So, folks, this is special letter number 2. In the first one, I pitched to you all the Trees for the Khirgeez project. In this second letter, with 110% raised, I’m sending out a big thank you.

On the first day of the fund raising, we collected nearly half of the total requested money. The next day, brimming with confidence, I placed the order. What followed was an exciting, stimulating, and incredibly helpful week.

First, with faith that the whole $1,750 would come, I called my director and said, ‘I’d like 250 apple trees, 250 apricot trees.”

To which he responded, “Carl, how are you going to pay for this?”

“The money is coming from America,” I said.

“When?”

“Well,” and I stuttered, wondering this myself, “it needs to be transferred.”

“Is it definitely going to come?” He asked.

“Yes, definitely,” I said.

“Okay, then don’t rush.” That folks, means your one and only Kyrgy Carl was extended 500 fruit trees, on credit. As a good cash wage out here is $300, that means I was trusted with half a year’s salary.

Next, I went to Orto Nura. The people were afraid that the trees might not grow, but their fears were based on lack of experience, as the tree experts had assured me. Once I assured them, I dropped the bomb: “we’ll be here in three days. Get ready.”

Three days later, on May 3^rd (okay, I jumped the gun) with 75% of the money for the project raised, sure that you all wouldn’t let me down, I brought the trees to Orto Nura. In community development theory, giving things away leads to people not really caring about your program; you must ask them to invest. So we charged people around thirty American cents a tree. Even out here, this is a pittance.

We gathered crowds, and trained them. All the trees had a knot at the stump, and we showed them to have the knots just clear the ground, and to face east, towards the rising sun. We told them to put bits of old metal under the roots of the apple trees, and to add manure, and water them generously.

And the people came out in droves. They came in cars, by horse, and on foot. They sent their children, with small wads of crumpled bills, sometimes buying only 1 or two trees. The average was 6 per person. If these people had needed to pay full market rates, they wouldn’t have been able to afford a single one. Rachel, the Orto Nura volunteer who brought this project to her village, lives there, and knows the people. This allowed us to extend trees on credit.

At the end of the day, I walked around the village. People were building yards for their new gardens, and circling the trees with small rings of stones. I saw people digging huge rocks from their yards, preparing the ground for their trees, and inevitably, every knot faced east. And then, over the next two days it rained and rained, like a blessing from God.

Folks, you helped people who didn’t have ¢30 in their pockets build new sources of income and nutrition. My American side was disappointed there was no grand opening, or fancy gala. Instead, the moment was intimate, it was small scale, it was grass roots by definition. I’ve put up photos and a video of the work on KyrgyCarl.com, please, go check it out.

The next step now is trying to form a Tree Growers Association. As I do that, folks, rest assured, you’ll be with me every step of the way.

It has sure been a full packed week here so far. For those of you who didn’t hear, I set out to bring 500 fruit trees to the hamlet of Orto Nura, just less than one week ago. I had requested that you all might help raise the $1,750 required to see the project through to completion, and thus far, we’ve already got 72%. First off, thanks a lot folks. The donation period will end on May 5^th, and we’re almost there.

Since then, I have been working as hard as I can, drawing on every skill I’ve so far developed to get this tree project off the ground.

I first heard about the wonderful co-op that brings trees down from the fertile Issyk Kul nurseries in their own truck, complete with moist dirt and expert trainers to assist tree recipients, from my counterpart at the UNDP office here, where I currently work. She put me in contact with the director of Zhash Danaker, for those of you who remember, my original work site.

With assurances from the experts that trees would grow in Orto Nura, I set out to convince the people. While I had been asked to do the project there by one resident, others were concerned that their little place in the sun was just too cold for fruit. So, armed with information to the contrary and some elementary Kyrgyz, I set out for the village last Friday to spread the good news.

Needless to say, the residents that I sat in the taxi with on the way down all thought it was a great idea. “They will grow,” one older lady said, “we’re just lazy.”

“Plus, we need to be taught,” said another passenger, “the people on the lake know about growing trees, we need to learn.” Perfect, was my reply, I’m bringing experts, too.

Then, in Orto Nura, freshly excited from this interested, I fell upon the Alphabet Holiday at the local school. Teachers, parents and students were all gathered, and the kids were reciting riddles, tongue twisters, and portions of the great Kyrgyz epic, the Manas. While my PCV partner in this, Rachel, and I chose not to steal the children’s thunder, after the event, during the teacher’s tea break, we sat together, and I said to the woman next to me, “hey, I have an announcement, but I’m a little embarrassed to just give it.”

Something about this kind of eagerness seems to appeal to the Kyrgyz, and she glowed, “Ladies, this boy here has something to say!”

Then, with a room of 10 middle aged teacher ladies at my disposal, I began with my standard, “I don’t speak Kyrgyz well yet, so if I mess up here, will you all help me out?” And with nods, and smiles of agreement, I told them what I wanted to do, and Rachel’s pen got busy as the tree orders piled in. That plus an eager local government almost assures we’ll make this happen.

The last and final step, as I looked over the nuts and bolts of this project, was actually getting your generous donations into Kyrgyzstan. The logistics of this were something I hadn’t previously considered. My bank said my current account wouldn’t accept American dollars, but if I set up a new one, they’d give me the “SWIFT” codes I needed to make it all happen.

And that folks, is that. 500 trees for Earth Day and Arbor Day, generously paid for by you all, my friends and family, made possible by me and the Peace Corps. For the actual event, I’ve got a handi-cam. So stay tuned for the video folks, this one is gonna be for the record books.