I want to do something good to give back into this world. I want to be humanitarian to our Mother Nature who has been genuine to us from generations to generations.
So I decided to go Tree Planting. Hoping that in this way I’ll be able to “Boost Climate Adaptation”.
I choose Cacao Tree above the rest because according to study, most experts fear there will be a cacao shortage by 2050. And it is more than mandatory to do engage in this battle to save the world’s favorite treat… Our beloved Chocolate!

So me and my wife got some cacao beans. Made products made from the said beans and did Dark Chocolate bars, Protein Balls, and Vegan Brownies. Some were borderline satisfactory edible and some were pretty amazing.
The plan is to sell these products and the proceeds of those would go to the tree planting project in my province in Balayan Batangas.
Our assumption was if one was to buy 1 box then they get to adopt 1 cacao seedling named after them. It was a great plan!

So our first aim was to go to Facebook. With me having more than 1,400 friends in FB, we assumed that we can get 1,000 trees at the very least.
I was confident that they will support this project because after all, it is for our environment. Self-assured and upbeat, I’m convinced enough nothing could ever go wrong.
So I started sending out my invites to each one of them through FB Messenger. And to my dismay, for every 1 supporter that I got, there are like 20 of them that is a No. They didn’t even bother to respond to my message like I am one stranger selling vacuum cleaners at their front door.
It was devastating! It could not acknowledge these so-called families, relatives, and friends would suddenly be aloof and detached.
I was thinking of giving up on the project. It is not a money making project, therefore, making it a waste of time. I could just move on with other things.

But then, messages came pouring in. Order of boxes was given to us little by little. And to our surprise, these came from an unexpected source… From the Strangers!
Yes, we got orders and support from strangers, new acquaintances, and the unexpected ones. Like Jennelyn, the unemployed housewife from Balayan who got 3 boxes. Or from Allan, my former neighbor in Pasig, who ordered 4 boxes who until now haven’t got the boxes from us.
My newly acquainted neighbors Myrna and Maritizi in Merville, whom I recently delivered fruits from Davao, got 4 boxes each.
The list goes on and on.

It came to my senses that the reason why most people didn’t even bother to respond to my invite, was because of me entirely. For some unexplainable reason, they simply don’t have faith in me.
While these strangers and new acquaintance don’t really know me. They just ordered the boxes because they believe in the project.
Could anyone define Irony to me, please…

That is life ladies and gents! Life is cruel! And what it makes more cruel is that you don’t get love from the people you are supposed to get it from. You get more of it from strangers.
We do have our small closely knit circle of family & friends who we can totally depend on. But you also got to rely on the strangers. They can be your extended family that you can now depend on nowadays.

Today, I am armed with a great number of strangers who have helped me in a lot of ways (Does Friendillion ring a bell?).
My Facebook is starting to become interesting because of that. Gaining new friends and getting inspiration from most of them. The more strangers I get to know, the stronger I get to become.
It is like the “Crusades” or building “Noah’s Ark”. You gather them and let them in your circle of trust.
My Tree Planting project is just one of them. I’m sure, I will build a good and lasting relationship with these strangers whom we will both benefit reciprocally.

Every now and then, I get to see my strangers contribution whenever I check on the tree seedlings whom we both planted. There are only a few trees planted so far but it is slowly gaining ground.
I like to take this opportunity to say thank you to those who supported me in this cause. Your mark will not only stay with me forever but you also gave something back to our dwindling nature. You gave me inspiration to not only continue but to influence others to do projects like these.

I have nothing against those people who did not support the project. I’m sure they have their reason. But once in a while, I’ll try to ring their doorbell through writing articles like this that hopefully might change their mind today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or in the next lifetime.
Whatever it takes! I’ll be relentless as hell!

Like life, Tree Planting is really difficult! People hearts now are made of stone (rough around the edges). It takes a lifetime to make them see it through.
But that won’t stop me. Someday, somewhere, somehow… I’ll make their No into a YES!