This amazing village in India plants 111 trees every time a girl is born
Every culture has its own traditions surrounding the birth of a child, but this one might be my favorite.
In a country that historically favors the birth of a son, Piplantri village in India has created a new tradition that not only celebrates the birth of a daughter, but also benefits the community and the planet. You see, every time a girl is born they plant 111 trees. That’s right, 111 trees!
This eco-conscious tradition was started by a former village leader when his own daughter passed away at an early age. Since then over a quarter of a million trees have been planted, ensuring that with each new generation the future gets a little greener.
As part of the tradition in Piplantri, the village also creates a “trust”. With contributions from the girl’s parents and the village residents, a trust of 31,000 rupees (US $500) is collected. This sum is set aside in a 20 year fixed deposit for the girl.
This fixed deposit ensures that the girl will never be a financial burden to her family, and alleviates some of the stress historically placed on families to provide a dowry for their daughters at marriage.
As part of accepting the trust, parents sign a legal affidavit which states their daughter will only be married once she reaches legal age and has received a proper education. The trees planted after her birth must be taken care of as well.
These stipulations help protect the right of the girl and promote sustainability by ensuring the fruit trees can support the growing population of the community.
As part of caring for the trees, villagers plant aloe around them to help protect the trees from termites. As an added benefit, these plants can also be used to make various products and have created a source of income for several villagers.
It’s incredible when we see how one tradition can have a positive impact on so many aspects of life. These actions serve as hope for the future of gender equality and sustainability, and it all starts with the birth of a girl.
This Is a Changing and Improving India !
TalesAlongTheWay 
Fantastic! Would love to visit this village someday! Thank you for sharing this. Regards.
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Me too! I love to share positive, encouraging stories from Incredible India ! Sadly , it seems only the negative stories are often the ones that are reported.
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So true! I agree, there are loads and loads of positive stories as well, hidden in the midst of negative and sad ones. The good thing is, I sincerely think things are changing a little, bit by bit. 🙂 I wonder if you have stumbled across “the better india” and “the ugly indian” groups online? Very inspiring.
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I haven’t interacted with other Indian sites on line , just individual people. Mostly the negative information is media driven. . . Overpopulation, poverty, religious tensions etc. These are challenges that india is addressing but change takes time. Good things and wonderful people are there now. I have discover there are only two opinions on India! There are people like me who either love it or the Idea of India or the opposite extreme, hate it or the idea and would not want to go there! LOL
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Agreed! Things are definitely on the up! 🙂 I like how you included the “idea” of India as a parameter when one loves / hate it.
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We have been fortunate to travel quite a lot. For me , my favorite places are when I have an opportunity to connect with people. All the times we took students to Italy, though I love Italy, the time I spent with Indian people was by far the best. Hope you get to go sometime because I think you would love it!
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Same here! Have met and encountered some really nice people on the way, and it does add an extra dimension!
Hope I get to go sometime? To India? We are from India and are back here! 🙂
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Where are you from in India? We have been fortunate to travel there pretty extensively. Do you have family to visit ?
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Looks like the last reply didn’t go out. So, we’ve family based out of different places in Gujarat and Mumbai, and have stayed in Bangalore and Pune as well! It actually gets tricky answering the “where from” question at times! 😉
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Will revisit your older blog posts with a different perspective soon! 🙂
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Reblogged this on ' Ace Friends News ' and commented:
And again here http://flip.it/FxHJZ
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