings. Lack of rain had prevented them from planting the rest. It looks like I brought some luck with me! Ever since I arrived at the project site, it has been pouring. We have planted 4,000 more seedlings in the past two weeks! There’s a big line behind me waiting to access the internet. I better go now!

~Apoorva

Project Jatropha announces the creation of Project Teak

The Project Jatropha team would like to introduce a new sister project, Project Teak, which will work in conjunction with Project Jatropha to help alleviate rural poverty in Southern India. Teak trees, which are tropical hardwood trees, are famous and valued for their weather resistance, and are subsequently used in outdoor furniture. In India, teak wood is used in door and window frames, the aforementioned furniture, and columns and beams, due to its durability. The trees take 20-25 years to fully mature, but are then worth large amounts of money.In addition to teak trees, Project Teak is also distributing silver oak trees, which are also used in furniture. Much like teak trees, silver oaks take many years to mature, but are worth large amounts of money in the end.Project Teak works with Project Jatropha by providing a large future source of revenue for farmers compared to the (relative to Project Teak) more immediate and short term economic benefits of Jatropha curcas. Already, Project Jatropha has distributed 1000 teak seedlings and 1000 silver oak seedlings to the 5 farmers of Phase I and several farmers in Phase II as a goodwill gesture and as a way to encourage participation.

Sincerely,
Adarsha

Mixed news from the project site

As evidenced by the title, Project Jatropha is bringing good and bad news from our project site in India.
The good news: The premonsoon rainfall occurred for a day and during that time, the enthusiastic farmers managed to plant 5000 seedlings.
The bad news: The one day of premonsoon rainfall has been followed by an extended period of time with no rain whatsoever. This is a rare occurrence, and monsoon rainfalls have been delayed significantly (they were supposed to have already started). Ironically enough, the latter is due to climate change, which wreaks havoc on delicate weather systems such as monsoons. Although the Jatropha plants are very hardy, lack of water will hurt other crops that the farmers grow. This problem applies to any farmer, especially subsistence farmers, who depend on yearly weather patterns at certain times to grow crops. The problems created by climate change affect even those who contribute nothing to it.
To end on a more optimistic note, the farmers are very eager for the monsoon rainfalls to arrive as they want to plant the remaining Jatropha seedlings from Phase II as soon as possible. We're sure that the monsoon rains will occur, but the time and duration of the rains are uncertain. The farmers can only cross their fingers and pray for the monsoon rains.

Sincerely,
Adarsha

Project Jatropha Team Wins 2009 Teen for Planet Earth Gold Service Award

Teens for Planet Earth is a social networking site for teens who want to protect our planet. it was developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society's Education Division. It also provides technical support for teens and adult advisors around the world who develop and implement environmental service-learning projects. Each year, Teens for Planet Earth recognize teens across the globe for service-learning projects that demonstrate their commitment to the environment. The teams whose projects are deemed to be of exceptional quality are given awards at three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

We are one of the proud recipients of the 2009 Gold Service Award. We are using the cash prize towards the expansion of Project Jatropha. We want to thank Jeanine Silversmith and Judith Unis for their continuing support and advice & the Wildlife Conservation Society for the cash award.

Sincerely,
Adarsha
Apoorva
Callie

Project Jatropha on Oprah's Angel Network

Oprah's Angel Network works around the globe to give people the chance to live their best lives. It was established to encourage people around the world to make a difference in the lives of others. Oprah's vision is to inspire people to help others rise to their potential. We are very proud to announce that Project Jatropha's work is featured under the community page of the web site.

Please visit this site to view the posting:
http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/stories/656-seeds-of-change

An incredibly important update by Project Jatropha

Dear subscribers, viewers, and fans of Project Jatropha,
We bring you good news-with the pre-monsoon rainfalls having occurred, the first 7000 seedlings of Phase II have been planted successfully. The other 5000 seedlings of Phase II will be planted this summer when the first monsoon rainfall occurs-and that time, Apoorva and I will be there to supervise the whole process and check in on the progress of 5000 plants planted for Phase II and the 1000 plants from Phase I as well.
I'd also like to apologize for the lack of blog posts during the first few months of the blog. I could not update the status of Project Jatropha due to time constraints created by all of my schoolwork, since I do this project independently of any school work. However, when Apoorva and I go to India, we will give updates every other day on the progress of our project. When the school year starts up, our updates will reduce to around once a week.

Sincerely,
Adarsha