Healing the Desert with Trees in Darfur

Mark your calendars now for GivingTuesday - 2nd December - where GlobalGiving will be boosting your donations for 36 hours! All information here.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to our new Tree Nursery in Um Ga'al Village! Your donations are making it possible for us to start purchasing seedlings and caring for them in the nursery we have set up in Um Ga'al. As you can see in the photos, seeds are being planted and kept safe as they start to grow. We are so proud that this project is underway - and you should be too! 

Right now we are doing all we can to provide emergency food and aid for families who are waking up hungry every day. So far, your generous donations have helped us reach 100,000 children with food, medicine and more. Our Kids Kitchen Kits have fed over 35,000 children, giving them desperately needed protein. And we are not stopping there. We will continue to help children who no other organisation can reach as the conflict continues.

We are determined to implement our sustainable projects, whereever safety permits. To have our community tree nursery already up and running in Um Ga'al, our northernmost and safest village, is an incredible achievement. 

Our goal is to provide 5,000 seedlings so please help us by donating towards trees!

With the holidays coming up this is also a great opportunity to Give a Tree on behalf of a loved one. You can donate seedlings to be planted in Darfur and print a Gift Certificate off directly on GlobalGiving to present to your loved ones. This year you can help reforest the desert, provide fruit and shade and slow the impact of climate change. What better gift could there be?!

Please help today if you can and tell your friends how they can take action during the world's worst humanitarian crisis. And remember to mark your calendars for Tuesday 2nd December, where your donation to Kids for Kids will receive a monetary boost from GlobalGiving over 36 hours! Thank you.

Links:

• GivingTuesday Details - 2nd December on GlobalGiving
• 2025 Autumn Mailing
• Holiday Gift Certificates Make Wonderful Gifts on GlobalGiving!

Thanks to your donations, Kids for Kids trees are providing shade and fruit to families in 110 villages where temperatures are rising over 38c to 50c, and food and water are scarce. Trees take two years to grow, so trees planted in 2023 and before, are currently providing essential relief to families who are suffering the consequences of the ongoing conflict. Just this week, the UN reported: “The situation is particularly dire in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, which has witnessed some of the worst episodes of the ongoing conflict between rival militaries. Those remaining in El Fasher are facing 'extreme shortages' of food and clean water, with markets repeatedly disrupted.”

We are so proud to report that our trees are planted outside of our Kindergartens for children to have fruit during the school day, outside of individual homes to provide shade and cool down the temperature inside the straw huts, and all around the villages as shade for both animals and people. Families can plant crops under the shade of trees – food to eat that is essential in subsistence farming communities, especially now as inflation soars. And not to mention trees increase rainfall, which is so needed in the desert. Releasing water vapor into the sky, trees encourage clouds to form, and the result is more rain!  Please know that every day the trees you have planted continue to benefit families and fight back against climate change.

And this is why we are so excited to share plans for a community tree nursery in Um Ga’al Village, our furthest north and therefore safest village right now as conflict continues. You all know how focused we have been on providing urgently needed emergency aid – food items and medicine when we can – to save lives right now in Darfur through our Emergency Appeal. But climate change is at the root of the conflict and disastrous circumstances across Sudan. At its core, Kids for Kids is not an emergency organisation, so we must continue to progress our sustainable projects wherever possible, alongside providing urgent aid where no other organisation is.

You may remember Ibrahim, the little nine-year-old boy who’s walk for water was the reason Patricia started Kids for Kids back in 2001?  Well Ibrahim’s best friend, Abduallah, has been a dedicated Kids for Kids volunteer for many years and has put together an amazing project plan for a Community Tree Nursery in the village of Um Ga’al for 5,000 seedlings in the first phase. Abduallah says, "We know the importance of trees in our village. With the rains coming, we must plant them as soon as possible." Seedlings will be cared for in a nursery for the first few months to keep them safe, watered, and ensure they are healthy before being placed in their forever homes around the nearby villages.  In fact, as an organisation that is built up of dedicated volunteers, paying for a community forest guard is the only job we have ever had to employ someone to do! This is how important trees are.  So please donate for seedlngs and help us bild our Um Ga’al Village Community Tree Nursery! We can’t wait to share the progress.

The perfect time to donate? This Wednesday, 16th July at 10am EDT (3pm BST)! Your donation goes further thanks to the GlobalGiving JULY BONUS DAY which runs for 24 hours. A fantastic chance for your donations to make an even greater difference as GlobalGiving is boosting donations between $100 (£73) and $1000 (£730). So set a reminder now and tell your friends to donate between 10 AM EDT (3PM BST) Wednesday 16th July to 10AM EDT (3PM BST) Thursday 17th July! Thank you.

Links:

• 16th-17th July Bonus Day Details!
• Emergency Water Delivered to Families in El Fasher