Sarpin: Planting Trees Are More Important Than Money

Sarpin plants trees not because of money

Sarpin plants trees not because of money

Gunungsari village, Kebumen, Central Java, is famous for its waterfall tourist attraction and the lives of one of our farmers, Sarpin. He owns the land next to waterfalls. In the past, he was just a paddy farmer, but the land he owned was not suitable for that so he switched to planting fruit trees supported by our tree planting program, Trees4Trees. 

Sarpin is one of our best farmers, he joined our program since 2019. There is a reason why he became our best farmer, he’s not only planting regularly, but he also educates young farmers about agriculture and gives them life lessons. 

For him, planting is a joy and a necessity. He doesn’t care how much money he gets from planting. He believes that we will never run out our fortunes as long as we are always grateful. When we asked him why did he choose to be a farmer? he literally could sell his land for tourist attraction and live a prosperous life. But he explained that he was not looking for material happiness. 

”I’m not after money, but money chasing me”, he laughs.  

”It’s true… whoever sows he will reap. You plant a tree, you can eat the fruit, you sell the fruits, the leaves can be used as animal feed.” 

Money is not everything for Sarpin. Having a lot of money does not guarantee him a happy and peaceful life. By planting trees, he was able to support his daily needs and provide adequate education to his children. Even though sometimes he doesn’t get a daily income, he can get vegetables and fruits from the field to cook.  

Read also: Grandpa Wasis and His Dedication to Planting Coffee

So even there is a developing tourist attraction around his land, he will not sell his land and maybe he will just rent it out some of it for small stalls to help the local economy.  

Sarpin then told us about his son who had worked in Korea and returned to the village to continue farming. He is very proud of his son’s decision to choose to return to the village and take care of the land and be active in community activities. 

”The salary is big (in Korea), but he didn’t feel peaceful… that’s why he came back here”.  

”He missed his beautiful, he missed home cook and he missed his parents”. he added.  

Sarpin explained that the villagers of Gunungsari live a simple life and help each other. They support activities that prosper the village and the environment. They are very happy to be involved in planting programs.  

”We don’t ask for money or basic needs”, he explains. ”give us seedlings and we can survive’’. 

We relized,  that the general understanding of most people is that giving money to people in need is a shortcut to help. But actually, the wiser way to help is to teach them to be independent and a chance to try again, they need this kind of support.   

He reminded us to always be grateful and says: if you want to feel rich, plant a tree. If you want a peace, plant a tree.   

We really enjoyed our time with Sarpin and we are very grateful for his contributions and support for our tree planting program. We hope that we will meet him again next year to see his trees grow and to share more stories. 

Author: Yulianisa Dessenita

 

Grandpa Wasis And His Dedication to Planting Coffee

 

In a hamlet called Wonosari in Kalirejo Village, Kebumen – Central Java, there is a small hut far from the settlement, surrounded by coffee trees and there lives an old man named Grandpa Wasis. He lives alone in the hut, inside the hut there’s only one lamp and an old radio. Grandpa Wasis calls it home. Meanwhile, his wife chose to live with her eldest child in the neighboring village. 

That afternoon Grandpa Wasis was waiting for us in front of his house. He made time for us in the middle of his work. He is very friendly and always has a smile -maybe Grandpa Wasis hasn’t been visited by guests in a long time.  

We were impressed with the coffee plantations that he takes care of, they are lush and fruitful. We asked him what is the secret of it? And he answered ”experience” with a little laugh. 

Grandpa Wasis explained that he does not have secret method but just follows the usual ways of taking care of his trees, only that he monitors his plants every day to make sure each tree gets the care it needs. That’s why he chose to stay on his land. 

He shared that he had planted coffee trees when he was very young. He has grown coffee in several areas in Indonesia such as Lampung, Palembang and Central Java. Grandpa Wasis really likes coffee and understands which coffee has good quality. He chose to return to his village because he felt that living in Palembang was not safe for himself and his family. 

”In Palembang… for example, if there was rice in the hut, the rice was gone”. 

”I thought about the safety of my family so I chose to come back here and make my own coffee plantation…. Alhamdullilah, we were offered coffee seedlings from TREE Ltd and Trees4Trees”. 

With such fertile land we are wondering who’s going to manage it in the future? Grandpa Wasis was silent for a moment. He had no idea about it yet, he doesn’t want to force his son to follow his steps, the most important thing is that right now he is happy to take care of his trees. His coffee trees are his only treasure. He hopes that young people will start learning to plant because the number of farmers in the future will decrease.  

He told us that he feels supported by our tree planting program and for that, he thanks the donor TREE Ltd who’s supporting the program and cares about small-scale farmers like him. Grandpa Wasis hopes he is eligible to get more seedlings next year because planting and taking care of the trees are a pleasure for him. Grandpa Wasis admits that the income he gets from his trees are not much because his land area is not very large but he is very grateful. 

“When my land is green, I’m happy… I don’t ask for anything else”. He smiled. 

Doesn’t feel lonely living alone here? We asked. He said he was used to being alone and this was a form of his dedication as a coffee farmer. 

We believe trees that are cared for with love always have the best results and we are sure these trees are in good hands, to the man who dedicates his life to planting. 

We thank Grandpa Wasis for his dedication. Know this Grandpa, you play a very important role in the environment and society. We wish you always health and happiness Grandpa! 

Author: Yulianisa Dessenita